The goal for many brands and businesses to build formidable SEO presences on the web is often at the top of the priorities list. With an ever-increasing amount of competition in even the smallest of niches, it is becoming more important by the day to have a solid SEO strategy that delivers results in the form of visitors, customers, conversions and rankings. All too often, however, startup brands and established entities alike make critically-flawed decisions with respect to their strategies. Today, we’ll review a few situations and scenarios in which the price of the SEO effort may directly indicate its chances for success.

SEO Hosting Solutions

Many web-based brands find it easy to offer “SEO services” to the huddled masses, especially when they already have a pre-existing customer base through another service. Many hosting companies and web design services now offer various forms of SEO services that are designed to appeal to customers due to the one-stop-shop dynamic. Unfortunately, many of these low-cost services prey upon those who are not aware of the track record of these entities. The reality is that – barring a very unique company with a specific track record in SEO – you will be receiving very nominal services that focus on optimizing a few keywords, pinging search engines with your content, restructuring URLs or focusing on the overall page structure. This is not comprehensive SEO and will not provide any inherent benefit that someone relatively new to SEO couldn’t provide.

Friends and Family Members

Everybody knows at least one person who professes to be an expert in web design or some form of website improvement. While some of these individuals may in fact be experts in the areas where you need assistance, it is usually a gamble to ask someone in this situation to handle your broader SEO efforts. Being able to build a decent website and being able to deliver quality traffic and high rankings are two different things. Ultimately, an offer for such services that is very affordable – or even free – is nice, but not necessarily what you need in order to be competitive in search. Initial help with the construction of a website is one thing, but be sure to rely upon qualified SEO experts when expanding beyond that.

Foreign Companies

If you’ve been pinging search engines for assistance like many, then you’re found that there are many services available on the web that purportedly offer great SEO services for relatively little cost. The reason? Because they are based in a country with lower costs of living (usually India or a comparable Asian country), they can provide services for a fraction of the cost of a US-based or Western-based agency. While the prospect of saving money in such a way can be quite alluring, it is worth noting that many of these entities are in fact individuals with freelanced contractors and are built around producing as many websites and “SEO enhancements” in as little time as possible.

Do any of these horror stories sound familiar to you? Tell us about any negative (or positive) SEO experiences you’ve had with one or more of these entities in the comments below.