What do You Need to Know About One-Time SEO Services?

Because the market, competition, and search engines constantly change and evolve, to be effective with your search engine optimization (SEO), it is typically an ongoing process. Clients often ask us if it’s okay to optimize their site for local SEO once instead of having someone handle it long-term. It’s a good question, and the answer is it depends on your situation. If you want to learn more about whether hiring an SEO expert to create an ongoing plan for your website is the right move, Edmonton SEO company Smart WSI Marketing can help. Call us today for a consultation!

The Pros and Cons of One-time Local SEO Services

One-time local SEO can be done by an SEO agency in many different ways such as building a new website, optimizing your existing one, or purchasing backlinks (DON’T DO IT!).

With one-time SEO, you don’t contract for ongoing monthly SEO services once the scope of work is complete. There are some advantages to taking a one-time approach:

• You get everything “done” at one time.
• You save money by not paying for ongoing SEO services if they are not needed.

Downsides to a one-time strategy include:

• You won’t have a long-term keyword plan. Incorporating all keywords simultaneously can confuse Google’s algorithms, as it isn’t the search engine’s “natural” way of doing things.
• Though you may see an initial bump up in your keyword rankings, you may find a of couple months down the road you need an update because Google has changed its algorithms or because your competition is employing an ongoing strategy when you are not.
• In the case of buying links, this is not recommended as Google has classified this technique as spammy and dishonest so even though you may see rankings rise after buying links, your entire website could be blacklisted and essentially removed from the internet by Google.
• You might save money on not having an ongoing SEO contract but could potentially lose sales because your target audience isn’t finding you.

Is a one-time SEO optimization ever a good idea? Yes. If you already have good SEO standing and a limited budget, but are in need of an SEO overhaul due to a major Google algorithm update, then optimizing your site in one fell swoop might be the right way to go.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Ongoing SEO

It’s probably no surprise there are plenty of pros to investing in ongoing SEO.

• It can be more beneficial to build out the right keywords slowly so you can track the first couple of months’ ups and downs. This gives your site enough time to become more visible on search engines in a more organic way.
• Ongoing SEO is what Google prefers as it shows search engines and customers that you are active online and you are dedicated to giving customers a good experience by educating them through trustworthy content.
• SEO work done on an ongoing basis can be a better path to bringing in new traffic and customers as your results will be measured and strategy can be adjusted to help improve organic visibility over time.
• This is a proven strategy to maintain top rankings and increase lower ranking keywords.

Possible disadvantages to an ongoing strategy include:

• Having to sign a long-term contract for SEO services. Some agencies, like ours only require 6-month commitments, where others start at a year.
• Your website may still have technical or other on-page SEO issues that need resolving before starting your ongoing strategy.
• It is a long-term strategy to bring long term results.

Ongoing SEO services are a good choice if you want to get more traffic, rank higher, and keep a step ahead of the competition.

Edmonton SEO Services You Can Depend On

Achieving a first-page ranking is nearly always a means to an end, not the end itself. Increasing keyword rankings or bringing more organic search traffic to your website means your local SEO efforts are doing their job. If you have any questions about your current SEO services or SEO services in general, contact Smart WSI Marketing today. Our Edmonton SEO company brings the expertise and experience you need to take your website and SEO strategy to the next level.

Lynne Motkoski, Digital Marketing Strategist

Specialty: Digital Marketing Strategies
Education: MA Communications & Technology, BComm [U Alberta]
Author: The Online Marketing Handbook for Busy Entrepreneurs

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Lynne is known for her strategic approach to marketing communications, technologies, and lead generation. She has a passion for education, keeping up with current marketing trends and practices, and helping clients keep ahead of their competition.