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Which is More Affordable: SEO Done Local or SEO From Over There?

Let me be the first to admit that this is a tricky question to answer. Like with most things in real life, there are exceptions to every rule. But by and large, the answer (to many people’s surprise) is that the SEO from the USA is much more affordable than SEO from overseas.

I say ‘to many people’s surprise’ because most people equate low cost with affordability, and SEO from India or the Philippines is much less expensive per-link than America’s cheapest SEO. But price is not the actual mark of affordable SEO. Let’s take a short detour.

Did you know that the Cadillac CTS is, in America at least, the car with the lowest cost-of-ownership over a twenty-year period? But it’s hardly the lowest-cost car in the country — that’s the Nissan Versa. But when you stretch the Versa ownership out over 20 years, the cost of gas, repairs, insurance, and other items is so much more than that of the Cadillac CTS that the $40,000+ sedan takes the lead.

SEO is like that. When you buy cheap SEO from overseas, you’re buying into a short-lived high that comes with a whole mess of long-run problems. You’ll get some rankings, and some traffic, but at some point one of two things will happen. Either Google will slap your site down for it’s hokey backlink practices, or your rise will simply stop because repetitive, ‘easy’ SEO tricks get less and less effective with each repetition.

When you buy cheap SEO here in America, it’s clearly not as cheap as the SEO from overseas — but it has a few advantages that you can’t really get from Bangalore. First, it’s (probably) being performed by native English speakers — and if you doubt that, you can always call them up and ask. Second, American companies offer better customer service almost across the board. Finally, American companies are under the jurisdiction of American attorney generals, which means if they do something to screw you over, you have recourse — not at all the case if you run with someone in the Philippines.

It doesn’t matter if you get it from a company in Topeka or one in Los Angeles — SEO is always better when it comes from the USA.

83 thoughts on “Which is More Affordable: SEO Done Local or SEO From Over There?”

  1. Rassling Fundamentals

    I have keywords that are ranking on google, yahoo, and bing at the first page. My problem is how will I be in the top 1 position for my keywords? I keep on building links,but I don’t think it’s enough.

    Also, these keywords are highly targeted and we’re expecting to get sales from it. But we’re not converting much when it comes to organic – seo. Where could be the problem ? Is it still on SEO or on the website already?

  2. I’m based in Tacoma, Wa but will have an online storefront that caters to anyone across the nation. Since I’m based in Tacoma I would like to work with a Tacoma web design company to support local business. Anyone know any good Tacaoma web design companies that are affordable and professional?

  3. im making a website for my dads business,
    how can i get a website so it will go
    www. – .com or co.uk? without other websites having there name in it?
    i have made the website on notepad html code etc

  4. what is every thing i need to do in order to create an online fashion store from basically scratch? and what if i want to create a brand? how much would that be? do i need to liscense anything? what if i bought from a wholesaler? can i just sell those on the website? thanks

  5. Have a website how do I put it to work, how do search engines work? Yahoo, Google and all the others?

  6. Hello,
    I have just set up a business called domestic goddess catering, we offer the following services:
    Catering for all types of buffets,
    Wedding cupcakes and round or square stands,
    Vintage tea hire for parties, weddings, baby showers etc..
    Children’s cake making/decorating parties,
    Cupcakes, cake pops, whoopie pies and much more for all types of events.

    Could anyone help me please with free advertising and how to generate new customers??? my website is http://www.cupcakesbirmingham.co.uk if you would like to give me your thoughts, please bear in mind it’s not finished yet!!

  7. I have remodeling business and I need to do advertising. I need the best places for to add my website and get results, also to be affordable, I try to buy leads but is waste money and time. also what do you think for super pages and yellow book? Do you know any good place for SEO FOR my website? please help!

  8. Hi people,

    I was wondering if people here could lend me a hand with the SEO on my companies website.

    I run a web and graphic design company in Dorset, UK. Working mainly locally and trying to target local businesses with our services.

    the URL is http://www.aztec-online.com

    I do have a reasonable SEO knowledge, but I am no expert. I will go through the steps I have already taken to improve my SEO and if there is anything I am doing wrong, or missed out please could you let me know.

    Currently we dont rank very well for many keywords except the company name ‘Aztec Online’ and 17th for ‘Web Design Wimborne’. The main keywords I would like to target are, ‘Web Design Dorset’, ‘Web Design Poole’, ‘Professional Web Design’, ‘Affordable Web Design’ and all these but for graphic design too.

    This is what I have currently done on the website: –
    Worked on site content, getting a keyword density of about 5 to 10%
    Optimised the image tags, with alts, filenames etc
    Optmised the Anchor tags, with titles and keywords within them as well as keywords in url
    used keywords in title, header tags
    made sure my keywords appear near the top and the bottom
    made sure google can see all my links
    bolded keywords
    supplied an address to help it rank bettter locally

    I am currently rebuilding a new website at http://www.aztec-online.com/AztecOnline2, which I am going to apply all the correct changes to in order to have a better chance of ranking well.

    I have also started to try and build up links by doing the following:-
    including a link on every clients website web create
    a small amount of blog comments
    article submission
    related directories and local directorys
    google local maps
    email marketing
    am about to start with a press release
    finally a few web design assoications

    I dont know what else I can do, and I don’t know how long it will take to start ranking. I have pretty much no budget for SEO, but I am also using AdWords.

    Can I get some advice from some of the friendly experts on here?

  9. I’m looking to start a small business online as a copyediting consultant – I’ll be doing projects for other companies editing their ad copy, web content, etc. on a contract basis; and I’ll be editing any other documents that individuals might have, including resumes and the like.

    I want to do this under a business name rather than my own name, so I know I’ll have to file a DBA, but how would I go about that?

    Because I have no idea how far my business will go, I want to start small. Has anyone else done a similar business venture in which startup costs are rather affordable? I’d like to hear experiences from consultants in any field who do business either mainly or entirely online.

    One concern I have is networking: did you do unpaid internships to establish business contacts and expand your resume and portfolio, or did you do freelance projects? Any ideas on how to go about this consulting venture would be appreciated!

    Thanks for any advice and insight.

  10. Ssshhhh Im becoming aroused

    Hi, I’m planning to sell some stuffs online & for that I need a development company who can develop my website and make some market online. My budget is below 7K, please suggest me some good companies?

  11. I own a fast food restruant and want to make a website that will include its location, ordering information, and the menu. where can i make a good website that is leagal at? money is really not that much of an issue as long as it is not over $200 for set up and $50 a month.

    thank you

  12. I want to trademark a name and want to learn how to also search if the name has already been trademarked and where I can go if I need a lawyer. I need the full on detail, Please and Thank you,

  13. I am doing a event/fundraiser and need a company I can hire to get as many people to come as possible. Anny good suggestion of a local advertising agency?

  14. In high school I was told to NOT make much noise on the internet. But these days the direct opposite is being said and done through facebook, twitter, linkedin… etc. People say that these are our resources these days but I’m not seeing Twitter or facebook really bringing up any real local jobs… and Linked in has a total of 5 jobs in my local area posted for ANY random job.

    I was also taught to go in to each business I’d like to work with one by one and ask if they’re hiring. I tend to get a lot of “I don’t know’s” from managers and all the applications are done online. And it tends to just be a waste of gas money when I’m out of a job.

    So I’m left at a loss at what businesses are actually hiring in the first place. I suppose I could just pop onto Google Maps and drive around all the nearby towns in street view and look at all the businesses and think “Hmmm… maybe they’re hiring” and pop onto their website and see what my chances are. But that seems counter productive too.

    Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com, and pretty much any other job board is completely littered with nothing but one scam after another. And what legit jobs that are posted there… it seems like they’re all jobs that demand far more experience or college than I have — and even if I went to college, I’m not sure if that’d really help. It doesn’t seem to help anyone I’ve ever seen. And the most that I’ve ever gotten from places like Monster.com is the military and colleges calling me up because you’re forced to fill out military adds and college surveys in order to JUST fill out an application. Either way, you walk away from these job boards getting spammed or scammed.

    What is the real genuinely effective way of getting a job these days? To know WHO is hiring and WHAT jobs you qualify for and where you should and should not apply?

  15. Hi everyone!
    I’m so terribly confused about the world of SEO. I have a fairly nice website that I really thought would have improved over the last few months in google rankings, but I’m not sure it’s working.

    Can someone please check out my site at http://www.mypersonalcantor.com, and let me know if there is anything you see that I should immediately change or is lacking?

    I am also lost in the world of affordable consultants to work with – I don’t have hundreds of dollars a month, but want to get the most mileage for a reasonable amount of fees. thoughts?
    Thanks for any and all assistance!

  16. I have a small cleaning company that I started back in 2009, the problem is that it’s hard to find good customers who are willing to pay for my services. My service is very quality and professional and I would love to gain some government contracts or private companies who are willing to pay for the work we do. Any thoughts or comments Help me.. as am lost!!

  17. We are starting our own handmade accessories and gift business. We are looking for online sales and local retail sales. We need something simple, that can be accessed by partners in different locations. The website design/artistic style is important. The websites needs to be very user friendly and have customer options for fabrics, colors, patterns etc. What website builder do you suggest?

  18. I have a full pell grant and seo grant, and some fee exemptions from my school, along with stafford loans, but that doesn’t cover all my tuition. My mom had to take out $16,000 per year in parent plus loans. I have 5 semester to go before I graduate, so that’ll put us in around $60,000 in debt. I go to LSU for petroleum engineering, but I live in Missouri so I have to pay out of state. My mom and I are sick over this now. What is there to do? I already talked to financial aid and they told me I’m maxed out on my loans. BTW my mom makes $10.94 per hour and my dad passed away last year.

  19. I have a web site for my local transporation service that get’s about 800 hits per month and generates many new customers. I’m trying to do the same thing with a site in the vitamin industry. Key words are much more competative and expensive. Any sugesstions?

  20. my company is a local company that wish to supply /sell our products to singapore’s and overseas clients, i.e. USA, Europe, Asia, middle east and etc countries, therefore i need to create awareness.

    a) should i use a overseas or Singapore web hosting company ?

    b) if use Singapore hosting company, should i use .com or .com.sg

    c) any good web hosting that anyone can recommend?

    thankyou all 🙂

  21. Hi people,

    I was wondering if people here could lend me a hand with the SEO on my companies website.

    I run a web and graphic design company in Dorset, UK. Working mainly locally and trying to target local businesses with our services.

    the URL is http://www.aztec-online.com

    I do have a reasonable SEO knowledge, but I am no expert. I will go through the steps I have already taken to improve my SEO and if there is anything I am doing wrong, or missed out please could you let me know.

    Currently we dont rank very well for many keywords except the company name ‘Aztec Online’ and 17th for ‘Web Design Wimborne’. The main keywords I would like to target are, ‘Web Design Dorset’, ‘Web Design Poole’, ‘Professional Web Design’, ‘Affordable Web Design’ and all these but for graphic design too.

    This is what I have currently done on the website: –
    Worked on site content, getting a keyword density of about 5 to 10%
    Optimised the image tags, with alts, filenames etc
    Optmised the Anchor tags, with titles and keywords within them as well as keywords in url
    used keywords in title, header tags
    made sure my keywords appear near the top and the bottom
    made sure google can see all my links
    bolded keywords
    supplied an address to help it rank bettter locally

    I am currently rebuilding a new website at http://www.aztec-online.com/AztecOnline2, which I am going to apply all the correct changes to in order to have a better chance of ranking well.

    I have also started to try and build up links by doing the following:-
    including a link on every clients website web create
    a small amount of blog comments
    article submission
    related directories and local directorys
    google local maps
    email marketing
    am about to start with a press release
    finally a few web design assoications

    I dont know what else I can do, and I don’t know how long it will take to start ranking. I have pretty much no budget for SEO, but I am also using AdWords.

    Can I get some advice from some of the friendly experts on here?

  22. I own a small company in Ontario,Canada where I set up satellite,internet and homephone. I used to use the free ad site, called kijiji, but it’s no longer useful anymore. I need to find an affordable, yet successful method that will work and target Ontarians, any marketing experts? Thanks!

  23. I have used Microsoft small business in the past to make and host sites but now want to try wordpress . Who is best to host the site (I want uk hosting) and any advice on using wordpress would be great.
    Thanks in advance.

  24. In other words, what can get my local small business to appear on page 1 of google when customers search “Contractors in Algonquin IL” or similar?

    I was thinking to put $1-200 a month on googles ad program. Will that help a lot?

  25. I run the website for the local football team and managers want to add news articles and match reviews etc but the web host is a cheap one it doesn’t allow databases or sql and it only allows one ftp account so I am having to add the content myself. is there a way of them adding to it without re-designing the whole site or upgrading the host? the site is currently in HTML 4.01, does HTML 5 have any new features which allow for this?

    thanks in advance

  26. hello friend…if u have any ideas how to increase the website search result…I heart seo is the best way to get optimize your website ranking as well help your site to generate my traffic from one to the best search result site like google,yahoo & msn. please help me to get how seo work & what are imp tools are use while optimizing site

  27. I am extremely green when it comes to computers but have made the decision to promote my small business with a website.I have only recently worked out after lots of frustration that SEO will help my site improve in the ranking with Google.
    My site https://www.assistelectrical.com.au/ does not appear to be ranking with Google or any other search engine in my desired key words.
    Is my only option to pay for a placement on the front page?
    Any assistance offered would be greatly appreciated.

  28. I started a headlight restoration service in central florida, and i need a better way to communicate to people about having their lights restored. I feel like people just do not know what “headlight restoration” is?

    I also have access to large LED (10ftx3ft) boards I can use at my disposal

    I do have a website
    and currently working on a facebook page

    my service is very affordable and inexpensive ($25-$35) Maybe i am going about this wrong? any advice would be MUCH appreciated…

    Im 21, just trying to find ways to legally earn some (relatively) easy money

  29. im starting a clubpenguin blog and i have bin getting veiws but not much you check it out if you want to only 47 veiws it would help if you just tell me to quit now or try again telling me ways to advertise will help to

  30. i am looking for cheap search engine optimization services…please only recommend me to use one that you have personal experience with. thanks

  31. Over the years, I took SEO services from various companies promising top 5 positions on all major crawlers. This, of course, was never achieved by ANY of them. The issue, from my understanding of backlink creation, is that although the SEO company may submit our URL to high PR sites to create backlinks, it is never garanteed that the websites will actually accept to post the backlink.

    Recently, I’ve looked into Linkproz. They are “brokers” for a series of websites. They are asking 500$/month to create 15 backlinks on PR 4 sites and 5 backlinks on PR 3 sites. These links however need to be paid on a monthly basis. Meaning that once I terminate the service, the backlinks will disappear .

    I was wondering if this is worthwhile and if, say 8 months from now, I terminate the contact, my page ranking will drop on google ?

    If this is not a good method of increasing page ranking on google, does anyone have a reference for a good SEO company / person.

    Thank you,

  32. Im looking for Affordable Search Engine Optimization SEO Philippines?

    Cheapest Web Marketing, Promotion, SEO, Internet Marketer?

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