Search engine optimization (SEO) is a crucial aspect of digital marketing. In today’s online-first environment, SEO best practices can make or break your business. Understanding the ins and outs of SEO takes a specialized skill set, and the rules are always changing. 

One of the most common questions I get from clients is this:

Why is SEO so expensive?

Keep reading for a primer on SEO, why it matters, and what exactly you’re paying for. 

Need help with your online digital marketing strategy? Limo Marketer offers digital advertising services and specialized training for limo companies and transport operators. Get in touch today to get started.   

What is SEO for Limo Companies?

When an internet user queries a search for a product or service online, they’ll likely receive pages and pages (and pages!) of results from companies offering the goods. The web pages listed on the first results page are more visible than those on subsequent pages. 

If you’re a business gathering leads online, greater visibility means you’ll drive more traffic to your website or ad campaign — and subsequently close more sales. 

SEO refers to the process of improving your website or ad campaign in ways that show search engines like Google or Bing that your website is trustworthy, credible, and relevant to what the user has searched for. As a result, your page will rank higher in search results, making your company more visible to potential leads. 

There are many components to SEO, which is why so many businesses hire an SEO expert to handle this crucial aspect of digital marketing.

Search Advertising for Limo Companies

One of the most effective ways for new leads to discover your limo company is through search advertising. This online marketing strategy involves creating ads that will show up on a web page in search engine results. 

There are two main types of search advertising I’ll cover here:

• Pay-Per-Click (PPC) — PPC refers to a marketing model where companies pay a certain fee each time a user clicks on their ad
• Organic Listings — Organic listings are unpaid. Instead, search engine algorithms analyze your website and rank it within search results, depending on how trustworthy, credible, and relevant it is to a search query

In both cases, SEO best practices will help your web page or ad show up higher in search results.

What Does an SEO Expert Do?

To address the question of why SEO is so expensive, it’s important to understand the basics of what an SEO expert does. Let’s look at two areas where an SEO expert can help your limo company: on-site SEO and PPC advertising.

On-Site SEO for Limo Companies

On-site SEO — also known as on-page SEO — refers to SEO best practices on your website, as opposed to elsewhere on the internet, such as in a PPC ad campaign. Great on-site SEO helps your page show up higher in organic search listings. 

Aspects like how you build and organize your website pages, which keywords you include in your web copy, and the quality of titles, meta descriptions, and other on-site collateral all factor into on-site SEO.

The goal with on-site SEO is to make it easy for a search engine to analyze your web page and determine that it’s not only relevant to a user’s search query, but trustworthy too. On-site SEO is a highly specialized service, and it’s always worth hiring an expert to help build your website.   

SEO for PPC Advertising 

When you hire a professional to manage a PPC ad campaign and take care of its SEO components, you’re paying them to set up your ad campaign, research keywords — which are relevant search terms internet users might use to find your services — and monitor ad performance. This involves making changes to your ad campaign, changing bids, and constantly improving SEO components. 

Monitoring and optimizing a PPC campaign is an ongoing process that takes diligent research and constant analysis. Without expert oversight, a PPC ad campaign can cost you thousands of dollars with minimal returns. When done correctly, however, it can help you scale your business to unimaginable heights. 

Why Your Limo Company Should Invest in SEO 

The world operates online. When prospective clients need a limo service, the first thing they’re likely to do is query a search on the internet. If you want to rank with your competitors — and ideally appear higher up on the results page — then investing in SEO is crucial. 

In addition to the SEO strategies we’ve covered, another essential SEO component is outreach. 

Links and citations that appear elsewhere on the internet and link back to your website boost your site’s credibility. This is where the magic happens — search engines love to see this. That’s why some companies hire teams of people to send hundreds of emails out every day asking different sources to link back to their website. 

Local bloggers, event websites, and news outlets are all sources that can provide valuable backlinks — often for a fee. When you hire an SEO expert and pay them a fixed amount, they’ll have to decide how much money they’ll keep, and how much they’ll invest into paying for links and citations. 

Whether or not your SEO expert considers you to be a valuable and serious long-term client can greatly affect their willingness to invest in outreach for links and citations. 

How Much Should I Pay for SEO?

Limo companies operating in competitive markets like NYC or San Francisco should expect to invest a minimum of $1,500 a month into SEO, and closer to $2,000–2,500 for faster results. 

Remember, if your website is new, you’re likely competing with companies that have been investing in SEO for years. If you want to rank high, you’ll need to find a less competitive market to advertise in, or get ready to spend roughly $2,000+ on SEO every month in the long term, building a relationship with a qualified SEO professional.

Expert Online Marketing for Limo Companies

When you invest in expert SEO services, you invest in one of the most effective ways to grow your business. SEO is a complicated and ever-evolving process. Luckily, you don’t have to go at it alone.

Limo Marketer can help.   

If you’d like to learn more about how we can help your car, transportation or limo company attract the right clients, gain online visibility, and make more money, check out our services or contact Limo Marketer today. 

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