Pay money for seo work or more money on ads?

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by mod81, Jun 23, 2013.

  1. #1
    Hi, I run a ecommerce website that sells refurbished computers and I was lucky enough that before penguin 2 my site ranked fairly well for some keywords without me having to really do any seo work to keep it near the top of google. I have now lost some ranking which now means that organic search traffic has dropped about 50% from what it was a few months ago and therefore so have the sales.
    So had to increase my online advertising budget from £100 per month to spending £350+ per month on ads across a number of ad services to bring in the extra traffic to make up for the loss of organic traffic. But i am only just about back to the number of sales i was getting before i lost ranking but with an additional £250+ per month expenditure.

    So my questions are: would i be better off investing some money to pay someone to do some seo work and regain my ranking in organic search or just continue to pay out for ads and forget about organic search?
    And if i do pay someone to do seo work what is likely to be the monthly cost bearing in mind my site targets only the UK but sells refurbished laptops and computers so this is a quite a high competition area?
     
    mod81, Jun 23, 2013 IP
  2. patco

    patco Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    2,035
    Likes Received:
    47
    Best Answers:
    17
    Trophy Points:
    100
    #2
    According to me using ADS is for a SHORT period... If you want to establish a really good website, ads will work great, but for today... If you don't pay again tomorrow, you will NOT receive traffic...

    If you use SEO, you will NOT see results today, but you will see results next month, next year, etc.

    :)
     
    patco, Jun 23, 2013 IP
  3. mod81

    mod81 Peon

    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    #3
    Yes this is what i thought, as paying for ads compared to seo is a bit like renting versus buying. in that i may have to pay more initially by paying for seo work and ads at the same time but eventually i should be able to reduce my ads budget.
    The next question is how much i should be paying for seo work per month to expect to achieve some results? A bit of info on my site may help someone give me more knowledgeable advise.
    E-commerce website selling refurbished computers, laptops etc
    Target UK market only
    Domain is 6 years old
    14900 pages listed when i google site:my-domain.co.uk
    3200 do follow backlinks from 205 domains according to site explorer at aherf
     
    mod81, Jun 23, 2013 IP
  4. article-spider

    article-spider Member

    Messages:
    86
    Likes Received:
    3
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    38
    #4
    PM your URl, you might need some on page SEO
     
    article-spider, Jun 24, 2013 IP
  5. radium

    radium Active Member

    Messages:
    201
    Likes Received:
    7
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    58
    #5
    My vote goes for seo
    As I had a bad experience with advertising, I wish I had spent it on seo.
     
    radium, Jun 24, 2013 IP
  6. OSSEO

    OSSEO Active Member

    Messages:
    1,430
    Likes Received:
    6
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    53
    #6
    For fast result & profit you should use Ads.
     
    OSSEO, Jun 24, 2013 IP
  7. darknight2010

    darknight2010 Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    195
    Likes Received:
    5
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    110
    #7
    +1,

    Never compare paid traffic with seo..
    SEO is something huge , its a go slow but steady thing and no one on earth could beat it.
    If you really want your business to get recognized and traffic always invest on seo.
     
    darknight2010, Jun 24, 2013 IP
  8. EllenSmith

    EllenSmith Active Member

    Messages:
    210
    Likes Received:
    10
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    #8
    Hi
    Please send me your site url for free seo report.
     
    EllenSmith, Jun 24, 2013 IP
  9. joshuthomas

    joshuthomas Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    595
    Likes Received:
    9
    Best Answers:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    140
    #9
    It is a very tricky question. IMHO, if you have a high budget, balance both SEO and PPC. If you are short of budget, spend on SEO (invest in credible companies - bad SEO is more harmful that no SEO).
     
    joshuthomas, Jun 24, 2013 IP
  10. SERPpoint

    SERPpoint Active Member

    Messages:
    834
    Likes Received:
    17
    Best Answers:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    63
    #10
    Or do something which is beneficial for both, SEO and Advertisement.

    That is brand name popularity.
     
    SERPpoint, Jun 24, 2013 IP
  11. VukasinI

    VukasinI Well-Known Member

    Messages:
    617
    Likes Received:
    117
    Best Answers:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    115
    #11
    Hmm... Hard question, if I were in your shoes, I would go for SEO.. But I'm not so experienced in this area.. Anyway, if you made a mistake, it would be no damage, and you will learn for next time..
     
    VukasinI, Jun 24, 2013 IP
  12. affilorama

    affilorama Active Member

    Messages:
    1,896
    Likes Received:
    20
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    80
    #12
    I agree. I suggest you look at ads in oDesk and eLance to get an average on how much an SEO person charges. You can opt to get only link building service. That might cost less than a full SEO work.

    You might also want to consider doing the off-page SEO on your own instead of someone doing it for you. This will help you cut back on costs, and still have funds to invest on paid advertising.

    Hope that helps. Have a good day!
     
    affilorama, Jun 24, 2013 IP
  13. neelakandanseoexpert

    neelakandanseoexpert Active Member

    Messages:
    67
    Likes Received:
    1
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    63
    #13
    Generally web site owners thinking about traffic but they do not know about Google processes and their algorithms. Today Google is restricted with their web site algorithms so if you need good web traffic and your keywords want a rank on Google, Goes to with SEO expert
    If you want about your site status and what you need to get traffic , Sent me your URL by PM
    If you have doubt with seo, please free contact me
    Thank You
     
    neelakandanseoexpert, Jun 25, 2013 IP
  14. karen9999

    karen9999 Active Member

    Messages:
    278
    Likes Received:
    10
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    78
    #14
    Why simply pay for Ads, which is temporary solution. Try to hire some SEO Experts, definitely your Website occupies Google's first page.
     
    karen9999, Jun 25, 2013 IP
  15. Elizabeth90

    Elizabeth90 Greenhorn

    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    21
    #15
    my opinion is that don't use ads.! but you can do seo to your site with the help of seo consultant or some
    executive in seo
     
    Elizabeth90, Jun 25, 2013 IP
  16. dulcificum

    dulcificum Active Member

    Messages:
    535
    Likes Received:
    0
    Best Answers:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    68
    #16
    I think this question really depends a lot on how much you're willing to invest in SEO and how much spare capacity you have to grow more...
     
    dulcificum, Jun 25, 2013 IP