SEO Cost

If you are doing business online, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important aspect of your digital marketing campaign. The key to good SEO is to choose the right tool; some tools like Google Analytics are free, and others have a free trial. You can get started with SEO tools for free, but if you are planning to switch to a career as a Web Optimization/SEO Specialist, purchasing the professional-level tools is a wise decision.

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a way to drive more traffic to your website and gain more customers. It depends upon content, technical website optimization, link building, and keyword research to ensure that your website appears near the top of a Google results page. A BrightEdge survey conducted in 2019 found that SEO is 1000% more effective at driving website traffic than organic methods like social media posts. Professionals who work with SEO are often called Website Optimization Specialists.

The primary goal of SEO is to build trust between your business and your users. You can do this through high-quality content, ensuring your website loads quickly in desktop and mobile versions, and optimizing your site for voice search. Another way to improve your rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs) is to create a “Google My Business” listing.

Read more about what SEO is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with SEO?

SEO is used to determine search engine success in three crucial ways: technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO.

Technical SEO looks at a website's technical features and how they affect search engine rankings. These include the site structure, schema, and URL. The site needs to be easy to navigate with a clearly understood organization. Other aspects of technical SEO are website loading speed, mobile friendliness, voice optimization, and the XML sitemap.

The primary goal of on-page optimization is meeting the intent of the searcher/user with high-quality content. On-page content is essential and refers to everything that appears on a website, including text, keywords, images, tags, and internal links. Researching and choosing the best SEO keywords shows that the website has authority and is trustworthy.

Off-page SEO involves building links and strengthening social media engagement. Backlinks and social media help build authority and trust with search engines. Link building refers to finding reputable and relevant websites to link to your website or content. The more references to your content on other reliable sites, the better. Additionally, building out social media presence across various channels will further establish your internet presence and boost your SEO. You can use different analytical tools to track SEO and conversion rates.

In-Depth Review of the Cost

It is possible to use SEO techniques for free, but tools make it much easier, quicker, and more efficient. SEO tools are used for keyword research, publishing, listening and engagement, analytics, and competitive research.

Keyword Research

There are many tools available to help you come up with the best keywords for your content, but two of the top picks are SEMRush and Moz.

SEMRush

SEMRush includes many powerful tools in one package. The Keyword Magic Tool generates keywords and phrases to help you find the most effective keywords for your site and gives you a report on topical groups, difficulty, and Search Engine Results Pages. The Domain Overview Tool can give you a picture of a domain and how it is performing. It allows you to compare up to five competitors at one time.

The Organic Research Tool gives you insight into your competitors’ most successful keywords, and the Keyword Gap Tool compares your keywords to competitors’ and identifies gaps in strategies. The SemRush Topic Research Tool helps you easily identify trending topics for content marketing. Organic Traffic Insights connect to Google Analytics and let you keep a close eye on your site’s performance. SemRush’s link-building feature is especially good.

SEMRush also tracks user data and includes numerous toolkits that generate reports on SEO, Pay Per Click advertising, social media performance, keyword research, content marketing, and insights into competitors. SEMRush gives you a week-long free trial and then offers three subscription levels, Pro, Guru, and Business. There is also a very limited free version. The Pro version is $119.95, Guru is $229.95, and the Business version is $449.95 per month.

Moz

Another popular SEO and data management program is Moz. You can perform site audits, track your ranking, analyze backlinks, and search for the most effective keywords. It helps you to determine the best content and marketing strategies for your site. Some people find Moz a bit more difficult to use than SEMRush because you need to generate more reports to get the information in Moz, while SEMRush offers an overview.

Moz helps fix issues with SEO and track competitors’ sites. You can also set up regular automated checks to stay on top of problems that come up. Moz is much less expensive than SEMRush with a Standard plan for $99 a month, Medium at $179, Large at $299, and a Premium plan for $599. Moz also has a limited free version.

Publishing

SEO depends upon high-quality content, and there are many tools to help you manage your content, make an editorial plan, and schedule it for publishing. One very helpful SEO tool for managing content is Hootsuite.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite lets you plan your content, keep an eye on trends, and scheduling postings ahead of time. Hootsuite Analytics lets you track results of your organic and paid content without having to use other tools like Google Analytics, so it can save a lot of time. There is a 30-day free trial and then four levels: Professional at $49 per month, Team at $179 per month, Business at $739 per month, and Enterprise, a customized version for larger companies.

Listening and Engagement

Engaging with your audience is at the heart of social media marketing and SEO tools that keep you in touch with likes, shares, and the occasional troll are valuable. SEMRush has some listening and engagement features, Agorapulse and Brand24 are two of the best.

Agorapulse

Agorapulse monitors mentions of your brand across social media so you can respond quickly to mentions and messages. This allows you to respond to customers quickly to answer questions, say thanks, or head off damaging comments. Agorapulse offers a free plan and a 30-day free trial with their Pro ($79/month)and Premium ($199/month) versions.

Brand24

Brand24 not only monitors mentions of your brand on social media, but all across the web on blogs, media outlets, podcasts, forums, and reviews. It guages whether mentions are positive or negative to allow you to respond quickly. Brand24 has a two-week free trial and four levels that start at $49 per month.

Analytics

When it comes to web analytics, Google Analytics is the most widely used. Found within the Google Marketing studio platform, this free tool collects and tracks user data, compiles it into useful reports, and provides valuable insights to improve a website and/or app’s performance. A Web Optimization Specialist installs a tracking code onto each page of a website that allows Google to collect information about how visitors interact with it. Web Optimization Specialists can decide what strategies are working and what aren’t. The information Google Analytics provides can also identify specific problems or shortcomings on your website.

Competitive Research

You can use Google Analytics and SEMRush to see what your competitors are up to, or you can get a specialized tool like SproutSocial. Getting to know the competition is important. Studying where they are succeeding and where they are falling short can help you design your digital marketing campaign to avoid those mistakes. SproutSocial lets you figure out who you competitors are on social media, gather data on them, analyze their activity, and plan your strategy. SproutSocial has templates to help you sort everything out.

Why Learn SEO?

If you are an entrepreneur or own a small business, learning SEO can be the difference between success and failure. Optimizing your website will rank it higher on Google and other search engines, which will help your target audience find your content and lead to sales. Another reason to learn SEO is to control how your brand is viewed online. When your business appears higher in search results, that adds to your brand’s reputation and credibility. If your content appears near the top of the page, other businesses will link to your blog posts and increase the number of visitors to your site.

Becoming a Website Optimization/SEO Specialist is also a great career move. All businesses with an online presence need SEO to enhance their virtual reach, even in industries you might not expect, like healthcare, construction, or education. There are plenty of careers across the country for those with a background in SEO. In the United States, Web Optimization Specialists earn an average yearly salary of about $64,000—though that number will differ depending on location. The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics doesn’t list Web Optimization Specialists separate from Marketing Analysts. Still, that field is expected to grow by 22% in the next ten years, which is a much higher level of growth than other fields.

Read more about why you should learn SEO.

Free Introductory SEO Courses Online

If you are not quite ready to commit the time and funds to a bootcamp or certificate course, there are numerous free tutorials and online courses available. These tend to be overviews and introductions to SEO, but there is enough information to help you decide if you want to go further.

You can learn SEO online for free. Here is a list of possibilities:

• SEO for Beginners from Yoast
• SEO Training Course by Moz through Udemy
• Free SEO Course from ClickMinded
• Building Sustainable Traffic for Business Growth at Hubspot
• On-Page and Technical SEO Course from SEMRush
• Search Engine Optimization Specialization by Coursera
• Free SEO 6-part video series from Moz
  
  

The Pillars of Digital Marketing on the Noble Desktop YouTube channel is about different types of digital marketing and strategies. Dominate Local Search with Google My Business covers what GMB is, how to set up a profile, and where to get help if you need it.

Some other free tutorials include Coursera’s Strategy of Content Marketing program, which covers how to plan, organize, and implement a successful content marketing campaign. Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google is a free class, including practical exercises in SEO and digital marketing. Finally, HubSpot Academy has an SEO Training Course that covers how to improve website performance, along with link building and keyword research.

Read about more free SEO videos and online tutorials.

Learn SEO with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

If you want to change careers and become a Web Optimization/SEO Specialist, you can sign up for Noble Desktop’s SEO Bootcamp. This two-part class will teach you beginning and advanced SEO strategies to get your website to the top of the page. In the first class, SEO Level 1, you’ll learn how search engines work, how to do keyword research and competitor analysis, and how to use SEO-driven content to increase web traffic. SEO Level 2 covers how to do SEO audits and gives you hands-on experience with an expert instructor.

You can also sign up for a Google Analytics Bootcamp to learn how to set up an account, know which metrics to track, and understand the Google Analytics reports. You can also learn about paid advertising with Google Ads Bootcamp.

Another way to prepare for a career as a Web Optimizations/SEO Specialist is a digital marketing certificate course. Noble’s Digital Marketing Certificate includes the digital marketing, SEO, and Google Analytics bootcamps, plus Google Ads and classes on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter marketing, as well as content marketing with blogs.

Use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me to find other courses in digital marketing in your area.

Key Insights

• SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
• SEO is a way to drive traffic to your website, get more customers, and increase sales.
• There are three types of SEO: technical, on-page, and off-page.
• You can learn SEO techniques for free, but it is easier to learn to use the tools by taking classes.
• Some common SEO tools are
• SEMRush
• Moz
• Hootsuite
• Agorapulse
• Brand24
• Google Analytics
• SproutSocial