Due to current economic downturn, more and more people are trying to work from home. Some have turned into freelancers and work for websites such as Guru, Elance and RentaCoder. Others take more risk and start their own website, try to market a product or service and initially get a little discouraged.
The main reason for losing hope in an online business is simply because SEO and online marketing are very different from marketing in the real world.
First of all, you can get into a lot of trouble in an online business if you have not done your keyword research right. Simply put, focus on the wrong keywords and you will end up paying thousands of dollars, only to see no return.
This situation is made worse by the fact that beginners in the field of online marketing have no idea what keyword research is! Many people start their website and business and only then think about the keywords. This causes a big problem.
Apart from that, there are many different factors which contribute to your failure or success when running an online business. Most of them relate to issues regarding choosing which method to use to market your website. Other factors relate to on-page optimization, link relevancy and website exposure.
A good SEO consultant will actually save you a lot of money by telling you where you currently stand and what you should do to improve your return on investment. I personally feel that doing an SEO consultant BEFORE starting a website or a business will help you save hundreds or thousands of dollars.
While most SEO consultants charge around $60-250 per hour, industry recognized SEO consultants charge upwards of $400 per hour! While this may seem a lot, consulting with them for 1-4 hours will ensure that you do not lose time and money later in managing your online business.
Ask your SEO consultant these questions before starting your business:
1. Is this business right for me for the investment that I am putting in?
2. Are my keywords related to my website and can they provide a good ROI?
3. What is the most important method that I should use to market my services?
These questions will help you increase your ROI. Hiring an SEO consultant will also provide you with valuable advice which might help you in the long-run.