Let’s talk straight today. When you search “Google SEO” on Taobao, do you always see ads like “70 for permanent positioning”? Swipe away immediately! This is exactly like “Rolex watches for $1.39 with free shipping” – either complete scams or hidden traps!
First Cost: Human Resources. My buddy hired an Indian SEO team last year, only to get his website blacklisted by Google. Why? Legitimate SEO specialists earn at least $42,000 annually. Those teams quoting a few hundred dollars are either using student interns or spam bots, with zero regard for website quality.
Second Cost: Technology. Think building a website is enough? Server security maintenance, page load speed optimization, structured data markup… These technical tasks alone require a professional IT team. One client used a “DIY SEO tool” to save money, only to have hidden spam links injected by hackers, losing all traffic in six months!
The Worst Trap: Backlink Costs. Strategic backlinking requires expertise – even if you get links from New York Times industry columns or Harvard Business School research reports, improper implementation wastes money and yields zero results.
Next time you see cheap SEO offers, ask three questions: How many years of experience do your optimizers have? How big is your technical team? Which media outlets are in your backlink portfolio?
