Search Engine Optimization

This is a very misleading claim that many agencies would use to lure clients. 

A case in point as to why this is complete BS:

When we started Kapteev8, the website of course will rank very low when we type in "digital agency" or "digital marketing" in search engines.   This is normal for any new entrant into the scene as websites need to be optimized, content needs to be built consistently and constantly, backlinks need to be gained, before your reputation grows and you rank higher.   

What if I tell you I search "Kapteev8" instead?  Wow, immediate first page ranking in pretty much all search engines!  However, this is useless, nobody  without knowing Kapteev8's name and brand would ever search us directly, which means yes, I can technically get on first page of Google or Bing or Yahoo fast, but it's not helping business AT ALL.   

You see now?   It seriously depends on the keywords used, some keywords are way easy whereas highly searched terms such as "digital marketing" would take a while (months and even years) before you rank anywhere near the top.

Do not be misguided by this false promise.

Google Partner badge is for certifying whoever passed Google's ad product exam(s), not SEO.   There is really no industry accreditation or certification on SEO

Beware of agencies that tout this on their SEO service page because it's clearly a gimmick to make you think you can trust them with SEO when it's really just for PPC (ad products)

There is definitely a cost to SEO even if you do it yourself and that is the time you need to invest in it, to learn it, to get the tools to monitor and track your performance.   

As for whether it's cheap, now that's up for debate.   

Doing SEO right can bring you a major return on investment, likely more so than any other digital channel.    Doing it poorly or worse, doing it improperly could be very costly (e.g. getting your website banned from search engine listing altogether).  

We've seen services as low as 1000-2000 HKD (~100-200 USD) per month, and others that begin at 30,000 HKD (~3500 USD) per month.  You would need to see the details of what exactly is entailed in the plan and what expected results would be.  

Kapteev8's SEO plans offer high-end services at mid-range prices.   We work on a practical model that cater to different business needs and do the leg work that is beneficial to our client's business.  

One can never be done with SEO, and that's not to hook you in to do business with us but it is true; SEO is an ongoing process.  

Unless your business is very niche and you practically dominate the market, and customers consistently choose you over all your competitors (then you really don't need SEO), it's very possible that your ranking today will not mean you'll remain in the same position a month, a few months or a year from now.   

Search engines expect websites to be updated regularly, with new content and offerings that keep drawing organic traffic.  New content not only needs to be created but you need to build a network of backlinks (external websites that link to it) for search engines to be aware of it enough to boost ranking.   

What's more, search engines love to change and tweak algorithms to throw off newbie and inexperienced SEO practitioners, especially those who focus on a few quick-win tactics, only to see page rankings drop after an algorithm update. 

So you see, SEO is not something you do once and it's a done deal once your objectives are (temporarily) met.  You should also leave SEO to people who know what they're doing. 

So untrue, your page rankings for different keywords will not remain unchanged if you do not continually optimize for them.  This is not to badger anyone to a long-term SEO contract (in fact, we let our clients opt-out anytime) but it's just the reality.  SEO is an ongoing process.

Mainly false. While search engines really live and breathe via ads (it's how they make the bulk of their money) they also would fail miserably if search results are based on who pays the most in ad dollars. 

Users will have a very different experience (a very biased one) as the most relevant, up-to-date, or interesting content pertaining to the search that's got no ad spend will never be a top search result.  

Sure, you can still see ads on top and bottom of SERPs (search engine result page) sometimes even on first page if your ad is super relevant to a search term (keyword) or you've outbid all competitors in running the ad.  Yet it's got no impact on having your page rank organically.

The only time where it may help SEO is if your ad's purpose is to build backlinks.

That does help with SEO only if you are certain there are a lot of people reading and linking to your content (including your newest ones) enough for search engines to take notice.  You also need to see if you're helping certain keyword rankings with your new content and getting sites with domain authority and page authority linking to it.  

If you've got the time to do all this, that's great.  If not, outsource it to a SEO partner.

If you're every diligently searching or researching something, you know it's far from the truth that first page search results always without-fail get you the information you need.  

Most times, you probably would dig into page 2 or 3 (or even later pages) before you find exactly what you're looking for.  

What you really want for your business may perhaps be ranking on page one for every keyword you're optimizing for; but it matters only if it means traffic.  

Read the FAQ "We can guarantee your website will rank on first page of [search engine]" above to see why ranking on first page could be meaningless.

Do SEO for traffic and business, not for ranking.

We most likely know about it but we can tell you that we would not be using tricks or hacks or any manipulative SEO that aims to trick search engines to thinking your content/page/website is more popular than it really is. 

Search engines hate that so much they will penalize anyone using these lousy tactics if it's serious enough, it could get your website banned entirely.  

Do not believe any simple trick or hack, what search engines reward is great content, good value, and awesome user experience. Deviate from that and you know you're going the wrong direction.