When is the right time to invest in a Trusted SEO firm

[DealWithAutism]

My website www.dealwithautism.com is a 3 month old website. It currently has 50+ quality pages that are KW targeted and on page optimized (usually grade A on Moz page grader).

Over the next 12 to 15 months, I plan add a total of 300 to 400 kw targeted pages to strive for topical authority. I am launching my first product (an ebook in the next couple of months) and would eventually move into a membership subscription model in next 15 month.

I want to invest in a long term SEO strategy with a reputed and trusted SEO firm. Being just a 1 person show at he moment, my budget is small (about $250 a month) but over time, as I acquire more revenue I will increase my SEO budget accordingly.

I believe, if I get traffic, my content has the guts to absorb engagement. From analytics, any page that is not bounced and has received organic traffic (only less than 10 per day though) has an average time spent > 12 mins. So my content seems to be doing its bit now.

My question: Is now a good time to invest in SEO for my budget? I need a long term and natural seo strategy, no quick wins - happy to play by the CPC model for my money pages till I see an organic growth. Or should I wait for 5-6 more months to let my site age a bit and also y that time I should have 150+ quality pages, so the authority should be more.

[ScottImageWorks]

My firm has tried working with cheaper ($300ish a month) SEO companies, and the results were inconsequential. It felt like throwing money away - over many months, we never made any real headway. I would suggest looking for a qualified freelancer versus a company at this point - with less overhead, they are sometimes able to work for a lower rate.

If you have a solid idea of what needs to be done, perhaps you can find an intern to do the actual tasks?

I agree with all the other comments - the sooner you start, the better, and you do have some catching up to do now. But all isn't lost. Keep plugging away and you'll get there.

[EGOL]

Here is a thread where "finding an appropriate SEO is discussed".

http://moz.com/community/q/where-do-you-find-an-individual-freelance-seo

[DealWithAutism]

Thanks Laura and EGOL,

So if I understood you correctly, then I am already late and have a fair bit of SEO catch up to do!! My last question is.. where do you think should I land up with my kind of budget. I don't want to get clutched by a scam site promising me x links and SERP 1 in y days.

But I need to know what kind of service should I be expecting from a quality SEO firm for about $250 pm. I know it is probably shoestring, but then again I have heard the some successful firms like Qualified Impressions, etc have starter packs for $200 upwards.

[EGOL]

I am talking about  off-site SEO: PRIMARILY link building, but also social interactions, image and brand building, etc. When would be the right time to start those?

All of those should have been started in the planning stages.

If you want links, social interactions, brand building, etc... all of that was best planned before you even decided upon the topics of your content, selected keywords, started writing, or determined the navigation structure and internal linkage of your website.

[DealWithAutism]

Thanks EGOL,

You are right, but as far as on-site SEO is concerned, I have tried to do due dilligence (to the best on my knowledge, which is probably intermediate) from the start - right from niche selection.

All KWs carefully researched, content built in an engaging and page-optimized way. Structure is easy to navigate, etc. Off course there are opportunities for improvement, but I guess it should be pretty much under control.

I am talking about  off-site SEO: PRIMARILY link building, but also social interactions, image and brand building, etc. When would be the right time to start those?

[LauraSultan]

In my opinion, the best time to start investing in SEO is when a website is in the planning stages and throughout the development process.  Technical and structural issues can have a tremendous effect on how a site performs in search.

While you are actively developing content, it's a good idea to engage an SEO provider to work with you in the process.

[EGOL]

In my opinion, SEO should have been started in the planning states of your project.  Before you started writing content and before you published anything.

Keyword research, website structure, style of coding, content topic selection, are all things that can be optimized by an SEO.

So, instead of thinking about $250/month.  I would think... "I got  $3000 for 2015" because a healthy spend on planning now might save you from doing some of the work over again.... or allowing it to persist in a suboptimal form.