Let me be direct with you. After 18 years in this industry, I’m tired of hearing the same thing: “Can you do my SEO for ₹5,000 a month?” or “My friend’s cousin does SEO for ₹10,000, why are you charging more?”
This article isn’t a rant. It’s a reality check for both SEO professionals and business owners who need to understand why this industry struggles with respect and fair compensation.
The “My Friend Does SEO” Problem
Every SEO consultant has heard this line at least 50 times.
Here’s what happens: A client comes to you after their “friend” failed to deliver results. They’ve wasted 6-8 months and maybe ₹30,000-40,000. Now they want you to fix everything in 3 months for half the price.
Does this make sense to anyone?
When your website needs fixing, when your business needs genuine visibility, why are you looking for the cheapest option? You don’t buy the most affordable car or hire the cheapest lawyer. But when it comes to SEO, suddenly everyone becomes a bargain hunter.
“If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur.”
Why Many Clients Think SEO Is Cheap Work
Let’s understand this step by step:
1. They don’t see the actual work happening – When a website is designed, clients can see the new layout, colors, and images right away. But SEO is invisible. Most of the work—like fixing technical issues, planning content, finding good keywords, and earning backlinks—happens in the background. So, it doesn’t look like much is being done, even though a lot is happening.
2. Too many fake promises in the market – Everywhere you look, people are offering “first page in 30 days” or “guaranteed rankings” for just ₹5,000. These unrealistic offers make business owners believe SEO is a quick and cheap job, when in reality, proper SEO takes time, skill, and consistent effort.
3. They don’t understand what real SEO involves – Most clients don’t realize how much time and work go into genuine SEO. For example:
- A complete website audit can take 15–20 hours.
- Keyword research means studying your audience and competition—not just picking 10 random words.
- Content creation needs research, writing, and editing.
- Link building means building real connections, not buying spammy links.
- SEO isn’t “set and forget”—it needs regular tracking and updates.
4. Results take time—and most people don’t want to wait – This is often the most challenging part. Real SEO takes months, not weeks. But many business owners expect quick results. When progress feels slow, they assume nothing’s happening, even though real growth is building behind the scenes.
The ₹5,000 Expectation Game
“Just do basic SEO for ₹5,000.”
What exactly is “basic SEO”?
If I spend 10 hours on your website in a month (which is barely scratching the surface), that’s ₹500 per hour, for specialized work that directly impacts your business revenue.
A plumber charges ₹500-800 for one hour. An electrician charges similar rates. But an SEO expert with years of experience should work for ₹500 per hour and somehow deliver results that bring you thousands in revenue?
The math doesn’t work. The logic doesn’t work.
“You can’t buy a Mercedes at Maruti prices. Stop expecting premium results at budget rates.”
Why Nobody Wants to Wait 6-12 Months
I get it. Business owners are under pressure. They need results. They have targets.
But here’s what they don’t understand:
SEO is not a switch you turn on.
Google doesn’t work that way. Your competitors have been building their presence for years. You can’t undo their 3-year head start in 3 months.
Think about it differently:
- You don’t plant a seed today and expect mangoes tomorrow
- You don’t join a gym and expect six-pack abs in 2 weeks
- You don’t learn a language in 30 days
Why do you expect your website to rank #1 in a month?
The businesses that succeed with SEO are the ones that understand this is a long game. They commit to 6-12 months minimum. They see it as building an asset, not a quick fix.
My data shows this clearly: Only 6-7% of clients who don’t commit to at least 6 months see meaningful results. That’s because they quit right when things start working.
What Clients Don’t Understand About SEO Value
Let me spell this out because it’s critical:
SEO builds your brand permanently. Paid ads give you temporary visibility.
When you stop paying for Google Ads, your traffic stops immediately. Zero. Done.
When you invest in proper SEO, you’re building:
- Brand authority in your industry
- Trust with potential customers
- Long-term organic traffic that doesn’t disappear
- Content assets that keep working 24/7
- Domain authority that compounds over time
Think about the lifetime value:
If you spend ₹3 lakhs on Google Ads in 6 months, you get traffic only for those 6 months.
If you spend ₹3 lakhs on proper SEO in 6 months, you get:
- Traffic that continues growing
- Rankings that stay (with maintenance)
- Content that keeps bringing visitors
- Brand recognition that builds over time
Paid ads rent traffic. SEO builds equity in your online presence.”
How Long Will You Keep Running Paid Campaigns?
This is the question every business owner needs to ask themselves.
Year 1: ₹5 lakhs on ads Year 2: ₹5 lakhs on ads Year 3: ₹5 lakhs on ads
Total: ₹15 lakhs spent. Zero assets built.
OR:
Year 1: ₹3 lakhs on SEO, ₹2 lakhs on ads. Year 2: ₹3 lakhs on SEO, ₹1 lakh on ads (reduced because SEO brings traffic). Year 3: ₹2 lakhs on SEO maintenance, minimal ad spend
Total: ₹8 lakhs spent. Permanent traffic assets built.
Which business strategy makes more sense?
SEO Does Branding Better Than You Think
People think branding is just about logos and colors. Authentic branding happens when:
- Your website appears in the top results for important industry terms
- Your content answers questions your customers are searching for
- People find you when they need solutions, not just when you pay for ads
- Your business name becomes associated with specific services
When someone searches “best plumber in Mumbai” and sees your website, blog posts, and service pages consistently appearing, you become the authority. That’s branding.
When they only see you in paid ads, you’re just another business spending money.
“SEO makes you the answer to your customer’s questions. Ads make you an interruption to their searches.”
Why Serious SEO Requires Serious Investment
Here’s what proper SEO actually involves:
Month 1-2: Foundation
- Complete technical audit
- Competitor analysis
- Keyword strategy development
- Content gap analysis
- Site structure planning
Month 3-4: Execution
- Technical fixes implementation
- Content creation begins
- On-page optimization
- Initial link building
- Local SEO setup (if applicable)
Month 5-6: Acceleration
- More content published
- Link building intensifies
- Performance monitoring
- Strategy adjustments
- Conversion optimization
Months 7-12: Growth
- Continued content production
- Advanced link strategies
- Market expansion
- Results tracking
- Ongoing optimization
Can you do all this for ₹5,000 a month? No. Can anyone do this well for ₹5,000? Also no.
The Real Cost of Cheap SEO
When you hire someone cheap, here’s what actually happens:
- They use automated tools that Google penalizes
- They buy low-quality links that hurt your Site
- They copy content that damages your reputation
- They make technical mistakes that take months to fix
- They disappear when things go wrong
Now you need to hire someone else to clean up the mess. You’ve lost time, money, and rankings.
The cheapest option always costs more in the end.
“If 6-7 people are offering similar services at ₹50,000 and one person offers it at ₹5,000, trust the market, not the outlier.”
What Clients With Patience Actually Get
My clients who commit to 6-12 months see:
- 150-300% increase in organic traffic
- Better quality leads (because they found you, not ads)
- Lower cost per acquisition over time
- Brand recognition in their industry
- Sustainable business growth
The clients who want results in 2 months?
They usually quit after 3 months, blame SEO for “not working,” and go back to burning money on ads.
The Mindset Shift You Need
Stop thinking of SEO as an expense. Start thinking of it as:
An investment in a business asset that grows in value.
Your website with strong SEO is like:
- Owning property in a prime location (vs. renting ad space)
- Building a customer database (vs. one-time transactions)
- Creating intellectual property (vs. temporary campaigns)
Would you expect to buy prime real estate for cheap? Would you expect it to appreciate overnight? No.
So why expect that from your digital presence?
Why SEO Experts Deserve Respect
An experienced SEO consultant:
- Understands technical website architecture
- Knows content strategy and psychology
- The tracks algorithm changes constantly
- Analyzes competitor strategies
- Creates data-driven approaches
- Manages risk and penalties
- Balances multiple ranking factors
- Thinks long-term business growth
This isn’t “cheap work.” It is specialized knowledge that directly impacts your revenue.
When someone tells you they can do all this for ₹5,000 a month, they’re either:
- Lying about what they’ll actually do
- Have no idea what proper SEO requires
- Will use black-hat methods that destroy your Site
“Respect the expertise. Pay for the experience. Wait for the results. Or keep wondering why your competitors are ahead.”
The Choice Is Yours
You have two paths:
Path 1: Keep looking for cheap SEO
- Waste time with multiple failed attempts
- Damage your website with bad practices
- Stay dependent on paid advertising
- Never build absolute brand authority
- Watch competitors rank above you
Path 2: Invest in proper SEO
- Work with experienced professionals
- Commit to 6-12 month timelines
- Build permanent traffic assets
- Reduce ad dependency
- Become the authority in your space
Which makes more business sense?
Final Words
SEO experts don’t get respect in India because business owners don’t understand the value they provide. They see the price but not the investment. They want the timeline of paid ads with the benefits of organic growth.
It doesn’t work that way.
If you’re serious about your business, if you want to stop bleeding money on ads, if you’re going to build something that lasts – then treat SEO seriously.
Pay fair rates. Give it time. Work with professionals who know what they’re doing.
Or keep searching for that ₹5,000 miracle worker and wonder why your business isn’t growing.
The choice is yours. The results will reflect your decision.
Ready to Stop Wasting Money on Cheap SEO?
If you’re tired of false promises and want to work with someone who tells you the truth about SEO – even when it’s not what you want to hear – let’s talk.
I only work with clients who are serious about 6-12 month commitments. If you want results in 2 months, I’m not your person. If you wish to spend ₹5,000 on SEO, look elsewhere.
But if you want an honest strategy, realistic timelines, and actual results that last?
Contact Adwen Plus today.
We don’t promise miracles. We deliver sustainable growth.
