Good points. I like what you said about budgets – “if that” with the small budgets. I know many web designers get SEO. I just can’t believe how many websites get made without it.

As a freelance web developer I get a lot of small business owners asking about SEO, and unfortunately they often don’t understand what it takes to gain a top ranking. Most importantly, they don’t realize how much time and research goes into the SEO process – they simply expect that I can magically make their website appear #1 in Google for any number of keywords.

My advice to my own clients has always been the same – if you’re really serious about SEO, you need to hire someone who does that full time because that’s not my specialty. It would be unethical for anyone (including me) to accept money for ongoing SEO services if the proper time wasn’t invested.

On the other hand, you can’t simply blame web designers for trying when these businesses won’t pay appropriately. Large SEO firms obviously have the expertise and resources – but they can cost thousands of dollars. If a business owner is only willing to pay a few hundred dollars – if that – to appear anywhere in the SERPs, web designers are fully capable of delivering basic SEO services.

I think the issue here is one of quality – you get what you pay for. A good SEO firm is definitely worth the money, but a web designer can deliver modest results for a modest price.