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The High Price of Cheap SEO: Why Budget SEO Can Cost You More

A visually striking comparison of cheap SEO versus quality SEO. The left side, labeled "Cheap SEO" in distressed red text, features a broken, glitchy website, flashing red warning signs, and a desperate business owner holding an empty wallet while looking at a steeply declining red graph. The right side, labeled "Quality SEO" in bold green text, showcases a sleek, well-organized website with glowing positive analytics, an increasing green graph, and a confident business owner shaking hands with an SEO expert. The background clearly divides failure on the left from success on the right, reinforcing the contrast between ineffective and high-quality SEO strategies.

Would You Buy Gas Station Sushi?

Imagine you’re starving and walk into a gas station. You see sushi for $3.99. A deal, right? But deep down, you know better. You hesitate, but the price is too tempting. Fast forward a few hours, and now you’re sweating, regretting all your life choices, and making emergency trips to places you’d rather avoid.

That’s what happens when businesses opt for cheap SEO vs Quality SEO.

On the surface, it looks like a smart financial move—low cost, big promises. But soon, your site rankings drop, your traffic vanishes, and the company you hired disappears faster than a bad Tinder date.

Meanwhile, smart business owners work with Strottner Designs, an award-winning SEO agency that delivers long-term results, not just flashy promises. If you’re serious about growing your business, let’s talk about the real difference between price and value in SEO.


1. Price vs. Value: What’s the Difference?

A cheap service and a high-quality service may both check the same basic boxes, but the difference is in the results. A $5 burger and a $25 steak both fill you up, but one leaves you satisfied while the other leaves you questioning your life choices.

In SEO, price is what you pay upfront. Value is what you get in return.

The reality? Cheap SEO is cheap for a reason. Low-cost providers cut corners, outsource to under-qualified workers, or use automated tools to spam search engines. These tactics don’t just fail—they often backfire, costing you more in the long run.

At Strottner Designs, we focus on value: sustainable SEO strategies that generate real, measurable business growth. That’s the difference between investing in your success and simply throwing money away.


2. The 5 Biggest Risks of Discount SEO

1. Black-Hat Tactics That Get You Penalized

Cheap SEO often relies on link farms, keyword stuffing, and AI-generated spam—all tactics that Google actively penalizes. When Google catches on (and it will), your site can plummet in rankings or even be removed from search results entirely.

2. No Transparency = No Results

Many budget SEO providers operate in the dark. They promise “amazing results” but never explain their strategy. When rankings don’t improve (or get worse), they disappear or blame “Google updates.”

A quality SEO partner, like Strottner Designs, keeps you informed with data-driven reports, clear strategies, and full transparency—so you always know what’s working and why.

3. Automated, Low-Quality Work

Many low-cost providers rely on automated tools that churn out low-quality content and spammy backlinks. The result? Blog posts that read like a robot wrote them and links from sketchy sites that hurt your credibility.

Meanwhile, real SEO is handcrafted. Strottner Designs creates high-quality, strategic content and builds authoritative backlinks that boost your rankings the right way.

4. Short-Term Tricks, Long-Term Damage

SEO is a long game. Quality strategies take time to build momentum, but they continue delivering results for years.

Cheap SEO promises overnight success, but those quick wins are usually illusions—and when Google cracks down, your rankings crash. It’s like a crash diet: rapid weight loss that comes right back, leaving you worse off than before.

5. The Real Cost of Fixing Bad SEO

A San Antonio business recently learned this the hard way. They hired a discount SEO firm promising “guaranteed first-page rankings” for just $300/month. What happened?

  • Their website was flooded with spammy backlinks, which Google flagged.
  • Traffic dropped by 80% in six months.
  • They had to hire Strottner Designs to clean up the mess—at a cost that was quite a bit higher than if they had invested in quality SEO from the start.

3. What Real SEO Looks Like (And Why It’s Worth It)

Quality SEO isn’t about tricks or shortcuts. It’s about building a strong foundation that increases visibility, drives qualified traffic, and converts visitors into customers.

At Strottner Designs, we focus on:

  • Custom strategies tailored to your business (along with clearly outlined SEO packages for most budgets)
  • White-hat SEO techniques that follow Google’s best practices
  • High-quality content that builds authority
  • Clear, transparent reporting with measurable results

Good SEO isn’t an expense—it’s an investment. And like any solid investment, it pays off over time.


4. How to Spot a Bad SEO Provider

Not all SEO providers are created equal. Here’s how to separate the pros from the scammers.

Red Flags of Bad SEO Providers

  • “Guaranteed #1 rankings” – No one can guarantee rankings, period.
  • Dirt-cheap pricing – If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
  • No case studies or testimonials – A quality provider can prove past success.
  • No transparency – If they can’t explain what they do, run.

What to Look for in a Quality SEO Provider

  • Proven experienceStrottner Designs has 20+ years of expertise.
  • Ethical, white-hat strategies – We don’t take shortcuts; we build sustainable growth.
  • Transparent communication – You’ll always know what’s happening with your SEO.
  • Results-driven approach – We don’t just get you rankings; we get you customers. If we aren’t providing an ROI, we’re the first ones to recommend a change.

5. Why Strottner Designs is the Smart Choice

At this point, you have two choices:

1️⃣ Go cheap, risk penalties, lose traffic, and eventually pay more to fix the damage.
2️⃣ Invest in quality SEO from the start and see sustainable, long-term growth.

At Strottner Designs, we don’t just “do SEO”—we build strategies that help businesses thrive.

We’ve helped companies across San Antonio and nationwide increase their online visibility, attract more customers, and grow their revenue through expert SEO.

If you want SEO that works—and keeps working—let’s talk.

Get a free consultation today – Contact us!


Final Thought: Do It Right, or Do It Twice

SEO isn’t where you cut corners. Go for the gas station sushi, and you’ll pay for it later.

Choose Strottner Designs instead—because real SEO means real results. Your business can’t afford for you to choose cheap SEO over quality SEO practices, and we’re easily reached at support@strottner.com.

Audit your site right now, using the tool found on every page of OUR site, and see how your most important piece of marketing is working for you!

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