Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the art and science of making your website attractive to Google so it will rank you near the top of search engine results when someone is searching for your products or services in your area. In more practical terms, SEO puts your website in front of people who are searching for your services. 

Many discount or overseas SEO agencies promise overnight results for rock-bottom prices that seem too good to be true. They almost always are. It is common for these SEO agencies to use black hat SEO tactics that may give you a quick bump, but open you up to penalties from Google – leaving you worse off than when you started. 

If you’re serious about SEO for your website, be prepared to invest a minimum of several hundred dollars a month for at least three to six months to see real results. The best website design companies will account for SEO groundwork in their standard website packages and offer SEO services once your website is finished so you can begin to get it in front of the right people.