I think lots of people pay for SEO, but don't know what they're paying for.  E.g., every day we delete accounts for plumbers, roofers, dentists, keto diets, call girls in Bangalore and plenty more.  I suspect the bulk of them contracted for "SEO" on fiverr.com or similar, but had no clue what they were actually getting for their dollars.

After spending tons of money over the years I found it did nothing for me. What worked/works best for me is a free Google business page. Here is an example. I retired as a RE Broker/Owner so the site link is to my semi-retirement career as a mobile notary. I get far more action from this then the expensive sites I purchased over the years and then spent countless more promoting those sites. Here is a sample of last weeks stats but this is just a snippet of the great demographics I get.... for FREE from Google.

    The game has changed significantly for organic / natural search. Especially Google Search.  Getting to the top of the SERPs for specific search terms and keywords used to be difficult; today it can be next to impossible. 

     If you pay a service or company for SEO, ask for examples/proof.  You might be better off just paying for placement.  If you DIY, do some serious research on what is and is not effective.  

No. Probably best to learn to do you own seo, but no one is going to get rich overnight if by some miracle your website shows up on page one of google. Lots of seo scams out there.

To clarify, SEO, specifically means "Search Engine Optimization" which is the practice is getting your site to rank organically in the search engines (i.e. Google, Bing, etc.). Due to competition, it's quite competitive in most markets to rank for real estate related topics. There are other digital marketing tactics you can employ such as:

1. Social Media Marketing

2. Social Media Advertising

3. Media Relations (creating news and being featured in the news)

4. Paid Search - still costly in most areas, but works a lot faster than SEO.

5. Content Marketing - Blogging / Guest blogging

There are many ways to generate leads and business online, and my recommendation is to learn one that resonates with you rather than pay someone to do it for you. Especially when it comes to social media; people want to hear your voice, not just random posts.

(My background is in digital marketing, so I could go on forever). :-)

OH HELL NO! 

Been there - done that.  I paid a crap ton of money to people that knew less than I did about SEO. 

There are more self-acclaimed SEO experts on the planet than Big Pharma has pills. 

I do it myself ... most people don't want to spend the time doing it their self. That's okay ... just be mindful of who you hire. 

It takes time and dedication to learn SEO and stay current with all the ever-changing changes!

We have people on this platform who are knowledgeable about SEO and where to post for higher rankings. I liked Bob "RealMan" Timm 's idea for having a Google Business Page.

No but there are some people that just don't get it & don't want to. I think the secret sauce here is to pick someone that REALLY knows what they are doing. Lots of people blowing smoke even around here.

It depends what kind of website you have and what you want it to do.

If you have an IDX website and want to get your own leads via search engines, then you have to SEO it - it's the only way to rank on search engines.

If you want to simply have a website with your information and point people to it via other means (social, ppc), then SEO may not be necessary.

Couple of points:

- Basic SEO should be done no matter what. This is done when the site is first created.

- SEO is an on-going process that takes time, so, don't get discouraged if you don't start getting leads in a month or so.

The Steve & Shauna Faught Team, I see that you have IDX Broker.
Even without paying one dollar in SEO, you could add a bunch of specific Saved Links and probably start ranking fo some long tail terms.

By the way, map-only saved links will not rank well (https://listings.steveandshauna.com/idx/linkshowcase).

If you would like to see the type of saved links that do really well, message me directly.

I create content (pages)  that ranks on the Internet.  I can see what pages on Google Analytics they are visiting.  Have never paid for SEO.

No - not a must. In my opinion, web leads are not what they used to be and the cost to stay on page one and compete with the mega buck companies on page one is not worth the name and email address (often false) that you obtain. But the clincher for me is looking up the few individual agents that are ranking high on google on the MLS and seeing how much biz they are doing. In our area the few agents that are spending the time and money to stay on page one of Google for "Bellingham Homes for Sale" or any other high volume search phrase are not doing enough biz to justify the cost.

In my opinion, if you want spend time or money on SEO, long tail (specific) search phrases are much more productive and cost effective. A lot less folks search those types of phrases - but they are further along the process and tend to have a better idea of what they want and are thus a higher quality lead.

I don't pay for someone else to do it but i do buy links. The best links are expesive but worth every penny.

I NEVER paid for SEO and 75% of my business was garnered from my blog and website. The rest was repeat and referral business. 

Steve and Shauna,

Many have piped in.  I am not a fan, and our clients do very well without all that stuff.  They are closing deals and satisfying their income goals.  A

The choice actually boils down to whether one has more time or money.

The SEO worth paying for is provided by organization that deliver analytics on three levels...one being what competitors are doing which includes what associated businesses are doing.  As a real estate agent, most of us do not have the tools or analytical skill to acquire or  apply the data.

Hiring one of  'those' companies, one with deep dive tools to mine FB has proven to be the ONLY marketing an agent needs to do.   The same applies to SEO. However, SEO means the agents must have a 'clue' to keep the vender honest and accountable. If the agent does not know what they want to happen, the can be sure that is what will happen.

I have not paid for SEO.

Websites have fallen out of their place as the go to source.  Spend your money on Social Media instead.