I have had a number of conversations over the past couple of days that have really motivated me to try and dispell some Search Engine marketing myths, so here goes:

1) A one off attempt at search engine optimization is not going to have a dramatic impact on your natural search engine rankings.

2) If you are paying a company $100 per month on an ongoing basis to optimize your website, stop right now. If you are in any type of competitive industry, this level of investment will not make the slightest bit of difference on your business. Spending money on search engine optimization at this level is quite simply a waste.

The bottom line; if you operate in a moderately to very competitive industry online, and if you are unable or unwilling to invest at least $2,000 per month for at least 6 months on search engine optimization, do not even bother. Harsh, but true.