I run a small shop and e-commerce site selling local handmade ceramics and home decor products in Northern Italy. Last week, a local digital agency reached out offering to write 10 "SEO-friendly articles" per month for a monthly budget of 600 EUR. They want at least a six-month contract, so it's a total commitment of roughly 3,600 EUR.
During our meeting, they kept talking about search volume, keyword density, and ranking at the top of Google. But looking at the samples they provided, the texts felt completely unnatural and repetitive, as if they were written for algorithms rather than human readers.
Honestly, what is an SEO article actually supposed to achieve, how does it differ from a regular blog post, and does it genuinely drive sales in a visually driven niche like ceramics? Does it make sense to invest this budget into a content package?