Hi I design and host a number of small basic websites, got about 100 clients. I was recently asked to carry out some SEO work on a site I'd created a couple of years a go. The site was not one of my best creations so I told the client I would design an SEO ready site from scratch, optimised with the chosen keywords. Quoted him £295 which he was happy about. I know the client well so I have arranged that he makes payment when the site is successful. My dilemma:- This site will be a success, its going to be top of Google or at least on the first page for a number of keyword phrases. These are niche keyword phrases and are quite easy to get results for. I'll get right to the point, how can I make some more money out of this job? Couple of things I've thought about. I want to own the site, the client can use it and get the benefits from it for as long as he wants but when he decides to either pack in the biz or sell it, the site is mine to do with as I please. Can I do this? I will be hosting the site on my server, charging the client around £45 a year. What else could I charge for per month/year to make money from this SEO site, i.e. ongoing SEO work. All comments welcome, Thanks Jay
One going SEO and Optional to your client can be the follow: 1. helping him submit articles every month (unique) 2. helping him submit his site to article directory, craiglist 3. helping him submit to safelist 4. helping him monitor his competitors, and constantly update his ranking and suggesting how to improve his business from time to time. 5. Provide launch service (increase bandwidth for that month if he is launching a new product) and you will help him spread the word around as well. 6. Site maintenance, probably upgrade some banners / design every 3-5 months
Very broadly, on-page SEO alone will not guarantee top SERPs. So, offer to build backlinks for him for a monthly fee. The above ideas are good for backlink building, also consider forum posting, blog posting, Linkvana, building Squidoo lenses, social marketing, etc...
SEO is not a one time effort and therefore would not end with time. You could have him signup for a maintenance package for ongoing SEO work.
Thanks for all the advise, as anybody got any thoughts on me owning the site and just allowing the client to use it for as long as they want to? Jay
It is bad pratice to "own" someone elses site if you design it for them. If and when there is a problem, ownership will become an issue that will result in your client "trash talking" you. For what you are making off of it, it is not worth it. Second, there is more billable hours in SEO-Updating a site than creating a new site. It might be the same end results but it opens up the monthly billing concepts. We make $250 per month (US) for linkbuilding and target ~100 to 250 links per month (without any guanantees). There is also SEO Content writing and submission. And then there is the monthly SEO tuning to offset the competitor's SEO efforts.
Thanks catanich. I suppose I want to own the site because of how much I have made on it, not much. The client will get back the money he paid for the site within 2 paying customers of the service he is selling. If I own it I can sell it on if he finishes his business, in a way I want to rent it to him, as antbody done it this way before? Jay
Hi Jay this is a good question and probably applies to us too. but maybe you just quoted the original site too cheap? after all a website with a guaranteed Google presence has got to cost more than a day or two's work from any web developer would (295) because of the specialist knowledge involved in constructing an SE-Optimised site out of the box?
You plan to own the site and he RENTS it from you is OK but you have to discuss this with him before starting any work (don't just tell him 2 years down the road) All can be arranged And in order to own a site you need to own the DOMAIN otherwise any external SEO done benefits the owner
jswilko you've quoted him a price now so you're stuck with it really. Your idea about owning your clients website is an awful one, and shows how little you care about your clients. For a job at small money like £300, there is no monthly budget so you can forget that. Basically you've blown it, better luck next time
Well one way -- Stop being the middle man. Instead of just designing websites for other people's businesses, create a website for your own business that you sell a product on. When I first started doing this I made almost all of my money through adsense. After a while I realized, I have all this traffic for people looking to purcase a product, and for 10-15 cents I am sending them to someone else, who could be making 20-100+ dollars off a sale. How is that fair to me? That is the day I gave up using adsense on all future sites and developed sites to sell a product. My first website selling a type of hunting camouflage, is doing over 100,000 USD a year in sales, over 40,000 profit. Way more than I would be making if I had adsense on that site.