I see alot of people on SEO forums talking about their clients. Is doing SEO for others a good business? I am curious as to what business models people use. Do you charge by the hour, or use something else? Also, do you design/build/host their websites for them? I'd like to get into this business, but I am interested in what others have had success doing. Thanks!
I've been involved with just SEO based consulting type work and in whole package, design/develop/host/market work, I'm not sure either one is better. The second is probably more stable, but requires more resources. and as far as charging, I ussually use an hourly rate to come up with a flat per-project quote.
I'll mainly do just SEO for my clients. Several of my clients like to have multiple websites, and they'll ask me to design it for them. That's an additional side business. How I charge: I charge either monthly or yearly. I always let the client know up front the do's and don't's, as well as the "no guarantee" and that Google takes longer to "notice" your site (sandbox), so they're always aware of all possibilities of not making a gazillion dollars 2 weeks after they sign up with me. I also work on sort of like an affiliate model. I bring in "X" amount of traffic and I get "X" amount of dollars. This model works extremely well as there's no risk on their business and I have the chance to make loads of cash.
I just do SEO for a hobby but I do it for other people and money. So I dont really care about having a set price or anything I just charge whatever I feel like quoting that day. Normally pretty cheap since I do it as a hobby and dont NEED the money. But I always try to stay away from any jobs requiring web design or programming. Unless I am just recommending on how that changes and they do the work. All the jobs I do I tend to keep simple like doing keyword research, title tags, description, optimizing content, and link building. On average I would say I charge around $60/hr.
i do SEO for the fun of learning new things, if a client ask me to design/manage a site for them i pretty much apply the basic SEO to the site anyway at no extra cost. I do the basic SEO for free simply because it does not add any real time into making/managing the site and it impresses the client when they suddenly see a boost (even if its small) in traffic, and if they are nice they will give ya a bit extra cash anyway
I offer both SEO and web design services. With a new client I get first all their info what they want or expect and then I tell them a fixed price. In regards to SEO there is fixed price on KW analyses and the on-page optimization work while the "link popularity boost" is based on monthly subscription.
I have not met a pro seo person that has much of a clue as to really how it works. There are people like Jenstar (everytime I have a confrence call or have met with a google person they always rave about her) that have massive ins at Google and really know info. Then there are people making buckets of money that really understand it. The first time I meet a seo professional that shows me his adsense/affiliate/rankings that is impressive is the first time I will pay for his services.
I used to seo services for other people but as of this update no more, probably at least, at least no more new people if you can build sites and promote them its stupid to do it for other people its so much more enjoyable to make your own sites, and its mostly more profitable unless you are a great sales person and marketer and can get the big clients that pay thousands a month. But even then you have to answer to them if the rankings screw up, which they most likley will eventually
Jenstar is indeed well respected but that's for her expertise, experience and familarity with contextual advertising, starting with Adsense and continuing to YPN, Chitika etc. Contextual advertising is what her blog is about, that's what she moderates at WW and SEW, and that's what she speaks about at conferences. (Though I don't doubt she knows a bit or two about SEO)