SEO How much does it cost?

Happens all the time... many companies have no interest what-so-ever in doing it themselves... either learning or hiring in house.

 

That's what I find. Most smaller companies are technicians. It's a plumber who knows plumbing, or an architect who knows design, or a lawyer who knows the law.

What would be the point of them learning to do it themselves? Because eventually you have to do the work you're paid for. And there are very few successful businesses where the CEO does every job possible from cleaning the office to meeting with clients.

I find that many of my clients feel like what I do is almost like magic. They don't have the time, inclination or skills to rank well. Many of them can barely surf the internet, and type up a word document, much less find relevant link partners, and the best ways to link with them.

But, my other consulting business is in marketing, and I find most of them are even more clueless about good sales and marketing.

M

 

Well, i think the best way for SEO is to search internet for related tutorials, tips and tricks, guides... There are many useful informations, videos, software that's completely free!

 

For business owners the time to learn and implement SEO is most certainly NOT free....

Do not be fooled into thinking you are getting anything FREE. Your time is money. Time spent learning and implementing marketing strategies is time that could be used to further develop your offering in the 'continuous improvement model'

I own a web design AND a SEO company. I have a staff of over 20. I also outsource a great deal of our work. Why? It is not profitable for me to be carrying out certain duties/aspects of the daily business.

So even as a professional SEO, I don't have time to 'Do it myself' because my time is most certainly not FREE.....

These are the decisions one makes in business that can spell success of failure

 

Hi Dear,

you did not mention here about your site bcoz knowledge of your site it is difficult to tell about seo market prices.

 

$5-1,000,000. Depends on whether your hiring a crook or a real seo. Seomoz is the most affordable seo service site for what you get. And they are around 100,000 I believe. Good seo doesn't come for $500. The going rate?? Depends on the nut offering it. Good seo is not cheap even if they are from India.

 

Paying huge gobs of money does not mean you will get huge results. You have to shop around very carefully. The flip side, unfortunately, is that if you pay tiny gobs of money, you probably won't get very far. Money, carefully spent is well-spent.

Personally, I can't see getting very far in an even moderately competitive search amrket for under US$5000 in the first year, and at least some expenses after that. In most cases, I would think $7500 - $12,000 in the first year is more realistic. If you are careful to hire someone who focuses on your long-term results, this money will be well-spent.

 

man that is SO SO SO wrong and far off hte mark. Shall I tell you what happened to my client sites during the Florida and other updates? they went UP! LOADS of people complaining about shattered rankings etc, but I saw very little if any damage. WHY do you think that is then?

Because every single day, I am taking time to understand what the search engines are doing, what patents are being registered, what technology is being created etc. I then have to try and get my head around how these new technologies can be incorporated into search engine algorithms. Next I have to consider all the possible ramifications of this action. Then I make sure that my client sites are future-proofed.

LSI, Local rank, hilltop, hits, etc, are all little elements that many of the 'cheap' SEO's have no knowledge whatsoever of, most business owners even less.

WHERE do you think the knowledge that is filtered down through forums such as DP, Highrankings, searchenginewatch etc comes from? Do you think it suddenly appears from NOWHERE? LOL

This information filters down from the 'overpriced' (as so many refer to them) SEO companies and individuals. Without these people business owners would not be able to 'search on the Internet and find lots of FREE information'. NOTHING in life is truly free, it just means that YOU did not pay for it, but there is a cost elsewhere.

I and many other quality SEO's are building in stuff into client sites in readiness for possible changes in the algorithms, making sure the sites are future-proofed. Then, when the shit hits the fan , all those who have self SEO'ed will hit the forums and all ask the same question.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY RANKINGS.

Who are normally the ones with the answers? In most cases it is these overpriced SEO's, or people who have moved from SEO to running their own sites again

 

OWG - that's a hoot M8. I have nick named it 'Predictive SEO' around here. Meaning, as you put it, to be almost ahead of the game. Know your history and keep your ear to the ground ( and then test and talk etc..)

Nice one there.... we must collaborate on a Blog post(s) on 'Predictive SEO' - hmmmmm

Anyways, I noticed the LSI reference... I myself chased that 'relevance' train for quite some time. Over the last year or so there has been numerous patent on Phrase Based Indexing and Retrieval. I think I ran into it via BliilSlawski, anyways, I went nuts on the patents and related works. Brett (Tabke) brought it up on WMW last week and we had a pretty good go at it there...

Others such David Temple and even Quadzilla have shown interest in the potential for this being a 'playa' -

Anyways.. here is a list of Phrase Based Optimization resources. If you liked the whole LSI thinking... you'll love this stuff.

 

From $ 10 to $ 10 K per month

it's all on the SKILL and Experience.

 

Ive tried working with a client on a commission basis, they got no work from thier original site, i have "worked on it" for six months and got a percentage of all new business generated from the site in that time, big gamble but its paid off!

 

I agree for big time business owners, they simply do not have the time. But I'm sure if they knew that they could learn it them selfs and spend a lot less, a large % of them would do it them selfs. But you never can tell.

 

Yeah and if they found out they could learn accounting, business law or network administration - they'd be thier own Lawyer, Accountant and Newtwork technician....

NOT

U see Kit, I know yer young, but REAL businesses are BUILT from professional services that are outsourced. It is only the very small businesses and part-time website owners (and young folks) that really get involved in the DIY. MOst companies already sub out most of their professional services and internet marketing is simply one more.

And I am NOT talking about MFA sites or other 'monetization schemes' - I am talking about actual companies with products and services ( and employees)

You are equating time spent learning as something FREE again. To a business owner, their time IS NOT free... I dare say it is worth MORE to them than my SEO services, or learning them.

And in the end, if some one is doing DIY SEO and trying to run their business at the same time, there is NO WAY they would be able to keep up with a pro like myself (should I be working for the comptition) that has vast experience and ALL DAY just to track down SERPs ...

Many folks that come to us, have already tried the DIY route. They realize professional help is needed and that their core offering (product/service/resource) is suffering with the time spent on the Internet marketing aspects....

My job as an SEO is to try and show a POSITIVE RETURN ON INVESTMENT.. which is something I am fiercely determined in. I never want to COST a client $$. My goal is to MAKE them $$$.

Then the business owner can go about the duties of running that business, safe in the knowledge that the marketing investments will not be a drain, but a positive to the over-all business model....

As a young and up-and-coming SEO - you should start to understand these things as it is essential in relating to your potential clients and understanding your market group....

 

Theseokit,

It is MY job to learn THEIR busines, not the other way around. as Gypsy points out above, business owners need to focus on the job of running the business. Why do you think they employ an accountant? I mean accountancy is just numbers right?

 

Yeah, I understand what your saying. And I agree totally that time is way more valuable. As my time is quite valuable and it is not worth me wasting time for free links exchanges when I can just buy them quicker and for less money and time it would cost me at my hourly rate.

At least its all cleared up for everyone now

 

I guess a list of pricing examples would be helpful

 

All depends on what field of expertise the seo has. My seo specializes in link building so i often hire someone for onsite optimization before him. Visio by the way nice job on that site)))))))))

 

Sometimes also u can catch an seo while hes building his portfolio. Timing and luck also play a role in finding a good seo for a fair price, but alwaysssssssssssssssssssssssss ask for a portfolio and email contacts to verify their work. Now if i could only find the time to start on my big project i can finally show what little i know about seo lol

 

Interesting.. so your clients privacy is of such value, that anyone coming to your site and giving you the APPEARANCE of being legitimately interested, you'd hand over all of their contact information?

NONE of my clients are asked to be 'sales people' for us and deal with inquiries over and over .... we treat our clients data and privacy VERY seriously...

Conversely, should I be your competitor, playing the same game (good ol Phishing trip), thanks for the names and emails of all of your clients... rah rah.. save me some time finding leads... Good show ol chap

Once again, we prove our worth to potential clients without exposing ours, nor clients interests. That is simply bad form my boy

 

it's kind of same thing that many students in colleges and universities simply "believe" what a professor has to say just because he is a professor.

There is no absolute SEO textbook for an absolute result for ranking higher at SERPs in SEs until Google reveals everything. And even if we know all, we probably only find it's a matter of possibility and percentage.

Well controled closed experiments are needed and documented for us to say a couple of hypnoses, but possibly not even a theory in many cases. I wonder how many SEO theories are actually theories.

I like to take things as good advice rather to conclude it's true just because so-called SEO expert said it.

A seemingly right statement doesn't always mean right and accurate. So what I would like to beleive is simply what I experienced or tested. I do respect how other people would see SEOs in their ways. I just don't think "SEO skills" sound right to me. If there is any skill part in SEO, money should never overpower it. Or an innovative link bait can attract millions of people, and that can get your site rank way faster and better than what you could do with HTML and everything you do with SEO. (and that's how Microsofts stole my #1 spot. )

If a well documented journal for SEO experiments exist... I know there are many people who experiment in their ways. But if its not proven by others, it's not so convincing. Does Matt Cutts convince you everytime he says? Or you have to have faith in him otherwise. It's easier for me to decide if I take his advice or not if I can experiment and experience what he says.