Hi all...I've bitten the bullet and spoken to an SEO co...They talk the talk nicely, but their pricing structure is performance based...Which is nice, as I suppose the proof is in the pudding...ie: They don't charge until results are achieved, and then there's a maintenance pack after that. Here's their pricing structure, please tell me what you think:..Oh by the way if you're from the US, the rate is approximately 2-1 (100p - 50c)..I'm sure you knew that, but not everyone knows what a 'p' is 25p per 1000 returned results for a page one listing 50p per 1000 returned results for a top 5 listing 75p per 1000 returned reults for a top 3 listing 25% bonus for position 1 This is Google only pleas add a 25% service charge for the same results in other major search engines, individually. Maintenance strategy: Gradual link building and articles plus RSS strategy: £150 per month ($300) ....... It doesn't seem overly expensive...Those prices are for 2 out of my chosen 4keyphrases...What do you think? Regards Mark
Mark If you want an alternative quote, pm me url and details, own a uk based optimisation company. Actually, I think that the pricing structure is fair although it could be expensive if they are dodgy so just read the fine print and make sure that you understand it!
What do they really mean when they say "25p per 1000 returned results for a page one listing". This post is really confusing. SEO fees should usually be for a set amount of work that will lead to better search results. And then provide you with monthly reports on your keyword positions, including updated recommendations for you to implement.
...This is how they explained it to me: At the start we'll take a snapshot of how competitive my keyphrases/words are...If there are gazillions of results returned then the keyword/phrase is more competitive, providing a sliding scale with costs I assume they'll have to do more work if the keyphrases are more competitive - I pay more if the phrases are more competitive, with additional fees for guaranteed results, - a bit more for pr5, more still for pr3 etc etc...They did say that I would'nt be invoiced until I'd reached page one, which I thought was a nice sign that they were willing to do the work and believed in their own ability... I thought it was quite logical actually...Is this not how an seo usually charges??? I thought paying a flat rate for no guarantees was a bit less 'ballsy', which is why I liked this company....Any more advice will be gratefully received. Thanks for your comments so far Mark - Oh can't remember your name, as I'm on the 'writing' screen, but the guy who asked me to PM him...I will be in touch, thanks for the offer...Gimme a minute, I'm off for a coffee.
That's a bad pricing structure since some keywords with 10,000,000 results are easier to rank for than keywords with 1,000,000 results.
The amount of results returned is not an indication of competition. For instance i had a dictionary .org and there were 200 Million results for that word. With about 6 backlinks i was #1 because nobody was competing for the word and the traffic was zero. Yet the term "SEO" has 187 Million results, i'm in the top 20 for that and i can assure you it took alot more work than the example above. Also Google's returned pages are up and down like a yoyo, one week a certain keyword i'm #1 from 150 Million results and the next same position but only 13 Million results are returned. So bad pricing model.
With or without quotes? Either way, I'm not found of that model either. Disclosure: I own an internet marketing company that specializes in SEO.
This is NOT a good pricing model because it depends too much on the selection of keywords. Anyone can rank a gibberish keyword for the #1 position if there is no competition. Make sure you get a list of the keywords the company is optimizing for and ensure that they are relevant and competitive keywords in your industry. You also want to ensure that your organic traffic is increasing because of the SEO campaign. Remember that search engine rankings are a means to an end and not an end in itself. A #1 ranking is great and all but it means nothing if it doesn't drive any traffic to your site.
Everyone here is giving good advice. I would not recommend that kind of pricing based on number of results returned. Some junk keywords are in the millions, but does not get searched, nor drive traffic that converts. You should know your own target keywords best. Start with the free digitalpoint keyword tool.
Take this It took me 6 months of toil to rank for a keyword with competition from just 1,400,000 other sites and guess what it took me only 3 weeks to rank for a keyword (mind you it is a well searched one) with competition from 41,600,000 So be careful with keyword selection by the seo companies when you give them choices Even for the above two keywords of mine, i have found google saying from its search tools that they are heavily searched