SEO Prices?

[vxd]

Hello All,

I'm looking to get some SEO work done but I'm not sure how much I should be spending or how much I should be getting charged.

The website is just a basic 6 page website with static content. There will be very little update to the content maybe once every couple of months.

I understand it's a very broad question but just really after some basic figures for a small website.

Thanks

vxd

[websitedesigner]

No one will be able to answer this but I would suggest you just find out exactly what you are getting for your money. Here are a few things to consider:

1. There are a lot of companies saying they will get you to the top of the natural listings and they are just talking about adwords. Don't pay these people they are being dishonest
2. Ask the provider to give you a realistic view of what to expect. We don't guarantee we will get people to the front page of Google because we can't. However we tell clients what they can expect. If you can't expect to get to the front page then don't waste your money - spend it on adwords instead.
3. If they are expecting you can get to the front page then make sure its for a term that people are searching for. Use https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeti...uestType=IDEAS to confirm whether people are searching for it
4. Find out whether they will get you to the front page using on-site methods or off-site methods or both. If you are an an industry where all you need to do is optimise your site to get to the front page it will probably be cheap and effective. If you aren't (like most of us) it is likely to be expensive - both initially and ongoing to get you the links you need.

I had a client (small solo business) just last week get as quote for "link building". She is already coming up 5th in Google for a very popular keyword. This would possibly improve her to 3rd or 4th. She was quoted $4,000 and $900 a month.

Hope that helps.

Dan

[Chris Bates]

Dan has given you good advice, although some of it might be clear as mud to you.

Basically take everything with a grain of salt. There are no "1st page guarantees", there is no "secret Google code".

Look for sincerity in ways that Dan mentioned, the provider giving you a realistic view etc.

Cheers,
Chris

[seocourse]

the amount of pages doesnt make a difference regarding how much you should pay or not...

you can pay people to do onsite SEO for you.
That can be done with an SEO for dummies... and everyone is an ONSITE seo expert.
** you can be an onsite SEO expert after reading a free $17 ebook **

the main issue / question is:

What keyword you wan to rank

if you want to rank for "exotic blue banana cake" then I can help you for less than $7 per month

If you want to rank for "Sydney Accommodation" then it will cost you more than $7 per mont ^_^

Check

www.seomonkey.com.au --> very tiny SEO packages for sites that are already ranking

or www.seochef.com.au --> affordable, not fuzz, no hassle, SEO packages.

By the way: I may be close to find the google secret code

[Backup Guy]

All good advice in the previous posts. Can I just add that it is not a one off process and there is an ongoing comittment if you want to maintain it, so the old addage still applies: Test and measure.
You want to know right now

1. How much traffic is comming to you from search engines
2. What is your conversion rate? i.e how much of that ends up in business for you

Then you can review in three months, six months etc to see if the exercise has had a positive or negative impact on your bottom line.

Cheers
Alan

P.S.
By the way I am just starting the process with http://digitaldreams.com.au/ and have been quite pleased so far. They are doing my site at http://www.betterbackup.com.au. It will be a few months before I know how sucessful it has been.

[Carbonite Australia]

My opinion is that you should read up on it as much as possible so that you can take control of it it yourself, or atleast understand what someone else is doing to your website for you.

It does take work, but it also does depends on what your expectations are for your site.

The more you know the more control you have. Its not rocket science and you can do as little or as much as you want.

[marketingweb]

There is some good advice above, especially from Gabriel.

Generally when i'm quoting SEO work I look at:
1) How well optimised the site is currently in terms of onsite. This can work both ways - more problems = more work, but also easy fix problems can equal a ranking jump without much difficulty.
2) What the type of keywords you are looking to rank for - how competitive they are but also if they are locally based (ie "widgets sydney") vs nationally focused ("widgets" on google.com.au) or international ("widgets" on google.com)
3) The strength of your competition. For some words/phrases there are no strong competitors and whoever is at the top is there because noone has done a good job. On the other end of the scale there are some keywords where nearly everyone on the top 5 pages has worked hard on SEO, and it's just that competitive (think mortgages). Most fall in the middle.

One hint about the "per month" stuff, this is where a lot of SEO companies will get you. There is ongoing maintainence to be done, but normally it will require more work up front and then less work as maintainence. Prices should reflect that - a lot of SEO companies take a bit of a hit upfront and work more than they are paid to get you to the top, but then do very little work ongoing but keep you paying month after month.

Also beware - I have recently come across a neat trick that a lot of SEO companies are using that allows them to "turn off" your link juice and send you dropping in the rankings if you stop paying. I'm NOT going to let out what it is on a public forum (I don't want to be hated), but just be aware that this sort of thing is out there. For the record I don't use this tactic and all links built are genuine.

Pricing wise - To be blunt, anything under $100 won't get much "real" work done and will generally just pay for someone to run an automated linkbuilding program that won't help much.

Generally my prices would range per month initally anywhere from $100 - $2500 depending on how much work needs to be done and how competive the industry. Let me know if you would like a completely no obligation quote on your work. - Email matthew@marketingweb.com.au