For entrepreneurs, their websites hold one of the keys in providing them the leverage to gain success in the industry that they are in. A website will act as a lifeline of their business since this will help them make a mark in the business world, reach their target audience, close sales, and earn revenue. However, in order to gain success in the competitive platform of online business marketing and advertising, these online business owners need to have their websites on the top pages of search engines. Can you imagine the turnaround this can have on your online business?
Ranking high in search engines will mean that a website should be optimized. But the process can be very complicated and tedious. Search engine optimization needs time, skills, effort, tools, and best of all the technical knowledge to handle the algorithms of search engines. This is why many entrepreneurs turn to SEO firms. The cost of SEO services may vary and depend on the specialization of the firm in a particular field.
Because there are different types of business needs and services, I have decided to write this article to explore the varied current pricing and costs of typical SEO service providers. Why are SEO firms having different pricing? What is the difference between SEO service that costs a few hundred dollars and a service costing thousands? It might be very difficult to explore all the pricing trends since there are a great number of SEO firms competing in the marketplace today. Nevertheless, I will help you understand the costs you might face if you want to outsource your SEO needs from a SEO firm.
Before we go to the cost of SEO services, you need to recognize what you want to achieve with search engine optimization services. Your goals will be the determining factor when considering the type of service and at what level you must buy. Whether you want to submit your website to search engines, create targeted keywords from search engines, reduced cost of pay per click advertising, start pay per click advertising, or increase conversion rates, you will have a varied level of SEO service, as well as its cost.
SEO Service Levels and Cost
So, how much does it really cost to avail of SEO services? By now, you must have realized that there is no fixed cost for these services (it depends on your goals for optimization, the level of services, and the expertise of the SEO company) for different SEO firms. However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared to face the cost of SEO services. Since you need it, you should be aware of the prize (whether cheap or expensive) it comes with.
Before I give you an idea on what you should expect to pay for SEO services, you need to understand how SEO companies typically price their services. Rand Fishkin, the founder and CEO of SEOmoz, briefly discussed the 7 most popular SEO pricing models in his article SEO Pricing and Cost- What Should You Charge/How Much Should You Pay?
Let me share to you the models Fishkin discussed in the article.
- Hourly Consulting. Charging by the hour is the simplest and easiest mode to price project. The rate will vary to the people you consult with. Entry-level consultants may charge $40 to $50. On the other hand, middle level SEO specialists will price their consultancy $100 to $200 while top and advanced SEO experts and firms will charge $300 to $500.
- Project-based Consulting. Some SEO firms will charge a flat fee by chunks over the course of the project.
- Contract Services. SEO firms can offer a number of individual services that come with a single price for a given amount of work. But, the prices of the services offer can be altered and customized to suit several factors.
- Standard Profit Sharing. Some SEO service provider offer profit sharing-based payment. This includes a small down payment to begin the SEO work and a proportion of revenues (more often than not prior to non-essential expenses) from sales through the website.
- Modified Profit Sharing. This model has some changes from that of the standard profit sharing model. Modifications may involve a clause that provides the SEO firm a portion of the profit before any expenses, allows them to set minimums of payment, and more. Both the SEO provider and those seeking their services should be aware of any profit-sharing deals. This should be treated like a business partnership and should be given the necessary attention.
- Monthly Retainer. There are several SEO companies make use of basic monthly retainer with a regular workload package with several options. This is good for firms who would like to keep clients for a long period of time.
- Pay for Rankings. “This is one of the more interesting strategies that SEOs employ.” The idea behind this model is that the price to pay depends on the page or ranking that is achieved. This model is usually used by firms who use specific terms and phrases that convert quickly and brings a website to obtain high page rank.
- Pay for Traffic. Just like pay for rankings, this model base payment on search engine traffic.
Again, you have to remember that when availing of SEO services, there are factors that will affect your payment. The factors are: size and intricacy of your website, size of your brand and company, difficulty of project (competition of rankings), and the reputation and demand of the SEO firm.
Here are Rand Fishkin’s take on the general pricing trend on common SEO services.
Services:
A = Site Review with Consulting
B = Hands-On Editing of Pages/Code
C = Manual Link Building Campaign
D = 1-Day SEO Training Seminar
E = Keyword Research Package
F = Viral Content Development and Marketing
G = Web Design, Development, and Marketing
H = Monthly Retainer for ongoing SEO
| SERVICE | Low End | Mid Range | High End |
| Site Review with Consulting | $500 | $2500 | $10,000 |
| Hands-On Editing of Pages/Code | $2000 | $10,000 | $50,000 |
| Manual Link Building Campaign | $500 | $5000 | $20,000 |
| 1-Day SEO Training Seminar | $750 | $4000 | $12,000 |
| Keyword Research Package | $$100 | $500 | $2000 |
| Viral Content Development and Marketing | $1000 | $7500 | $20,000 |
| Web Design, Development, and Marketing | $5000 | $25,000 | $100,000+ |
| Monthly Retainer for ongoing SEO | $2500 | $7500 | $20,000+ |
Rand’s general take on the SEO costs can have wide discrepancies. Nevertheless, this general trend that he shared with us can help us. Although there is no definite standard on how to quote SEO services, it is better to be familiar of the prices that is trending in the SEO service arena.
Now, how much are you willing to pay for these services? How far do you want to go in terms of SEO services in order for your website to be optimized for organic search and to increase the amount of relevant, high-quality traffic that comes to your website?
This is very good seo information , thanks for share seo information , I Like it .
Comment by gyan infotech — December 14, 2011 @ 11:20 pm
An excellent post. It that is necessary to me for advancement of my business.
Comment by Helga — December 19, 2011 @ 4:04 am
The another big depending feature to pricing is the type of company you’re buying services from.
Comment by Cheap SEO India — January 4, 2012 @ 12:26 am
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Pingback by SEO Set to Dominate B2B in 2012 | New Blood, Inc. Blog — January 9, 2012 @ 3:10 pm
Thank you for providing fresh insights into some available SEO Services. I intend to try out some of these services in the nearest future.
Comment by Jan — January 15, 2012 @ 9:30 pm
really very helpful article for me, Thank you so much
Comment by SEO Services Chandigarh — January 18, 2012 @ 10:10 am
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Comment by manoj143 — January 27, 2012 @ 12:11 am