How much should I charge this local bedding client for SEO work...

[invincible]

Hey guys

I've teamed up with a friend who does web design and we've got a local client (UK based) who wants some SEO work done on his site. He sells bedding and specialises in hungarian goose down material pillows, duvets and quilts.

I've been asked to give a quote and breakdown of the work I will do to get the website ranked for terms such as goose down duvets, goose down quilts and goose down pillows. If the client is satisfied, I could then offer him another deal for more competitive terms.

Since this is my first SEO job I won't be charging over the moon. I was thinking a set up fee of $800 and $200 per month thereafter. Alternatively, I could price it monthly without a set up fee, so it would look like say $400 per month (I would set a 3 month minimum contract to avoid the client running), that way it's easier for the customer to get started and I can spread out the workload and make the monthly cost seem worth it.

My question is, do you think these prices (works out to $1200 over 3 months) is a decent price to quote for the terms I'm looking at optimising his web site for (goose down duvets, for example, gets 8100 local monthly searches and has 184,000 exact (quoted) search results). Also should I charge a higher initial fee or just price monthly?

Thanks in advance for all the advice you guys can give.

Zak

[Look4VGames]

Originally Posted by invincible

Hey guys

I've teamed up with a friend who does web design and we've got a local client (UK based) who wants some SEO work done on his site. He sells bedding and specialises in hungarian goose down material pillows, duvets and quilts.

I've been asked to give a quote and breakdown of the work I will do to get the website ranked for terms such as goose down duvets, goose down quilts and goose down pillows. If the client is satisfied, I could then offer him another deal for more competitive terms.

Since this is my first SEO job I won't be charging over the moon. I was thinking a set up fee of $800 and $200 per month thereafter. Alternatively, I could price it monthly without a set up fee, so it would look like say $400 per month (I would set a 3 month minimum contract to avoid the client running), that way it's easier for the customer to get started and I can spread out the workload and make the monthly cost seem worth it.

My question is, do you think these prices (works out to $1200 over 3 months) is a decent price to quote for the terms I'm looking at optimising his web site for (goose down duvets, for example, gets 8100 local monthly searches and has 184,000 exact (quoted) search results). Also should I charge a higher initial fee or just price monthly?

Thanks in advance for all the advice you guys can give.

Zak

for your first job, im thinking your prices are a little to steep, you should be charging around $250-$300 for that type of search traffic per month, dont require a set up fee but dont make a 3 month contract, make a 6 month contract and tell the client they dont have to start paying you until there site is in the top #20-30 ranks of google, clients are extremely interested in this type of service and often times will sign up without thinking a second thought about the contact; and that way if you feel confident about your seo work, then you will start to receive the money after about a month, with little worry about losing the client.

[Bingo123]

I've considered starting my own SEO business and also tried to think about what I would charge. I thought a solution would be not to charge anything until I get results (i.e. first page of google), and then once I am on there I would determine a price based on what that ranking means to the customers. I mean if you send 1,000 clients a month to a wedding photographer and 1,000 clients a month to a website selling dog food, there is a good chance the wedding photographer will earn more since each sale will be worth more. Therefore the wedding photographer would value your google ranking more. Just some thoughts of mine, but it is a tough one.

[Ashley Gable]

Originally Posted by Bingo123

I've considered starting my own SEO business and also tried to think about what I would charge. I thought a solution would be not to charge anything until I get results (i.e. first page of google), and then once I am on there I would determine a price based on what that ranking means to the customers. I mean if you send 1,000 clients a month to a wedding photographer and 1,000 clients a month to a website selling dog food, there is a good chance the wedding photographer will earn more since each sale will be worth more. Therefore the wedding photographer would value your google ranking more. Just some thoughts of mine, but it is a tough one.

But what is to stop them dropping you once you get them to page 1? Youve already done all the heavy lifting. I would think you would need a pretty air tight contract to do anything like that, and get paid in the end.

[MikeFriedman]

A financial advisor doesn't say, "Hey, you can just start paying me once your brokerage account starts making money."

You will never hear a physician say, "You can just pay me when you feel better."

Newspapers don't tell advertisers, "You can pay us for that ad once you start making some sales."

If you want to be taken serious as an SEO, you get paid for your services up front, just like any other profession.

In my opinion, people who are telling clients that they only charge when a certain ranking is achieved are just afraid to ask for a set price up front. It is an easy way out instead of presenting a price, answering objections, and closing the sale.

Now there is nothing wrong with charging a set fee with bonuses included for achieving certain rankings. However, I get paid for my time. End of story.

That being said, if anything, I think your prices are too low. $200/month is nothing. $200 would probably buy them about one sentence in the Sunday newspaper in most cities.

If that is the price you are comfortable with and feel it is worth your time to work for that much, then it is more than fair.

[yukon]

No doubt $200 is way too low IMO, especially for multiple keyword phrases.

Put the backlinks on your own network & bill monthly for use of your network/services. Put that in a contract, he stops paying the monthly service fee & the backlinks stop ranking the keywords.

Your providing a service, get paid for your time.

What happens when you stop paying for cable tv? You stop watching cable tv (legally ).

[jesseholmes]

You say 8100 local monthly searches? Does he sell his products throughout the UK or just in one city specifically?

Do a search for goose down duvets + city name for much more accurate search volume numbers.

This really doesn't affect how much to charge him for SEO however. What is most important is finding out how many customers is he going to need to not just pay for your services, but to make a positive ROI. No smart business owner wants to break even.

All they care about is making more money, saving money, or making their life easier.

Depending on the competition and how much profit you want to make, I would suggest $400 a month, (try to get a start up fee from him, say start up fees are X, if you think he doesn't like it, waive the start up fee for him).

Make sure you let him know that with SEO, solid results only come after 60 - 90 days but make it a month to month agreement.

[owenlee]

i have seen people charging more than $800...but it all depends on how you neg the price and also how well you present your work...

[Nick Walker]

Originally Posted by MikeFriedman

A financial advisor doesn't say, "Hey, you can just start paying me once your brokerage account starts making money."

You will never hear a physician say, "You can just pay me when you feel better."

Newspapers don't tell advertisers, "You can pay us for that ad once you start making some sales."

If you want to be taken serious as an SEO, you get paid for your services up front, just like any other profession.

In my opinion, people who are telling clients that they only charge when a certain ranking is achieved are just afraid to ask for a set price up front. It is an easy way out instead of presenting a price, answering objections, and closing the sale.

Now there is nothing wrong with charging a set fee with bonuses included for achieving certain rankings. However, I get paid for my time. End of story.

That being said, if anything, I think your prices are too low. $200/month is nothing. $200 would probably buy them about one sentence in the Sunday newspaper in most cities.

If that is the price you are comfortable with and feel it is worth your time to work for that much, then it is more than fair.

Wow, I haven't thought things through like this.
That was a great tip. Thanks.

[MikeFriedman]

Originally Posted by Nick Walker

Wow, I haven't thought things through like this.
That was a great tip. Thanks.

I was going to go with just the short version of the answer which was, "More than that," but I figured I should justify it a little bit.


I also am not a big fan of the "payment for rankings" model. I think it is silly.

In another life, I trained and worked with salespeople. One of the most common struggles I saw them have was presenting price. Some of them would come up with all of these creative ways to skirt around the price. All that does is make the customer feel uneasy about what you are offering.

I know some people will argue that if you are confident you are going to get the rankings, then what is the problem? I would argue the opposite though. I know I am going to get the rankings and that is why you are going to pay me for all of my work up to and beyond that point.

In my business, we also put out quite a bit of money in starting a project. Things like content writing, domain acquisition, and domain hosting do not come cheap. By charging nothing upfront, you are operating in a hole with no guarantee of payment to recoup those costs.

To each their own though.