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What Will A Good Seo Company Do For A Retainer?

by Tommyg123
5 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi,

A lot of SEO companies work on a retainer. And I can understand why it would need to be an ongoing process

But what would they do for the money?
One way of boosting SEO is blog posting and getting back links. But blogging isn't relevant to all companies. For example a local hairdresser or vets or engineering company. People don't go to those sites to read blogs. And even if they did and SEO company probably aren't experts in those fields to write posts?

So what else would they do?

Thanks
#company #good #retainer #seo
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Tommyg123 View Post

    Hi,

    A lot of SEO companies work on a retainer. And I can understand why it would need to be an ongoing process

    But what would they do for the money?
    One way of boosting SEO is blog posting and getting back links. But blogging isn't relevant to all companies. For example a local hairdresser or vets or engineering company. People don't go to those sites to read blogs. And even if they did and SEO company probably aren't experts in those fields to write posts?

    So what else would they do?

    Thanks
    What do you want them to do for a retainer?

    You just implied SEO isn't a one size fits all which is correct, so, what do you need done for your specific situation in regards to SEO?
    • Does your site need SEO work?
    • Do you need backlinks (doesn't mean blogging)?
    • Do you need the site constantly updated with new content (doesn't mean blogging)?
    • Do you need citations?
    • etc...

    You tell us, what do you need?
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  • Profile picture of the author paulgl
    A retainer and SEO would be ridiculous.

    There's not much of an end game.

    After the fee is "used up," now what?

    I can't imagine any seo would work under that.

    It's a lose-lose situation for the website owner.

    "Sorry, after 6 months your fee is done and we only managed to get you on page 3."

    Now what?

    Charging one price for a service is one thing. A retainer is not.

    It's the difference between:

    "For $50, I will build you 100 links a day for 30 days."

    and

    "I want $50 to start building links. If my work after 30 days shows nothing much better, I will need $50 a day until you get to page one."

    Paul
    Signature

    If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

      A retainer and SEO would be ridiculous.

      There's not much of an end game.

      After the fee is "used up," now what?

      I can't imagine any seo would work under that.

      It's a lose-lose situation for the website owner.

      "Sorry, after 6 months your fee is done and we only managed to get you on page 3."

      Now what?

      Charging one price for a service is one thing. A retainer is not.

      It's the difference between:

      "For $50, I will build you 100 links a day for 30 days."

      and

      "I want $50 to start building links. If my work after 30 days shows nothing much better, I will need $50 a day until you get to page one."

      Paul
      That's silly.

      As If the SERPs are static.

      Just because you're ranking a page today has nothing to do with ranking the same page tomorrow.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tommyg123
    Hi,

    Thanks for replies so far.

    I have an outsourcing company where I design brochures and magazines and logos etc And I'm just expanding into websites and have built a couple of great websites and my clients are now asking me what they should do about SEO.

    Obviously if I can outsource this is will, but not really sure what to advise them. The website is for an engineering company. It is an engineering company that deals in quite boring technical components like disabled handrails, nuts and bolts, stair treads along railway lines etc so doesn't lend itself to a blog. Ok some people might be interested in reading an article on stair cases but not many.

    So what other areas could I start targeting for SEO. That was my question really. So much advice seems to just be for blog style/retail websites. This company only deals with B2B.

    I'm going to start meta-tagging all the images, has location map, might introduce some video but I see this as just good web design etiquette more than actual SEO.

    As for the retainer a lot of the SEO companies I have looked into seem to charge retainers for ongoing SEO. Constantly updating pages/blogs/back-linking etc etc
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Tommyg123 View Post

      Hi,

      Thanks for replies so far.

      I have an outsourcing company where I design brochures and magazines and logos etc And I'm just expanding into websites and have built a couple of great websites and my clients are now asking me what they should do about SEO.

      Obviously if I can outsource this is will, but not really sure what to advise them. The website is for an engineering company. It is an engineering company that deals in quite boring technical components like disabled handrails, nuts and bolts, stair treads along railway lines etc so doesn't lend itself to a blog. Ok some people might be interested in reading an article on stair cases but not many.

      So what other areas could I start targeting for SEO. That was my question really. So much advice seems to just be for blog style/retail websites. This company only deals with B2B.

      I'm going to start meta-tagging all the images, has location map, might introduce some video but I see this as just good web design etiquette more than actual SEO.

      As for the retainer a lot of the SEO companies I have looked into seem to charge retainers for ongoing SEO. Constantly updating pages/blogs/back-linking etc etc


      I hear ya, IM forums all act like content on the web is strictly articles [blah].

      Do all the easy stuff first (on-page SEO), that might include constantly updating a site depending on the clients needs and how large of a site they own.

      You can also browse sites like thomasnet.com and look at similar businesses, reverse engineer what they're doing on the web and/or look directly at the SERPs for keywords that are relevant to the client business and reverse engineer their backlink profiles. Those two things alone could potentially keep you busy with one client for months/years depending on client approval.

      One other technique for backlinks is to try and convince the clients own clients into adding referral backlinks pointing at your clients site/s. That contact might also drum up new business with an old client, you never know unless you ask.

      Bottom line is your client only cares about getting new business, get creative and help them reach that goal.
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