Need Advice on $1,200/Month Proposal of SEO Company

38 replies
  • SEO
  • |
I had made a recent post about a proposal from an SEO company that costs $2,000 a month, and I realized that the price is just too high for SEO services.

I continued to look around for a more reasonable price, and inquired to about 10 other U.S. based SEO companies total. I got quotations on different ranges, and the best one I got was $1,200 a month, with a minimum 3 month contract.

I wanted to get your opinions if you think that I would be getting the investment value's worth in doing SEO with this company, and if they can help us reach our goals.

As I mentioned in my previous post, the 4 primary keywords to rank for are moderately aggressive, ranging at about $3 a click for the top spot on Adwords. A few of my competitors are pretty aggressive in link building.

The SEO company I am speaking to will offer me the SEO services below on a monthly basis:

2 Content Marketing Links with 50 Social Mentions each
1 Guest Blogging Link
2 Hours worth of Blog Commenting
1 Article Post to a Silo page
1 Blog Post with link to Silo page

That would be pretty much what I will be getting on a monthly basis with this particular SEO company, for $1,200 a month, minimum of 3 month contract.

BTW, I have not anymore included the On-Page optimization and keyword and market analysis, which is a separate and one time cost, which costs $1,000.

Anyways, I am a little concerned about the aggressiveness of the approach, if this type of package can even help me reach my goals, given the competition in the industry. As much as the price is one of the lowest I got (geez, SEO services are really expensive), I was to as well be assured that I can get my investment's worth for these SEO services.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance!
#200 or month #advice #company #proposal #seo
  • Profile picture of the author Weedy92
    Sometimes the lowest price isn't always the best... Also that link work above is not that agressive, and I personally believe that's not enough to rank if the keyword is highly competitive (w/ new site). But I mean it really depends on your site's profile right now, and how long you plan to run with this to reach your goals. Also, really need to see your compeitiors link profiles to get a better understand of what you should be doing to compete with them. Too many factors missing here if you get what I mean, it's hard to give you a solid answer..

    Also 4 keywords, that's $300/keyword you're paying for here.. Depends on the search volume as well to really understand if you're going to see any type of return..

    Lastely, be careful some guys will charge high rates, but some aren't legit and some don't offer real value outside of basic link building. I'll be honest here, the top SEO firm in one city I frequently visit is $500/mth to take a look, $2,000/mth min to actually do any work on it. And the link building they are doing is so basic it's amazing they have clients. Basically they are selling matinance, so make sure you do your homework on these SEO providers.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7029498].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author options
      my advice would be to stay away.

      What you have listed, is in no way value for money.

      Looking at that link profile, they are going to be working around 1 day a month. I run a small seo business and that to me looks like they are taking the p***

      As for the onpage optimisation, its difficult to tell, because you have not listed the amount of pages etc.

      Find someone else.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7029913].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author nik0
    Banned
    Sounds like a total rip off, send me over your keywords and I'll see what I can do.

    Onpage is heavily overrated in most cases. Unless you have a large site where they restructure the whole thing. Also you only benefit well from onpage when you already have juice flowing through the site.

    What they'll do is probably just edit the title of your page and perhaps add a few internal links, you can do that yourself just as well.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7029932].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author risingrank
    that is a total ripped of. You can do this
    1 article / week on your website using a silo structure $5x4=$20
    1-2 guess post / week using highly spun content (must be readable) $2 / article = $8
    get tier 1 web2.0 backlinks from fiverr for each article = $20
    get tier 2 backlinks (comment, profile, wiki) to tier1 using fiverr $60

    all in all for a month, it is about $120 with some work yourself. and you can get better result than the $1200 package. If you really want to outsource it, you can do it for you. pm me if interested.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7029994].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author d0de
      Originally Posted by risingrank View Post

      that is a total ripped of. You can do this
      1 article / week on your website using a silo structure $5x4=$20
      1-2 guess post / week using highly spun content (must be readable) $2 / article = $8
      get tier 1 web2.0 backlinks from fiverr for each article = $20
      get tier 2 backlinks (comment, profile, wiki) to tier1 using fiverr $60

      all in all for a month, it is about $120 with some work yourself. and you can get better result than the $1200 package. If you really want to outsource it, you can do it for you. pm me if interested.
      What on earth...?

      You spent $5 on an article and expect people to read it?

      You think you can get a GUEST POST on someone else's blog for TWO DOLLARS? Maybe if you're talking about some ultra spammy made for adsense blog. The last guest post I wrote I spent a five or six hours writing. It's sitting on the PR6 homepage right now. How many $2 spun guest posts is one PR6 contextual link from a site with massive domain authority worth?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030234].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author mosthost
        Originally Posted by d0de View Post

        What on earth...?

        You spent $5 on an article and expect people to read it?

        You think you can get a GUEST POST on someone else's blog for TWO DOLLARS? Maybe if you're talking about some ultra spammy made for adsense blog. The last guest post I wrote I spent a five or six hours writing. It's sitting on the PR6 homepage right now. How many $2 spun guest posts is one PR6 contextual link from a site with massive domain authority worth?
        As soon as there are 9 more updates on that blog, your post goes in the archives. People have to decide on tradeoffs of time/money for SEO. SEO results are far from permanent, so many people aren't going to invest that much time or cash into getting them.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030240].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author d0de
          Originally Posted by mosthost View Post

          As soon as there are 9 more updates on that blog, your post goes in the archives. People have to decide on tradeoffs of time/money for SEO. SEO results are far from permanent, so many people aren't going to invest that much time or cash into getting them.
          Many prominent blogs have posts that generate and retain a lot of juice when they hit the archives. This is doubly so if you write a guest post that the blog's audience is interested in and wants to link to. By looking at the stats of pages in the archives, I can get an idea of what guest blogging ops are worth my time.

          In any case, the kind of blog that will accept a $2 spun piece of garbage as an article clearly isn't worth bothering with IMO.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030306].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author mosthost
            Originally Posted by d0de View Post

            Many prominent blogs have posts that generate and retain a lot of juice when they hit the archives. This is doubly so if you write a guest post that the blog's audience is interested in and wants to link to. By looking at the stats of pages in the archives, I can get an idea of what guest blogging ops are worth my time.

            In any case, the kind of blog that will accept a $2 spun piece of garbage as an article clearly isn't worth bothering with IMO.
            I'm not disagreeing. To me guest blog posting is a very overused tactic and the really poor websites add about as much 'juice' as an article directory or blog comment.

            I would only support doing a guest post on a blog with lots of traffic and decent popularity. As you said, that will require more work or a bigger investment to make a better article. Still, once you've been burned by algo changes you start to question investing a lot of time and money into a singular SEO tactic. It only takes one adjustment for Google to make it worthless, and they're ALWAYS making adjustments.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030388].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author d0de
              Originally Posted by mosthost View Post

              I'm not disagreeing. To me guest blog posting is a very overused tactic and the really poor websites add about as much 'juice' as an article directory or blog comment.

              I would only support doing a guest post on a blog with lots of traffic and decent popularity. As you said, that will require more work or a bigger investment to make a better article. Still, once you've been burned by algo changes you start to question investing a lot of time and money into a singular SEO tactic. It only takes one adjustment for Google to make it worthless, and they're ALWAYS making adjustments.
              I appreciate your input, I'm still fairly new at this. It just seems to me that guest posting at premium blogs seems like one of the most effective white hat ways to get powerful, contextual backlinks. I recognize the wisdom of your point about algo changes, but it seems to me that these kinds of links are the ones that are likely to stay powerful in future updates. Not certain, but probable.

              Many of the blogs I guest post at have never had a guest post before. I believe in the power of going where others aren't.
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030550].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author nik0
          Banned
          Originally Posted by mosthost View Post

          As soon as there are 9 more updates on that blog, your post goes in the archives. People have to decide on tradeoffs of time/money for SEO. SEO results are far from permanent, so many people aren't going to invest that much time or cash into getting them.
          Exactly 5-6 hours would really not be worth it for me. I mean how can you even spend 5-6 hours on writing a piece of content. I push out 500 words in 15 minutes when I have to, although I'm not a writer but still, it's in no comparison.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030581].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author d0de
            Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

            5-6 hours would really not be worth it for me
            That's probably because your time is more valuable than mine.

            Having said that, 6 hours for a post on a high authority, highly relevant blog with tons of domain authority is competitive compared to the offers I've had to put paid posts on my own niche sites (none of which I've accepted).
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030603].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author nik0
              Banned
              Originally Posted by d0de View Post

              That's probably because your time is more valuable than mine.

              Having said that, 6 hours for a post on a high authority, highly relevant blog with tons of domain authority is competitive compared to the offers I've had to put paid posts on my own niche sites (none of which I've accepted).
              Personally I charge $40 for a PR6 blog post (content included) that stays on the homepage for weeks so maybe I'm too cheap
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030612].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author d0de
                Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                Personally I charge $40 for a PR6 blog post (content included) that stays on the homepage for weeks so maybe I'm too cheap
                Wow, that sounds like a great deal. In fact, it's so far outside my experience that you must be doing lots of clever things I don't know about. I'm glad it's working for you
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030661].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                Originally Posted by csa_dummy View Post

                2 Content Marketing Links with 50 Social Mentions each
                1 Guest Blogging Link
                2 Hours worth of Blog Commenting
                1 Article Post to a Silo page
                1 Blog Post with link to Silo page

                That would be pretty much what I will be getting on a monthly basis with this particular SEO company, for $1,200 a month, minimum of 3 month contract.
                First of all how can a professional SEO company use blog commenting as a major link building technique? Thats a red flag right there to me. Plus the price is just too high for that little work. From that list it looks like you are getting most 2 quality links and no mention of what level of quality


                Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                Sounds like a total rip off, send me over your keywords and I'll see what I can do.

                Onpage is heavily overrated in most cases.
                How in the world is on page "overrated" especially on this board. Is it because you don't provide much of it ?:p

                Originally Posted by mosthost View Post

                Go for it. You seem like you're dying to get ripped off, so you might as well leap in and do it.
                :rolleyes: How so ? He's been asking for suggestions and taking feedback trying to find a good price? Seems to me this is just your usual Anti SEO rhetoric again like it offends you he is even considering spending serious money on SEO regardless of the quality of it.

                Originally Posted by mosthost View Post

                It only takes one adjustment for Google to make it worthless, and they're ALWAYS making adjustments.
                What adjustment in the last five years has hurt in context high authority links? Answer - NONE, NADA and zip. Its time for people to stop pretending that because algo changes have slapped spammy practices and thin content that the whole world of SEO changes every algo update. It doesn't

                Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                Exactly 5-6 hours would really not be worth it for me. I mean how can you even spend 5-6 hours on writing a piece of content.
                Sheesh Nik....Really? You are morphing into a full fledged backlinker

                Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                Personally I charge $40 for a PR6 blog post (content included) that stays on the homepage for weeks so maybe I'm too cheap
                Can't really compare that to the market place outside of IM SEO. In the wider SEO world people don't pay squat for a link that rolls off the page. I can't imagine telling a real business owner who asks me what happened to my $50 link I paid for two weeks ago - "Well it rolled off the page". He'd be calling the BBB.

                Why people buy into that idea is beyond me. Its a practice that is invented by sellers to make more money off their domains. SEO is not a fast result kind of marketing by the time you get some effect from slide off the page bought links they are already leaving the page that has any authority.

                In the case of a network like BMR that had a whole host of domains it worked but for most people only if they kept posting. That model still can work on a collection/network of sites but on an individual link basis I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Its like throwing my $40 down a hole and watching it evaporate in two or three weeks. IF it stayed then yeah you would be way cheap but if it slides of the page then to me its down right expensive.
                Signature

                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030794].message }}
                • Profile picture of the author nik0
                  Banned
                  Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                  Why people buy into that idea is beyond me. Its a practice that is invented by sellers to make more money off their domains. SEO is not a fast result kind of marketing by the time you get some effect from slide off the page bought links they are already leaving the page that has any authority.

                  In the case of a network like BMR that had a whole host of domains it worked but for most people only if they kept posting. That model still can work on a collection/network of sites but on an individual link basis I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Its like throwing my $40 down a hole and watching it evaporate in two or three weeks. IF it stayed then yeah you would be way cheap but if it slides of the page then to me its down right expensive.
                  Now listen you bully!

                  Isn't guest posting rolling of the homepage? And everyone thinks it's legit, so what's wrong with offering that? Besides when it's a PR6 domain you'll know that the page will be at the absolute minimum PR2 or PR3, more probably PR4 or maybe even PR5 but the deeper it will sink the lower the PR will be of course, but $40 for a permanent PR2 or PR3 link that have been PR6 PR5 PR4 for a while is definitely NOT a bad deal.

                  People can also buy the link permanent for $240,-, I have clients that do that, permanent for a life time cause they don't want to keep on paying rent, they just want to make a one time investment.

                  If it has to stay for $40,- then I need to put up at least 50 Outbound links to make it worth it for me, not my style and my whole site would be on risk.

                  You know just as well as me, most people are not prepared to pay well for a permanent link, and in the other thread you mentioned, oh people should never buy a permanent link cause who knows what happens.

                  So what's left? RENT, thing is most people hate renting links, so again what's left?

                  You know what 9 out of 10 serious SEO companies do when a client ends the service contract? They REMOVE all of the links, now that is a great deal, paying $1k+/month to see all your links being removed. So heck I offer a much better deal then that, even when people rent links from me I only unsticky the posts instead of removing it like everyone else.

                  EDIT: My PR6 domains are part of a highly exclusive network that get max 3 posts per month or perhaps even less and I refuse about 99 out of 100 people who want a link there cause their site doesn't fit with the acceptance guidelines.
                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7032597].message }}
                  • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                    Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                    EDIT: My PR6 domains are part of a highly exclusive network that get max 3 posts per month or perhaps even less and I refuse about 99 out of 100 people who want a link there cause their site doesn't fit with the acceptance guidelines.
                    Thank you for that ad. You have entirely missed that this thread is not about link building per se or your services. We didn't need the bolding and my comments were more geared toward the general practice of links rolling off the pages that they were sold as being on. BTW earlier you said weeks not months
                    Signature

                    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7033049].message }}
                    • Profile picture of the author nik0
                      Banned
                      Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                      Thank you for that ad. You have entirely missed that this thread is not about link building per se or your services. We didn't need the bolding and my comments were more geared toward the general practice of links rolling off the pages that they were sold as being on. BTW earlier you said weeks not months
                      Agreed, this is not a sales thread but when people reply to the post that I made that such link is worthless then I feel a need to defend myself.

                      ps even with weeks it would have been a good deal as you can create dozens of pr4 pages with a pr6 domain, which means it would still keep the PR for a long time when the site is structured in a good way. Anyway enough about this.
                      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7033073].message }}
                      • Profile picture of the author Mike Anthony
                        Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                        Agreed, this is not a sales thread but when people reply to the post that I made that such link is worthless then I feel a need to defend myself.
                        Sorry Nik but people who buy PR anything links that roll off have a right to know that it is at the discretion of the seller how and when they roll off. You can claim not to roll them off too fast and that may or may not be what happens but buyers need to be aware that it is a matter of trust in the claims of the seller not a matter of any real protection they have in the offer itself.

                        ps even with weeks it would have been a good deal as you can create dozens of pr4 pages with a pr6 domain, which means it would still keep the PR for a long time when the site is structured in a good way. Anyway enough about this.
                        Youa re being a little misleading . You are not selling them a domain but a link and that cannot create multiple PR4s


                        Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                        Agreed, this is not a sales thread but when people reply to the post that I made that such link is worthless then I feel a need to defend myself.
                        had you not tried to make this thread into a sales vehicle by multiple direct references back to your services there would have been no need for any defense.
                        Signature

                        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7033085].message }}
                        • Profile picture of the author nik0
                          Banned
                          Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                          Sorry Nik but people who buy PR anything links that roll off have a right to know that it is at the discretion of the seller how and when they roll off. You can claim not to roll them off too fast and that may or may not be what happens but buyers need to be aware that it is a matter of trust in the claims of the seller not a matter of any real protection they have in the offer itself.
                          Yes they do need to have trust in it, there will certainly be plenty of people who get of the path that they set their selves in the first place.

                          Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                          You are being a little misleading . You are not selling them a domain but a link and that cannot create multiple PR4s
                          I am talking about the inner pages on my site that will turn into PR4, and that is where their link will end up at for a long time so that would make it a PR4 back link. I don't think I gave the impression that it would turn their site into PR4 or anything like that. Yeah maybe if it matches right with a Google PR update that it will turn into PR4 for a month or so and in the next update drop again.

                          I should have said: I can create multiple PR4 pages with a PR6 domain instead of using the word "You" but I thought it was pretty clear in the context of the message.

                          Originally Posted by Mike Anthony View Post

                          had you not tried to make this thread into a sales vehicle by multiple direct references back to your services there would have been no need for any defense.
                          The thread took a turn, caused by me obvious and one thing leads to another so although due to my own cause it ended up in the situation that I had to defend myself.


                          Anyway, back on topic, I would ask the $1200/month SEO company what those 2 content marketing links are, perhaps they are permanent PR7 links (small chance), but who knows.
                          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7033131].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author mosthost
              Originally Posted by d0de View Post

              That's probably because your time is more valuable than mine.

              Having said that, 6 hours for a post on a high authority, highly relevant blog with tons of domain authority is competitive compared to the offers I've had to put paid posts on my own niche sites (none of which I've accepted).
              When I think of a high authority blog I think of one that updates often. If the site doesn't update that frequently and your post remains on the actual PR 6 page for some time, sure it's probably worth it.

              Only you know what your time is worth
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030893].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author d0de
            Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

            I mean how can you even spend 5-6 hours on writing a piece of content. I push out 500 words in 15 minutes when I have to, although I'm not a writer but still, it's in no comparison.
            Getting guest posts on high authority blogs in the academic or education spheres can be a lot more challenging that just writing a piece of content.

            Research, fact checking, forming an argument, redrafting etc. And then often, you have to make changes to match the tone and outlook of the source.

            Say I pay myself $20 an hour, that's $120 for a link. I've had multiple offers of $50-$80 to publish a post on my niche site where the homepage is PR3 and the domain authority is very low. $120 for a high quality link from an authoritative source that is as far from spammy as you can get seems like a decent deal for me, under my circumstances. If you earn a lot more, it may not be a good deal for you.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030630].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Ben Acharyaa
            Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

            Exactly 5-6 hours would really not be worth it for me. I mean how can you even spend 5-6 hours on writing a piece of content. I push out 500 words in 15 minutes when I have to, although I'm not a writer but still, it's in no comparison.
            Nik, my man you missed the part where dode said pr6. that 500 words article you create in 15 minutes will never make it to a pr6 blog. hence the 5-6 hours of investment. not saying that its worth it. if the blog is hyperactive, that post will hit the archive in no time. it'll be good for traffic tho. you think the article you write in 15 mins will get any traffic?
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030690].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author nik0
              Banned
              Originally Posted by Ben Acharyaa View Post

              Nik, my man you missed the part where dode said pr6. that 500 words article you create in 15 minutes will never make it to a pr6 blog. hence the 5-6 hours of investment. not saying that its worth it. if the blog is hyperactive, that post will hit the archive in no time. it'll be good for traffic tho. you think the article you write in 15 mins will get any traffic?
              Dude I have my own PR6 sites, get your facts straight

              And that post will end up on innerpage just as fast so all that traffic is only a temporary thing.
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7032522].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author Ben Acharyaa
                Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                Dude I have my own PR6 sites, get your facts straight

                And that post will end up on innerpage just as fast so all that traffic is only a temporary thing.
                i'm not sure if you're arguing with me or agreeing with me. i never said that post will get you traffic forever like being in the first position of google. its temporary but it will get you traffic, and traffic that will convert(as in sales).

                You've your own pr6 sites so its understandable that paying big amount or investing a lot of time for guest blogging isn't ideal for you. but not all of us have that kind of resources. and anyway with the article you create in 15 mins, you'll barely see any traffic flow even if its posted in a pr 8 domain.
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7032612].message }}
                • Profile picture of the author nik0
                  Banned
                  Originally Posted by Ben Acharyaa View Post

                  i'm not sure if you're arguing with me or agreeing with me. i never said that post will get you traffic forever like being in the first position of google. its temporary but it will get you traffic, and traffic that will convert(as in sales).

                  You've your own pr6 sites so its understandable that paying big amount or investing a lot of time for guest blogging isn't ideal for you. but not all of us have that kind of resources. and anyway with the article you create in 15 mins, you'll barely see any traffic flow even if its posted in a pr 8 domain.
                  You have no idea about my writing skills :p didn't you read my thread on the other forum, uhu, and how many times you came back to that thread, uhu.

                  Anyway, my deal is the best you can get online. I just heard from a client that he had to pay $250 for 1 single guest post at a PR3 site. They are all lined up and almost begging me for those links. :p
                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7032646].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author retsek
            Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

            I mean how can you even spend 5-6 hours on writing a piece of content.
            If the content is meaningful, original and actually has something of value, then 5-6 hours isn't surprising. Mentality like this in the IM world is why many are crying about Panda hitting them "unfairly".
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7031114].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author nik0
              Banned
              Originally Posted by retsek View Post

              If the content is meaningful, original and actually has something of value, then 5-6 hours isn't surprising. Mentality like this in the IM world is why many are crying about Panda hitting them "unfairly".
              When I was a kid and we had to do some school project and read it for the whole class then I spend 5-6 hours including the visit to the library and that stuff was 5-10 pages. So spending 5-6hrs for one piece of content , research included, I just don't buy it.

              I have one dedicated writer from the US, he puts together a master piece for $8,-
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7032539].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author d0de
                Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

                When I was a kid and we had to do some school project and read it for the whole class then I spend 5-6 hours including the visit to the library and that stuff was 5-10 pages. So spending 5-6hrs for one piece of content , research included, I just don't buy it.

                I have one dedicated writer from the US, he puts together a master piece for $8,-
                I'm fairly new to SEO so I try to keep my mouth shut and listen as much as possible, but as to your last point - no, you don't get masterpieces for $8 from people living in the US or anywhere else in the world.

                Hell, even when I was doing freelance article writing before I got into SEO at all I was charging $30 for a 600 word article and had no trouble (at all) finding clients.

                So no, I don't believe you get quality articles for $8. Maybe they're good enough for what you need them to do, but that is not the same thing as them being masterpieces.
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7033173].message }}
                • Profile picture of the author nik0
                  Banned
                  Originally Posted by d0de View Post

                  I'm fairly new to SEO so I try to keep my mouth shut and listen as much as possible, but as to your last point - no, you don't get masterpieces for $8 from people living in the US or anywhere else in the world.

                  Hell, even when I was doing freelance article writing before I got into SEO at all I was charging $30 for a 600 word article and had no trouble (at all) finding clients.

                  So no, I don't believe you get quality articles for $8. Maybe they're good enough for what you need them to do, but that is not the same thing as them being masterpieces.
                  Let's say I am very happy with this writer and perhaps he under value's himself as he has a very unique writing style that engages people to keep reading. I think I got very lucky with him.
                  {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7033312].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author squadron
    Originally Posted by csa_dummy View Post


    Let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance!
    That seems overpriced for what is at most 1 to 2 days work. I suggest you do a course and try it yourself on one or two keywords and see how you go. If you are going to use an SEO company, here's some questions you could ask them: Questions to Ask SEO Providers
    Notwithstanding Panda and Penguin, the primary factor in rankings for my money is still the quality, relevance and quantity of incoming links. For that sort of money you could buy an aged domain with PR 5 or PR 6 every month and set up your own little link network.

    I notice you have no links in your signature, that would be a start
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030140].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author mosthost
    Go for it. You seem like you're dying to get ripped off, so you might as well leap in and do it.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030215].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    I'm not saying $1200/month is a bad price for SEO. Without seeing the target market and competition involved nobody can say $1200/month is a bad price or good price for SEO.

    I can say without any doubt whatsoever though that $1200/month is a horrible price for that SEO. They are barely doing anything. They should be embarrassed to be offering that to anyone with a straight face.

    And anyone that charges a separate price for onpage and offpage SEO is a douchebag. It is all part of the job. You are either doing SEO or you are not.
    Signature

    For SEO news, discussions, tactics, and more.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030443].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Al amin
    First of all you need to evaluate that offer. Is they offering guarantee? Is your site will be at the top for a long at least for that time to get your money back. And is your targeted keyword worth?

    Thanks
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7030600].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Mr SAI
    Originally Posted by csa_dummy View Post


    The SEO company I am speaking to will offer me the SEO services below on a monthly basis:

    2 Content Marketing Links with 50 Social Mentions each
    1 Guest Blogging Link
    2 Hours worth of Blog Commenting
    1 Article Post to a Silo page
    1 Blog Post with link to Silo page

    That would be pretty much what I will be getting on a monthly basis with this particular SEO company, for $1,200 a month, minimum of 3 month contract.

    Let me know your thoughts. Thanks in advance!
    How comes a SEO company that charge $1,200 a month don't have their own private network to post articles and providing backlink to your site??? It look likes to me that the services you provide you can do it by yourself or hire someone cheaply to do it.

    IMO some link building services in WSO can do ways better than that and a lot cheaper. Go to WSO room and look for some services related to link building or article submissions. Some services looks decent to me.

    Good luck
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7031081].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Eventually the last new thread will be what SEO can I get for $5.

    From $2,000 down to $5.

    Yep, that sounds about right.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7032588].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author FrankRumbauskas
    We had one client paying us six figures per MONTH to rank #1 for a keyword that is one of the most competitive in the world with 1.7 BILLION results! It's so competitive even Wikipedia's result is on page 3 or 4.

    So think twice about turning down someone who quotes $1,200 or $2,000 or whatever. That's on the low end of what many clients pay us, due to the RESULTS we get. If you're getting access to an ultra-high quality private blog network that gets results, it's worth it. And if you're talking about a $3 PPC keyword then I'm guessing you need that kind of SEO power to rank on top.

    All this talk about doing a few guest blogs & writing articles is absolute rubbish unless it's a very low competitive keyword and at $3 PPC, there's NO WAY it's anything other than ULTRA competitive.
    Signature

    New York Times Best-Selling Author
    Certified Google Partner Company
    Fast Company's Top 30 Most Influential People Online

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7032669].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by FrankRumbauskas View Post

      We had one client paying us six figures per MONTH to rank #1 for a keyword that is one of the most competitive in the world with 1.7 BILLION results! It's so competitive even Wikipedia's result is on page 3 or 4.

      So think twice about turning down someone who quotes $1,200 or $2,000 or whatever. That's on the low end of what many clients pay us, due to the RESULTS we get. If you're getting access to an ultra-high quality private blog network that gets results, it's worth it. And if you're talking about a $3 PPC keyword then I'm guessing you need that kind of SEO power to rank on top.

      All this talk about doing a few guest blogs & writing articles is absolute rubbish unless it's a very low competitive keyword and at $3 PPC, there's NO WAY it's anything other than ULTRA competitive.
      Oh come on, I've ranked $3 PPC keywords with a $200 budget. It's all about the kw research and the amount of searches, you can't just say oh it's $3 PPC so it's ultra competitive.

      Besides go read the original post again, and see what the SEO company is actually doing for that $1200,-

      In fact I just checked my rankings for a keyword that I started with quiet some time ago and later on actually forgot about, it's ranking at #12 for a Payday Loans related keyword and I only spend $70,- on that one so far. CORRECTION: I spend a little more on it I remember now, around $150 in total.

      CPC 4,83 Euro
      Exact searches 14.800

      I already got 2 Euro+ clicks for it, so the advertisers pay a bit more then $3 per click
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7032687].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Bryan V
      Originally Posted by FrankRumbauskas View Post

      We had one client paying us six figures per MONTH to rank #1 for a keyword that is one of the most competitive in the world with 1.7 BILLION results! It's so competitive even Wikipedia's result is on page 3 or 4....

      ...a few guest blogs & writing articles is absolute rubbish unless it's a very low competitive keyword and at $3 PPC, there's NO WAY it's anything other than ULTRA competitive.
      I hope you're not serious. A SEO charging 6 figures a month talking about competition in terms of search results? Those 3 figures tell us almost nothing about the competition.
      Signature
      Perhaps an attic I shall seek.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7034594].message }}

Trending Topics