Would you offer a money back guarantee for local seo work

How would the business owner be sure you'd be in a position to give back the money after 6 months...?

I'd tie any guarantee to specific measurable results, not a whim of the business owner. :-)

1. I'd stay away from SEO. And I say that as someone who lists one of his skills as SEO.
2. I'd stop asking on forums and go out and test your ideas on your market instead...

Thank you for the information. I had thought about trying to list if I did not get the website to the first page or the google my business maps listing to the top 5 or something like that. I already do web design and I want to get a recurring monthly income. I am already working on a large lead generation project but that is something that is likely going to take a few months to start making money so I need something I can do for now to keep the bills paid and I thought seo is a good way to get that extra money in while I wait for the lead generation websites to rank. I do web design now but I need more work to bring in the money I need for bills on there. I know I could do good work with seo. I am no expert with seo and that is why I would not charge much but I know that I would be able to give value for the price they pay me on there.

Sounds like a bad idea. I wouldn't do it. Also doesn't come across as you being confident in your abilities. Make sure you deliver outstanding results and you don't have to worry about money-back guarantees.

I don't know about the pricing, but don't offer a money back guarantee on something you can't control. You can control how many links you get. You can control how long it takes to do the work. But you cannot control their results.

How do you know one of their competitors with deep pockets doesn't set their heart on being #1-5? How do you guarantee that Google won't do something so different no organic results will show on page 1? That the business owner doesn't hire a second SEO person, and that 2nd expert messes up everything you do?



Besides, how do you sell position when what they want to buy is sales or appointments?


Like Claude said, only guarantee things you control 100% and sell what they want to buy.

Thank you for the information. I think that I will not offer a money back guarantee. I was only worried that being new in seo would be hard to sell if I did not offer something like that to the people that hire me. I was not planning to guarantee a rank but that they would overall be happy with the work I do and that they would get more customers from the work that I do. Though I see that is not very quantifiable and something that I can easily track.

I really want to get into more monthly recurring revenue and I have had many people that I built websites for that wanted seo services but I never tried it. There is not much competition in the area and I have been able to easily rank many of the websites I built for people without much work only as part of proper on page seo when I built the websites and I thought I would be able to make that a service to people to get some recurring monthly revenue on there.

I may just offer it without the guarantee and see what happens. I want to get some extra revenue to help pay bills while I work on my lead generation websites project. Thanks.

You could have stopped after the second sentence.

So now we're into 'recurring' revenue....? I'm not sure where you are going but you are still all over the place. You are site building and SEO'ing and lead generating...and....

If you know how to build and rank a new site....why aren't you building several sites a week and selling them as beginner sites on site selling platforms???? Do what you KNOW - if you need income now.

Thank you very much. I looked up the google contribute app you mentioned and it looks interesting. I will try that. I think you are right that the easiest ones to get here in the beginning may be the ones that do not have google my business listings because that would be an easier way to prove the results I am getting for them. It looks like you use the app to add the listing to maps then the business owner or you using the google account of the business owner after they have hired you then claim the business and start managing it from there.

I started emailing people I have built websites before in the past to offer to do a seo service and google my business listing optimization and management for $395.00 per month with a $395.00 initial setup fee that I would waive if they sign up for the service by the end of next week. Then I offered a $100.00 per month addon to that if they want me to have a professional copywriter write up to two new pages or blog posts per month for them in addition to the seo work I would be doing on there. I figure for the $395.00 fee per month I would be doing about 3-4 hours of work trying to get their website and listing to rank higher on there.

I do like what you said about not marketing it as seo and instead talk more about the results I would be trying to get for them. In my email I talk more about getting them more calls and leads to work to get them more customers instead of detailing it as a service doing seo on their website online. I am doing this in addition to the lead generation websites I am working on as I want to make some extra money while waiting for those to rank though I am also looking into paid advertising like pay per call on google online.

This time of year is usually slower for my web design business so I am trying out lots of different ways to make extra money to pay the bills while working on the lead generation project on there. Thanks for the information you posted on here.

Thank you for the information. I tell you what. The more I read and reread these posts I am getting more and more interested in trying this method. I have already started working on copy for emails as I am going to try it via email instead of walking into businesses. I know it may not be as effective but I want to go with what I am most comfortable with for now. I am going to email business owners and pitch it to them on there. That is pretty awesome that you are able to use it for a main source of income for your business. That helps motivate me to try it.

For now I am going with the $395.00 initial setup fee with $395.00 per month with a recommended 3 month initial run for the service on there. I am offering to waive the initial setup fee for those that move forward within the next week or two. I have found that offering a discount for moving forward quicker has helped get people that like to think things over for a long time to instead move forward quicker or at least that has helped with my web design work.

In my experience there is no upkeep required though it is recommended to keep working on it to try to keep it ranking higher online but you can have it listed and then leave it alone if you want on there.

Advice from someone who does this for a living:



Your plan:



Emails are easy to ignore. I'd advise you to expand your comfort level.

I am going to take his advice but I am going to try it via email first. If it does not work then I may try doing walk ins for it. This time of year is busy for many businesses and I do not want to spend time doing cold walk ins especially as many businesses around here have no soliciting signs up. I will use the contribute app and add listings then do the option to have google mail the card like he recommended and contact the business owners by email to try to market the service on there.

Let us know how it goes for you. Good luck.

Thank you for the detailed information. Ok I am going to try to get over my low comfort in doing walk ins and try this out. Do you think that this method would possibly work better after the New Year? I have found that businesses this time of year are not really thinking as much about websites and search engine ranking as they are really busy due to the holidays on there. My web design work often is slower this time of year then picks up around tax time. I am not trying to put the work off I just want to time it right. Do you find that businesses are open to this type of thing this time of year? I really do thank you for taking the time to help with the tips and information. It is making a big difference in how I look at my business and the strategies I am starting to employ for it.

Thank you. I know it may seem like I will not implement some of the things you have mentioned but trust me I am working on rewriting how I do business based on your tips and information. I am already working on following your tips on the lead generation websites project and you have me thinking differently about how I have done my web design business for years. I have done my web design work remotely with only meeting a few people in person for that work. That has worked good for when I was doing the work for the lower price but now that I am wanting to get more money for my work I am seeing that it looks like I will need to start doing more in person meetings with business owners to make the sale for the higher price for the work. It is because it is so different from how I have done my work over the years not due to not thinking your tips are not worth my time. I have already signed up for the local guide program with the google app you mentioned. I will implement what you have detailed here and see how it works on there.

Thank you very much. It is awesome to hear how good something like this would work if done right. That helps motivate me to get past my not wanting to do walk ins and get out there and do it. I have been watching a lot of youtube videos on marketing the last few weeks and many of them mention using google my business map listings as a way to introduce yourself to business owners which is like what you are saying. I can provide the quantifiable value of the google my business maps listing then that may turn into web design work updates etc. I have been offering my hosting as a yearly charge for around $200.00 - $300.00 per year but I am going to try out doing it at $50.00 per month and offer unlimited revisions to existing pages with that. Like you said the hosting may really add up over time and turn into a big part of my revenue. I am looking forward to trying it. It is starting to look like this may be even better for my business than doing the lead generation websites on there. Thank you again for the information and the help with it.

Last couple of posts I feel I may have been beating you down a bit, and really that is not the intention. In a post above where I state there are 3 ways to answer - my son gets option #2 on the regular - followed by #3 to guide his path.

I have this affinite for music, as in I Listen to music from the moment I wake up to just short of the moment my head hits the pillow. With this I watch some amount of Musician interviews and the like on YouTube. Pharrel Williams said "I am... I am a Trout, I like to swim upstream." and that quote is in reference to how he is always unique it what he does. He talks about being true to himself, and straying away from the norm and looking within to guide his path against the grain.

I identify to this ideological way of looking at life. I know I find myself often doing things I know dont work - because it is comfortable, or it is more main stream in thinking. BUT, you should take a moment and think about what you have done, and look at the present where you are TODAY and figure out how you got here. Whats working in your life, and what isn't.

5 - 6 years ago I had a business... pretty much the same one I have now ( except financially different now ) and I was self employed.. I worked. I didn't have wealth, and I was chasing paychecks. Something for me had to shift. THAT something was Wordpress of all things... I was this big time HTML5 coder landing monster jobs and broker than a 57 Chevy that has been sitting out back for the last 20 years.

I was literally being beat down by guys offering sites for $500 and $1000 and I was trying to sell a $10,000 solution... It was TOUGH. It came to the point where if I couldn't beat them, I was going to join them. I studied my tail off - to learn how to alter a theme.. how to actually make a theme ( which in my opinion is a waste of time ) was creating plugins jumped in as a partner on a WooCommerce forum that blew up in terms of monthly visitors ( Yes, @GordonJ, after 2 years Myself and my partner sold that off LOL )

I started with $600 dollar sites. I had / have this collection of CSS and PHP code changes for a hand full of themes and went to town in terms of selling. Time progressed $600 sites became $1000 sites and $1000 became $2000 and 10 clients turned into 100 that turned into 1000 - and I sold THAT business ( yes that's 1000 clients at $50 a month reoccurring income )

From there I took my business a totally new direction... I got into CRO ( Conversion Rate Optimization ) and by literally a fluke after struggling struggling struggling to get clients.. said " F it, and cold called a Company in Germany " Looking back on that moment... It really doesn't get any more TROUT than that.

I didn't close that deal but there was REAL interest in what we had to offer ( I did end up closing that deal a few months later - and the referral business from that gentleman has been tremendous ) But I quickly understood that the American Market simply was not ready for "CRO" to the point at the time I was calling my company "CRWhat?" because that was the response 99.99% of the time

Fast forward 24 month and I no longer am bound by a non compete clause - and need a new method to get out and get clients - enter the Contribute app... I was goofing on a Saturday Morning with my programmers and we started playing with the app and I am like I could go out and do this for free in like 10 minutes each stop... maybe 10 in 2 hours? "I'll be back". Hit up 10 business', Leveraged Google, and returned a week later. After the closing the First place I visited, I had to run back to the office to have another contract. The second one said No, but the 3rd said yes... and then back to the office to get 3 more contracts. sold 5,6, and 7 and back to the office I went... the guys are like "What the F are you telling these people?" so the last 3 stores all 6 of us went in, and the guys listened to me pitch - it really was more like how fast could I get the contract on a hard surface for them to sign.

This goes in oh so many aspects of life.. when you can bring BRAND association into the mix things happen... when you can bring just short of instant results to the table... things happen... when you can be a TROUT and approach a business unlike any other business offering the same services - you guessed it... things happen.

Its time to stop thinking about what you DID do, because you don't like the results TODAY of that path. Its time to change up and be a TROUT in the moment - buck the norm ( yours and your potential clients ) and have the ability to look back six months from now, and see the contrast of where you were to where you are then.

Im really here for you.. DM me, leave a post, whatever - I will answer - I have been there - will at some point be there again - but not TODAY.

You've gotten really good advice, but you balk at implementing as it involves walking into a business and talking to someone. You prefer email.

Email works, eventually. But has a cost. You do not seem to take that into account.

Some people are not built for walking into a business and talking to an owner. I get that as I am one of them.

Long ago, I would not walk into a business... Then, I gave myself a crutch: emails. But that didn't work too well... I had good open rates, many went to my email (or the page I sent them to, which was made just for them:purls) many times. But the money was not coming in like I wanted it to.

So, I made an adjustment: I sent an email, then I went an walked in and talked to them... I just could not do it cold, the email, whether they opened it or not, allowed my fear to be tricked... It was not cold walking into anything... I know, stupid, but it works... Because, I figured, worse comes to worse, I can blurt out something like this: I sent you an email. Did you get it?

Which would have made matters worse, I think. I never had to use it: once I got into a business, nobody bit my head off, nobody looked at me like I was from another planet.

You see, businesses get people in all the time, they're used to it. They're busy and don't have time to waste, but they're on the look out, always, for ways to make more sales... If you can get them to understand within a short time that you're about doing that for them, they'll find the time to talk to you.

So, if you need to send emails, send them; then go walk into the businesses you sent emails too. Better yet, compose an email, pretend you sent it, and just walk into a business.

Just be clear on what you offer and why it benefits them. And do not talk SEO, responsive or any such things. They want more visitors to the site, or more of the visitors to call, in other words, they want more sales or at least the same amount of sale for a lower price.

I speak from experience on both sides. I deal with a lot of people like you, most just want to waste my time. And I did waste some business owners time too (and mine).

By the way, you can also pick 10 businesses outside your normal range and use them as guinea pigs: You go in with the attitude that you are just testing your pitches, anything. (You'll feel less stressed and you'll get it out of your system.)

This is theory as I haven't done it. But I have had SEO clients in the past and have considered offering SEO services again over the years and have done a lot of research.

I would sell leads on a per lead basis, not on retainer, as I think it's the most fair for both sides.

There are third-party call tracking services like CallRail.com that make tracking honest and accurate. Someone calls your number and it's forwarded to wherever you want with tracking, stats and marketing features for the calls.

My theoretical marketing plan would be to use the basic strategy in "The Power To Get In" by Boylan and leverage competitors to buy the leads, although I wouldn't be trying to get a face to face like the book intends. Giving away a few leads as a "free trial" is also a possibility.

Thank you dwolfe on the information about the local guide role. It will be interesting to see what they offer me as I do it more and more on there.

Thank you again savidge for all of the information you have given me in this and different posts. Like i said it has been really helpful in getting me to evaluate how I do my business and is giving me the motivation to try different things to earn money in it. I used many things I learned from you in a quote I just emailed a local business owner for marketing services. He found me online and I talked to him on the phone yesterday and I used things I learned from you and different people on here to design the proposal for him. I found out how much he is paying a marketing firm now and it really made me evaluate how low my price was going to be and based on that and how much you said your price is I am now increasing my price a little. I want to be able to provide value and put enough hours in each month for the business to give them quantifiable results on there. I have read many of your posts here on the forum and I like your strategy of lots of different kinds of business methods that you try. I am trying something like that myself in the lead generation, marketing services, the keto website, business directory website, and a few different marketing ideas I have learned about here lately on here and on youtube. I want to have lots of different types of revenue coming in. Thank you again for the information and tips and I will let you know how things go on here.

Thank you dabk for the information about how you dealt with not wanting to do walk ins. I think that is a good idea on sending the email first then having that help with my not wanting to do the cold walk in. I think I will try that. I just need to get out there and do the work.

Thank you Kurt for the idea. I am actually working on a lead generation project that I have posted in the warrior path forum. I am building out a few lead generation websites and trying to sell those leads to business owners. I am actually including lead generation website building and rental in the services I am putting in the quotes for these business owners I am quoting marketing services for on there.

"All humans do is create their own jails and live within it" - GaryVee

There is a user here that has not been around for a while - and missed - IAmNameLess he has a blog called Income Bully. His "Specialty" was / is local search. you might find his blog in general full of solid information, but I am sure you will find this post: ( https://incomebully.com/the-stained-...-optimization/ ) of great value.

I would not do that if I am in your place. Google changes the search algorithm more often and nothing is guaranteed in the world of SEO, not even the page rank.

This post has such a wealth of information. Thank you to everyone for the great information and definitely to savidge for putting the time in to help with the information and tips on here. I am truly thankful for the information and I am implementing many of the things you have talked about on here. I hope to be able to help different people in the future like you have when I have fully implemented what you have talked about and improved my business from it.

So talking about Google Maps...

got this in my email today and thought it was interesting.

https://bottomlineinc.com/money/scam...SGd4eTVzIn0%3D

Thank you. I had read something like that too. I think like savidge said it could potentially be used as a way to help sell your service as a legitimate one to those needing the work.

I wonder if the click to call type ads work better. I was thinking of trying those for some of my lead generation websites. I am starting to think that is going to take a long time for these websites to rank high enough for lead generation without being listed in the maps listing so I have been thinking of trying the click to call type ads on google on there.

Thank you for the information. I like the idea for using the long tail keywords for different kinds of things people may look for online to rank for different things on it. I will read that post you linked on there.

money-back guarantee is not a good idea.

It depends on how risky you're willing to be. Personally, I wouldn't offer a money back guarantee unless it's a product I can take back. They can falsely claim they're not satisfied just to get their money back. For me, I would offer money back guarantees upon the return of some item or service. So, if they're willing to undue their SEO and get their money back, then sure. But I wouldn't allow them to keep what you gave them and their money. People won't lie about their satisfaction to get money back if they have to give back the item or service to get their money. You still miss out because you done the work, but they miss out too. It'll reduce the risk to you. I would give like a 30-day money back guarantee and maintain control of their SEO until after the 30-days, provide stipulations in the agreement what that money back guarantee entails.

Consider finding them leads yourself and selling those leads. If they are good leads they will continue to buy. Services like click-funnels might work. You can always find other buyers for your leads.