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Is it me or is SEO overrated?

by SamuraiKat
23 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Actually I work as a consultant with several companies doing SEO. Several of my clients have instant name recognition. But here is something that I find difficult. I find that many SEO companies that offer services online are offering a fraction of the work for 3-4x what I charge.

I do get most of my clients from the major freelance sites. I get extremely good results for my clients. What I can't justify is the amount that I see getting charged. They present a large work load that everyone else is doing for SEO.

Is it that I am undervaluing my service, or is it a case that most SEOs, webdesigners, etc. charge a ton of money but deliver very little.

Thanks for you thoughts.
#overrated #seo
  • Profile picture of the author Mantasmo
    It's all about where you position yourself price/quality-wise.

    Clients aren't going to pay you more unless you ask them to. It's a common mistake among new businessmen.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Originally Posted by SamuraiKat View Post

    I do get most of my clients from the major freelance sites. I get extremely good results for my clients. What I can't justify is the amount that I see getting charged. They present a large work load that everyone else is doing for SEO.
    Generally, the clients that are using these services, are looking for budget services. They are not going to spend much money at all. In other words, they are trying very hard to get away with being cheap.

    That doesn't go for all of them, but most.

    Originally Posted by SamuraiKat View Post

    Is it that I am undervaluing my service,
    I do not know anything about the quality of service you provide, but if you feel you are underpaid, then the answer is probably yes.

    Originally Posted by SamuraiKat View Post

    or is it a case that most SEOs, webdesigners, etc. charge a ton of money but deliver very little.
    I would prefer to charge a ton of money and deliver a ton of value.

    There are far too many "SEOs" out there that have no clue what they are doing or bought some silly WSO for $7 and think they are an expert now. They make grand promises, but have no idea how to deliver.

    I get about 2-3 people coming to me on Skype a week saying that they got some SEO client but are not sure how to complete the work. They literally ask me to give them a plan of action to do the job. My response is usually:

    Step 1) Be ashamed.

    Step 2) Offer a refund.
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  • Profile picture of the author trcapro
    The range of cost for SEO work is all over the map. Some might say it's a get what you pay for thing but that may or may not be true. I d think there are a lot of services out there overcharging.

    Then of course you need to try to account for what sort of tactics those SEOs are using to rank your site. Are they legit or are they a bit shady? All of this could make a difference in pricing.

    As a general rule though, I would say no, SEO is not overrated.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      There is a guy at Freelancer.com who is rated as nr1 for Seo services, has 4.9 stars or something and charges $150/month for:

      - article links created with Article Marketing Robot
      - web2.0 Fiverr gigs
      - BMD social bookmarking

      My client paid $150 for 300 of these links and was amazed why he wasn't moving up in the ranks.

      Afterwards he ordered a $60 package from me and I got him on page 2 and 3 for this main keywords. Now he signed up for a $200/month service package and we target 11 keywords.

      3 of his keywords reached page 1, 4 keywords showed up at page 2 and for the others its too early to say anything about it.

      Anyway, people pay this freaking $150 for the same that you get at Fiverr for $15,- cause he has 700 positive reviews or even more, don't remember correctly. How sick is that??? Are people really that blind to leave a great review without having seen any results. Ofcourse he tells his clients that it takes up until 3 months to see effects in the rankings. Uhu....

      Anyway, such things make me pretty pissed and if that is what the original poster means with his competition then I share his feelings in full. I work my ass off to make a few bucks and get my clients great results and they manage to uphold some great reputation cause people are like dumb sheeps following each other and give 0 results. That client was after 2 months using his service at page 8 and the other keyword didnt even show up in the top 100.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mantasmo
    ^^charge more then... seriously. Nothing wrong with getting paid for stuff/seo that works.
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  • Profile picture of the author JSProjects
    Yeah, if you've got a method that has been proven time and time again to work - charge more. Especially if you can provide proof of your methods being successful.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by JSProjects View Post

      Yeah, if you've got a method that has been proven time and time again to work - charge more. Especially if you can provide proof of your methods being successful.
      I still have a small client base and recently most people started to order the smallest package that I offer and give me keywords that are too tough to make any movement, or only small movements that no one will be impressed by, so that won't really help increasing the number of positive reviews.

      I think it's also hard to charge more on a forum that has 100's of people who offer seo services. Also clients won't be happy if I share their results with url and everything in my sales thread so hard to come up with real proof.

      For myself the proof is that a few of my clients (who ordered larger packages and that got great results) have recommended me to their friends / business associates so thats pretty cool. Maybe I should focus more on them and trying to get more offline clients.
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  • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
    Best way to do it is to be active in trying to get customers instead of hoping people order off of some sales thread. Then you don't need to list packages for people to order from. You can offer customized solutions and charge what you think is fair.

    Pick up the phone. Look for people that need SEO and reach out to them. That is how you get higher paying clients doing SEO work.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

      Best way to do it is to be active in trying to get customers instead of hoping people order off of some sales thread. Then you don't need to list packages for people to order from. You can offer customized solutions and charge what you think is fair.

      Pick up the phone. Look for people that need SEO and reach out to them. That is how you get higher paying clients doing SEO work.
      Indeed, should get out of my chair and take action. You ever had any success with actively visiting clients unannounced?
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  • Profile picture of the author SamuraiKat
    One thing that I am wondering is how many of the high end SEOs are actually coders? From my end, i have quite a few success stories. The challenge that I am facing is that my go to system is link-building.

    I guess in my mind it's like my work as a fitness trainer. Losing weight and helping people get in shape has always been easy for me. The the extant that I feel I am ripping people off when I charge what I see other trainers charge and deliver less results.

    I know that I am going with the "what is wrong with me approach", but is the fact that I converse with SEOs and IMs on a daily basis that I think everybody knows what I know? For those of you who market offline, do you find this to be the case?

    TIA
    SK
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      Originally Posted by SamuraiKat View Post

      One thing that I am wondering is how many of the high end SEOs are actually coders? From my end, i have quite a few success stories. The challenge that I am facing is that my go to system is link-building.

      I guess in my mind it's like my work as a fitness trainer. Losing weight and helping people get in shape has always been easy for me. The the extant that I feel I am ripping people off when I charge what I see other trainers charge and deliver less results.

      I know that I am going with the "what is wrong with me approach", but is the fact that I converse with SEOs and IMs on a daily basis that I think everybody knows what I know? For those of you who market offline, do you find this to be the case?

      TIA
      SK
      Maybe we should change our mindset and think more about how much value we give our clients, if we rank a business at the top of page 1 and they make twice as more revenue, why shouldn't we get a bigger piece of the pie as well. If they want it for real cheap maybe they are ripping us off
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      • Profile picture of the author Mantasmo
        Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

        Maybe we should change our mindset and think more about how much value we give our clients, if we rank a business at the top of page 1 and they make twice as more revenue, why shouldn't we get a bigger piece of the pie as well. If they want it for real cheap maybe they are ripping us off
        Now you're talking.

        Just wanted to add that the "ripping someone off" mindset is very harmful in business. Simply avoid it. Don't deal with customers who try to do it to you, and do not concern yourself too much about how much someone else is charging.

        If you're confident in your skills and can deliver results - build your own identity/brand and be unique.

        This is very difficult to do if you're desperate for work though - sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
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        • Profile picture of the author nik0
          Banned
          Originally Posted by bnetwork View Post

          Now you're talking.

          Just wanted to add that the "ripping someone off" mindset is very harmful in business. Simply avoid it. Don't deal with customers who try to do it to you, and do not concern yourself too much about how much someone else is charging.

          If you're confident in your skills and can deliver results - build your own identity/brand and be unique.

          This is very difficult to do if you're desperate for work though - sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.
          Nice reply, thank you.

          I'm just wondering, say I close a contract with a company and I get the company site penalized, should I secure myself for these kind of things in the contract?
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          • Profile picture of the author Mantasmo
            Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

            I'm just wondering, say I close a contract with a company and I get the company site penalized, should I secure myself for these kind of things in the contract?
            In short - yes. Though I'm sure there are people here much more qualified than me to answer this one for you.
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          • Profile picture of the author mosthost
            Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

            Nice reply, thank you.

            I'm just wondering, say I close a contract with a company and I get the company site penalized, should I secure myself for these kind of things in the contract?
            Of course. Get a standard contract (LegalZoom will have them.) Make sure you disclaim:

            1) Any damage to rankings
            2) Any loss to their company reputation or income.
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  • Profile picture of the author chensmith62
    I think you are a beginner and first yo have to establish in market and have to command on your client. Thus in starting you should opt a strategy like paying best services in less budget than your competitor which will help in making good relation with your client.
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  • Profile picture of the author mikest4u
    If you think that you are providing great services with deliverable results then my answers is that you should increase your service prices! In Search Engine Optimization One of The most important thing is Result! If You are Providing 100% Value to your clients then you should increase your work rates!!
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  • Profile picture of the author PriceMaster
    SEO definitely isn't overrated. It usually takes time and patience. The most popular mistake people make is they give up after giving it a few attempts. What they don't realize is its a slow a gradual process until it goes viral and keeps automating itself...
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    • Profile picture of the author trcapro
      Originally Posted by PriceMaster View Post

      SEO definitely isn't overrated. It usually takes time and patience. The most popular mistake people make is they give up after giving it a few attempts. What they don't realize is its a slow a gradual process until it goes viral and keeps automating itself...
      That's true, it is a slow tedious process. And as such it can be very frustrating. But while it does take time to do it right, the benefits will be worth it, at least as far as your increase in page rank does. Whether that will turn into income, that's another story.
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  • Profile picture of the author rosesmark
    On 16 March 012, Google changed more methods related to SEO. Those website who do over optimized website then that websites are come under red light
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    • Profile picture of the author rob1123
      It's supply and demand, as long as there aren't that many professional SEOs who can operate with cooperation and chase the bid KWs, those who can are able to charge a premium.

      As for your prices, why not try a PED calculation to work out how much you can get away with charging, here's the wiki page Price elasticity of demand - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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  • Profile picture of the author SamuraiKat
    Thanks for the great advice. Very much appreciated.
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  • Profile picture of the author ExploringInfinity
    Originally Posted by SamuraiKat View Post

    Actually I work as a consultant with several companies doing SEO. Several of my clients have instant name recognition. But here is something that I find difficult. I find that many SEO companies that offer services online are offering a fraction of the work for 3-4x what I charge.

    I do get most of my clients from the major freelance sites. I get extremely good results for my clients. What I can't justify is the amount that I see getting charged. They present a large work load that everyone else is doing for SEO.

    Is it that I am undervaluing my service, or is it a case that most SEOs, webdesigners, etc. charge a ton of money but deliver very little.

    Thanks for you thoughts.

    How much do you think your skills and knowledge are worth?

    People often undervalue themselves. We're trained to do it from the start of our lives as children.

    Also, the perceived value is much higher, many companies will be cautious of you if you charge less, because they will think that naturally the people charging more will do a better job.
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