| LED Digest 1991: The Value of SEO |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest post, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. July 6, 2005 Issue #1991 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== SEO Pricing ==-- ~ Steve Pronger "Your client needs to ask himself one question..." ~ Tom Aman "Please define 'page'." ~ James Haley "...what type of friend are we talking about here." ~ Steve McCall "It's a tough call, though, optimizing for clients..." ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Steve Pronger Subject: False economy Robert, Your client needs to ask himself one question - why did he get a website in the first place? Was it for the joy of of having a "website" or was it to produce profits for the company? What was his objective? If he believes that his website can help his business make money (why else would you get one?) then he needs to understand that a website without traffic is pointless. A website should be viewed as an investment in a business. Not just an expense. And with any investment you expect a return. His investment in your services should return many times what you charge him. Don't budge on your quote, friend or not. I'd also suggest that before taking on the project you research the competition for the keywords you will be targeting. On-page optimisation may not be enough to get good results. If there is a high level of competition you will also need to do some link building. That means more time and/or expense. But, once your client starts seeing an increase in targeted traffic, which produces sales / profits, then he'll realise that his investment with you was a sound one. Steve Pronger http://www.stevepronger.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Tom Aman Subject: SEO pricing > I don't know anyone who gets $500 > to $800 per page for web design. - Catherine Barwell, LED 1990 In all this discussion about pricing, there has been lots of talk about "$ per page". Please define "page". Some "pages" will display completely in my browser with no scrolling, others may go on for many screens. And this can occurs on exceptionally well designed sites because, very often, "page" size is a function of "page" purpose and is often influenced by the purpose and content of the site. So I am always a bit mystified when anyone starts quoting rates on a "per page" basis. Tom Aman Aman Software http://www.cyberspyder.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: James Haley Subject: SEO pricing / False economy I'm curious to ask, what type of friend are we talking about here. A personal friend or a business friend. I have friends that I do things for but they also understand that it is as time permits if its going to be free. If they want immediate service then I tell them that I have to put paying clients aside that pay my bill and that they will have to do it. Being friends (personal) they understand this, as for the business friends I just give them the best possible price, being straight forward and honest and just say this is the best I can do with my time for this because and state the facts it is alot of work to get done. Personal friends will always be there and most of the time I do things for them for free but not where it will impact my business time schedules, I don't worry about this affecting my friendships because they are strong. Business friendships are where we have to be strong and direct with them and they will understand. As for regular business contract, they get the straight and narrow and there is no budge, when the fact state what is being done... don't undersell yoursell. James Haley ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Steven McCall Subject: False economy Robert, I'd say yes, that is grossly underselling yourself. But as you said, it's a friend. Were it not a friend, the amount of resources and talent you've used to simply designate his keywords would be easily worth the amount you're charging him to optimize the entire 22 pages. I'd say maybe you could charge him per tier of page, a higher, more valued page could be optimized for say $250.00, then on down from there, maybe keeping it to three different pricing levels. Obviously some words are more competitive than others so your pricing could possibly be based on this. But this guy sounds like a pretty cheap (no offense to your friend) guy to begin with. My prices are no better than yours really though. I just can't muster the words 75 an hour. Or even 125. I've seen sites where guys charge 250.00...so I'm just not sure where I sit. After this client (my new client who I signed to a year agreement of SEO for 450.00 a month) I'll see where I stand as far as my skills go and then reevaluate myself. This site is fairly non competitive in a pretty non-SEO'd market. It's a tough call, though, optimizing for clients...it makes you want to do stricly affiliate work, (i.e. optimize for yourself) In the end it seems only webmasters know the value of SEO. Steve McCall http://isighttechnologies.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2005 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln |
