Moderator: Misty Locke, President & Co-Founder, Range Online Media
Rand Fishkin, CEO, SEOMoz.org
SEO Services: - Standard SEO for keyword rankings - Site Auditing - Standard Consulting - Keyword Research - Content Creation & Copywriting - Link Building - Strategic Planning Design/Reports - Viral Content Creation and Promotion - Social Media Marketing - Reputation Management Control - Brand Tracking and Reporting - Web Development & Design - Training & Workshops
Pricing Models - Hourly Consulting ($100 to $400 per hour) - Monthly Retainers - By the Project Pricing - Pay for Performance - Profit Sharing - Hybrid Models
Example:
Travel Industry Web Site Needs: keyword, strategy, link building, measurements, roi Method: consulting, phone emal Cost: $24,000 - 8k first month and 4k for remaining X months
Large Media Web Property Needs: SEO training, consulting Method: on site meeting/training, ongoing consultation phone and email Cost: $25,000: 10k down, 10k upon training, and 5k following month
Classifieds Web Site Needs: SEO audit, recommendations Method: Remote consultation and report construction Cost: $16k: 8k down and 8k second review
Personal Reputation Management Needs: Two listings pushed to page 3+ of results Method: Remote link building and optimization Cost: $20k, 5k down 10k on page two and 5k when on page three
Technology Web Site Needs: link bait Method: remove creation of link bait Cost: 30k, 6k start, 6k for 5 months
The Consulting Business Model: - Scalability issues (more clients, more hours, more people) - SEO Products vs. SEO Services
Lance Loveday, President, Closed Loop Marketing
He shows extremes of profitable and non profitable clients.
Pricing Goals: - Minimize risk - Maximize upside - Rationalized/justifiable - Competitive - In line with client expectations - What works best for the client
Pricing Models: - Flat Fee - Hourly (doesnt use it anymore - Cost Plus (doesnt use it anymore) - CPA (doesnt use it anymore) - % of spend - Retainer (rare)
Set Up Fees: - Fixed Cost (+7k) -- Discovery -- Keyword Themes -- Strategy -- Campaign Structure -- Write Ads -- Keyword Research -- Tracking -- Campaign Setup - Determine Fee based on -- Scale -- New vs. Existing -- International -- Geo targeting -- PITA factor (hard clients) -- Size of client -- Estimated time
Management Fees: - % of spend - Monthly - All inclusive (mostly) - Absolute floor ($3k) - Tiered - % decreases as spend goes up
Our Guidelines: - Set up fee average 2-3x monthly management fees - Number of keywords less important than the number of campaigns / ad groups - Additional one-time fees for major campaigns expansions/reworking - Ad hoc consulting on landing pages, analytics and other online marketing best practices is included (design and configuration is extra)
Ken Jurina, President and CEO, Epiar Inc.
The Big Question: Q: How should you charge for your SEM work? A: The way that is going to make you the most of profit and deliver the highest value of your ideal client
4 Typical Pricing Models: - Retainer based (2k to 50k month) - Pay for Performance - Fee for service model - Hourly consultations
Get Niched - What are your strengths? - PPC or Organic? - Established SEM (then price the market, but if your new, then price to live) - Know your competition and market
Importance of Customer Profiling: - Find the right client
What They Do? - 90% fee for service - 7% pay for performance - 3% customized services - Three branded core SEO service phases -- Extensive keyword research -- Keyword placement -- Link building
Stick with your profitable business model
Customize Services and Pricing - New domain - Past SEO - etc.
Different level of services are variables - web site audits - web analytics - monthly maintenance plans - hourly consulting
Pricing & Perception - Our initial pricing model was fixed - Pricing models changed over time -- Phase and variable pricing -- Clients comprehend costs/phase and accept price -- Final cost came out to be the same
Location, Location, Location - Pricing based n what market can bear, geographically - Outside major markets (NY, LA)
Proposals and Contracts - Proposals must be detailed and comprehensive but to the point, shows transparency, terms, conditions and legal stuff - and make sure they sign it
Mike Murray, Vice President, Fathom SEO
He gave someone $10.
Bizarre Price Factors - 20 placement 8 engines - Refund admin fee - 800 directories no spam - 10 top 10 rankings
Hourly Pricing is good but you may run out of resources Custom Fit Pricing they shy away from but you can tailor to client needs, but it gets expensive and doesnt fit in a process
Performance based model, they dont do it, but they almost came close. You get what you pay for but you need to trust them.
Retainer/Annual Contract - They want clients in for minimum a year - You can continue to improve with long term program - But it is expensive for a client - And quality issues
Models: - Easy access for small and mid sized business - Time tested - Comprehensive - Easier to train consistently - Accommodates teams with diverse skills - Simple, short, easy - Scalable
SEO Models - Annual with monthly payments - Based on number of keywords - Can add extra keywords pages - We post updated to move program along - Follow strict process - Long term fits ongoing optimization - $800 to $1,800 monthly plus options
Online PR/Links: - Annual but with monthly payments - Hourly focus provides campaign directions - Vast offerings - Campaigns crafted quarterly - Follow strict process - Long term reflects sound plan - $800 to $1,800 per month
PPC Model: - Three month arrangement, monthly payments - MAnagement fee and 5% of media spend, reflects efficiencies limits investment - Adhere to prices - Analytics and conversion - Custom reporting - $800 to $1,800 per month
Conditions - Money back guarantee -- It doesn't drive more sales from serious prospects -- Risky
Right to Cancel model - Cant demonstrate full program merits - Creates a premature focus on rankings
