Determining the Value of Your SEO Service

Every once in a while--and probably more often than we should--we find ourselves reviewing our SEO pricing models. Pricing SEO has always been a real sticking point for me because there is no one-size-fits-all pricing metric. As I began our most recent review of our pricing something really starting to become quite obvious; search engine optimization is requiring more and more research and analysis than it ever did before.

After doing SEO for several years (since 1998) I recently put all of our regular SEO duties into a spreadsheet and noting the amount of time spent on each activity on a one-time basis, monthly basis, and a per-page basis (both one-time and monthly). This format allows me to quite easily see the man-hours and costs involved in each distinct duty that we perform over the course of an SEO campaign. It also allows me to see the changes that occur in our SEO processes.

A year ago, the bulk of our optimization occurred in the set-up phase, with the monthly optimization consisting of a few hours of link building, rankings monitoring and on-page tweaking. Now, the set-up is just a mere fraction of the hours that go into each optimization campaign. The continual analysis performed on each account every month does not exceed that of the set-up, but add a couple months worth of optimization together and it does. Expand that to a six or twelve month campaign and the man hours of research and analysis performed far exceeds the initial set-up process. And believe me, we do a considerable amount of research up front!

Differing Pricing Models Between SEO Companies

SEO providers come in all shapes and sizes. We often have potential clients come to me price shopping. They are not comparing our services with our competitors, but they are comparing our pricing with our competitors. In that battle we lose almost every time, and the reason for that is because there is always an "SEO" company that will work for less. With SEO, however, you usually get what you pay for. If you want a cheap service, you'll get cheap results.

"But isn't SEO all about top rankings? If firm X can provide top rankings for less, shouldn't I go with them?" This is standard fare from bargain shoppers, but the basic questions to ask yourself is this: do you want top rankings or do you want more business? Most SEO companies are in the business of achieving top rankings and everything else is not their problem. Even still, it is rare to find inexpensive SEOs that can achieve top rankings for competitive, high ROI terms, maintain those top rankings through constant algorithm changes, and continue to beat out your competition which are optimizing for the same keyword phrases.

If you're paying someone only a few hundred or even just a few thousand dollars each year to work on your site, how many man-hours do you really think they are giving you each month? When your site gets dropped or rankings mysteriously crash, how much time do they spend trying to find potential issues and problems? Even the best sites-and those optimized by the best SEOs in the world-can suddenly disappear from the search engines. Sometimes it's a temporary issue, sometimes it's because of something the client did, and sometimes it's due to other external factors. Whatever the reason, the SEO needs to thoroughly investigate so the issue can be corrected.

Continuous Optimization Services

Recently we've changed our overall outlook on the month-to-month SEO services we provide. This is largely due to the number of clients that come to us each month after having been penalized by one or more engines because of previous SEO work performed which ran afoul of the search engines. Rarely do these cases allow for a quick fix which puts them back into the top positions overnight. With the suspected Google sandbox, over-optimization penalties and aging delays, many of these sites must go through a rather lengthy period before they are placed back in the index and allowed to perform well in the search results, long after penalization issues have been resolved.

We look at what we provide similar to having an investigator on retainer. Our job, each month, is to continue to seek out potential problems that may now, or in the future, be keeping our client's sites from performing as best as they can possibly be. If our clients are not in the first page for all their targeted ROI phrases, then our job is to find out why. And then if they are not in the top 5, our job is to analyze what it takes to get them there. And if they are not in the top 3 then we need to see what the competition has going for them that our client doesn't. And if they are not in the Pole Position, our job is to find and eliminate all potential external barriers, no matter how small. And all of this must be done while maintaining the integrity, usability, and performance of the client's site.

Sometimes all this is as simple as finding a duplicate URL somewhere that we didn't know about and other times after months of research we find that a client links out to sites that link out to other sites using spammy techniques. These types of things have to be under constant analysis, even if a site performs well. Heading off problems before they occur is a big part of the SEO game, and plays heavily into pricing.

Pricing is a big deal for the average business owner and it should be. However, pricing alone should not be the deciding factor in which SEO provider you choose. Find out what services you'll be getting. If you get the impression that the SEO is done after a few hours of up front work, you may not be getting enough investigation for potential or existent, yet unknown, problems. This can cost you later on.

On the other hand, just because someone charges huge fees does not mean they'll do you well either. This is a symptom of many very large SEO companies. Do your homework and find the company that will treat you as their only client. If you get that kind of service, you will undoubtedly reap a very significant return on your investment.

Stoney DeGeyter is president of Pole Position Marketing, a professional search engine optimization and marketing firm based in Reno, NV, providing quality SEO services since 1998. Stoney has is also a moderator in the Search Engine Forums and Small Business Ideas Forum. You can read his SEM blog at (EMP) E-Marketing Performance. You can email him with any questions at stoney@polepositionmarketing.com

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


How to Get One Way Backlinks

Don't be fooled into believing that all backlinks are created... Read More

Keyword Targeting Strategy In Your Site

Once the keywords have been decided for the site one... Read More

How My Page Rank Went From 0 to 5 In One Update - How Yours Can Too

Increase Your Google Page Rank!Page Rank. We all know what... Read More

Google Contest - Nigritude Ultramarine

Search engine optimization experts are having fun with Google. Experts,... Read More

Table Structures For Top Search Engine Positioning

So you have a beautiful website that you paid a... Read More

A Link From An Ugly Duckling Website With A PR=1 Could Give You 10 to 80 Times More PageRank

Whether you want to start a business and sell on... Read More

Seek Engines: What If Seek Had Bumped Out Search?

In the early days of the World Wide Web, when... Read More

Is New MSN Search More Precise? Just Ask Google

MSN finally unleashed its new search technology to the world... Read More

The Unethical SEO Myth

"The use of black hat SEO techniques are completely unethical."... Read More

SEO India: Tips & Techniques

SEO is all about "Individualism"According to me SEO is not... Read More

Being dumped by Google? Learn how to avoid becoming a victim next time around!

After Google latest update nicknamed "Florida", many webmasters discovered that... Read More

Search Engine Robots - How They Work, What They Do (Part II)

If your site isn't found in the search engines, it... Read More

Fresh Content Improves Search Engine Optimization

Many search engine optimization companies will sell you a search... Read More

SEO Expert Guide - Paid Site Promotion (Marketing) (part 7/10)

In parts 1 - 6 you learnt how to develop... Read More

Search Engine Optimization Strategies To Drive More Targeted Traffic To Your Website

Want to drive more targeted traffic to your web site?Want... Read More

World of Website Promotion

Website promotion is a big and ongoing process. Every person... Read More

Building Link Popularity As Easy As 123

The most difficult area of SEO is building link popularity.... Read More

Creative Search Engine Optimization ? A Case Study

Search engine optimization this and search engine optimization that. You... Read More

Valid HTML code is crucial to Search Engine Optimization

Why valid HTML code is crucial to your web site's... Read More

HTML Title Tags Dictate Your Rankings

There are a lot of things in Search Engine Optimization... Read More

The Benefits of Organic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

If you're going to sell any type of product or... Read More

Playing in Googlebots Sandbox with Slurp, Teoma, & MSNbot - Spiders Display Differing Personalities

There has been endless webmaster speculation and worry about the... Read More

Ten Steps To A Well Optimized Website - Step 4: Content Optimization

Welcome to part four in this search engine positioning series.... Read More

What Is Waiting for Us? Tomorrows SEO Industry

Today, SEO is swiftly approaching saturation point. More and more... Read More

7 Steps to Highly Relevant, Search Engine Friendly, and People Useful Web Site Content

The task is to build a Content Rich Search Friendly... Read More

What You Did Wrong With Your Domain Names!

Trying to improve search engine rankings is just like a... Read More

13 Tips For Good Search Engine Placements

When used properly in combination with other basic search engine... Read More

Search Engines The Masters Of The Internet Universe ? Part 3

This is part three of the article series and deals... Read More

7 Simple Steps to Spy on Your Online Competition and Acheive a High Page Rank

My Grandfather ran a small Grocery Store and when you... Read More

Google Rankings -- Achieve Top 10 Rankings with Free Tools

In order to get a top 10 google ranking it... Read More

Search Engine Ranking - What Works Now

The methods employed to increase your search engine rankings may... Read More

Google Ranking WITHOUT Ever Submitting To Google!

A while back, I read an article that explained how... Read More

How To Soar In Your Search Engine Marketing, In The Post Google Era Part 2

'Are Google's Days in the Dominant Position in Search Technology... Read More