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It is no surprise that the question of cost often comes up early in my discussions with potential clients of my search engine optimization consulting practice. This is perfectly understandable – there is something of a “wild west” element to the search engine optimization business, and there are no real standards about what it should cost.
This past week alone, I discussed SEO with two friends – one is a lawyer who lives in my neighborhood and the other is the promoter of a non-profit charitable organization. Both could benefit from improved search engine positioning and both asked me early in the conversation “what is this going to cost me?”
Asking an SEO consultant how much his services cost is like asking a travel agent how much a business trip will cost. The travel agent will respond “where do you want to go and what is the purpose and length of your trip?” which is exactly what I would ask. Generally search engine optimization involves modifying or creating web site pages so that they will appear in the top five to ten search results for one or more desired search phrases. Search engine optimization is not a “thing” – instead it is a process that includes among other things:
- site topic market evaluation
- search phrase (key word) research
- site structure outline creation
- content creation and planned release of new content
- existing content modification
- on-page optimization (adding title tags, header tags, page description tags, etc.)
- Yahoo search monkey codes (new technology)
- quality link building
- site conversion analysis
- adding analytic software and setting up conversion funnels and tracking reports
- sitemap creation and submission
- content rewriting services for article marketing and press release marketing
- blog development
- creation of audio and/or video segments for web site
A web site in a minimally competitive niche may only require a few of these techniques and a minimal investment of time. A more competitive niche may require many months to fully implement the SEO strategy.
The cost will also be a function of who generates new content. If you can provide the content and/or the underlying research material, your cost will be less than if I have to write or outsource the content creation.
Generally the optimization process will take a minimum of three to six months to produce noticeable effects, although this could be longer in more competitive niches or for more competitive search phrases. Once the initial optimization is done, most clients will benefit from a maintenance program that keeps your web site in the top 10 or higher for specific search phrases, and that expands your exposure for additional search phrases.
Examples of SEO projects in which I have been involved:
- local law firm looking to increase search engine visibility in one small geographic market for less than 10 search phrases – I have worked with this lawyer for close to 18 months, added video to his site, created a blog and provided new content for the blog ongoing – the initial cost was $1,500, the video components were $750 and the blog maintenance works out to $50 per month
- local medical practice with three web sites looking to increase patient numbers – I have generated multiple pages of new content and worked to incorporate existing video into the various web sites. This project started 6 months ago and the cost to this client so far has been $2,500.
- national home remodeling contractor looking to expand into a new (large) city. I was retained to set up a pay per click campaign and to create topics for new content – my fee for this project totaled $750
- regional law firm with multiple offices retained me to create new web sites for their new markets and blogs for their new markets. My job also involves writing the content, rewriting the content on existing sites, adding analytics, and many of the other elements identified above. I personally visited this client’s new office in another city and recorded multiple video clips. This client now has #1 position on the major search engines in five large cities and we are generating dozens of potential clients weekly. This client pays me a signficant monthly retainer for on-going services
- local jewelry store with two web sites looking to improve search engine positioning for less than 10 search phrases – I took over the SEO from another vendor who was using “black hat” techniques. The annual cost to this client will be around $2,000.
The starting point for any SEO project is for you to take a few minutes and brainstorm about what you want your site to do for your business, and what you expect from your site as a marketing tool – in three months, in six months, in a year, in 2 years.
When I practiced law on a daily basis, I learned early on that you can’t possibly convince a judge or jury about the merits of your case if you don’t have a working theory of your case and a defined goal for that case. You need similiar goals for your web site. I can certainly help you firm up your vision of where you want to go, while my main task is to identify the techniques that will help you fulfil your strategy in the least amount of time with the lowest possible cost.
