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Darren Walker
4,877 PointsSEO Services and Charges
The past year or so I've dove into getting a better understanding of SEO and other Internet Related marketing. I've wanted to for along time push this as part of my business as it seems to be a really strong bet to try and generate some recurring revenue. Unfortunately I'm unsure of what exactly it is other web companies charge for SEO.
I get the jist of SEO but dont claim to be an expert by any means, especially with all the rapid changes the industry has seen the last couple years. I've spent a lot of last year doing some affiliate marketing online and learnt a lot along the way.
Quality content is obviously an important step and having the proper on site optimization as well with all the related titles, descriptions, header tags etc. I've got a VPS along with a CDN to help with site speed and most the sites I maintain find themselves under 4s which should help with speed.
What would a typical company do for SEO services?
- On site optimization I think is a no brainer
- Analytics and reports as well
- Keyword Research
- I would assume backlinking (off site optimization would be included)
But what about the actual content? Do SEO companies write the content as well or would they do guest blogging? What about things like Press releases?
Hope this isnt to winded and thanks for any help.
4 Answers
Andrew McCormick
17,730 PointsTwo main questions I see here:
First: "Unfortunately I'm unsure of what exactly it is other web companies charge for SEO." You can do research and find some general estimates. Of course you need to look at quality. Some guy that advertises 5000 backlinks and #1 on Google for $50, probably isn't someone you should model your business after if you're in it for the long haul. The SEO I use for my clients charges a min of $300/mth and offers packages up to $1000/mth. It's a field that really varies. However what matters is that you charge what you need to charge. What are your goals, how much do you need to make in a year? Start with that, see if the market can bear it. If it can, go with it for a little while and then raise the rates. Somewhat along the same track: Treehouse blog- How to calculate your rates .
Second: "But what about the actual content? Do SEO companies write the content as well or would they do guest blogging? What about things like Press releases?" Again, it varies. The SEOs that charge $50 /mth don't. They may spin out a bunch of articles, and do some other stuff once, but then leave it a lone. The reason good SEOs charge $500+ /mth for even basic packages, is because it's an ongoing venture. They monitor the analytics, they do A/B test, they monitor links, they track down new links, the help with keywords and articles that are relevant. They typically do not offer copywriting, but they do offer editing and SEO optimization that you or your copywriter writes. Many will attempt to get guest bloggers or guest blogging spots for you. You give them permission and they will reach out to others in for you to request copywriting opportunities.
This could be a 20page paper to full answer everything, but I hope that helps a little and you're more than likely going to get varying opinions from others.
Darwin Pérez
2,351 PointsI just found MOZ and wow they have an extraordinary documentation about SEO, updated and easy to understand.
I would recommend Neil Patel's blog: http://www.quicksprout.com/
Darren Walker
4,877 PointsIt's a great answer Andrew thanks. I figured as much in regards to rates, obviously the more someone pays you the more you can offer. It's definitely something more Im leaning to then having to attract new web design clients for my business as like you say it's an ongoing venture...something that is needed now a days.
I could ask a million questions on the subject as it seems to change everyday but I appreciate the input, it will give me a nice model to work around.
Andrew McCormick
17,730 PointsI would also recommend you get involved with the community at Moz . There is a lot of wealth of info there and some guys that been doing it for a long time. They also seem pretty open to beginner questions from people who really want to learn.
I'd also though out there to make sure it's something you want to do. I got into SEO for a year or so thinking it would help my web dev clients. However I found that to offer top-notch SEO service it really is a commitment and something that you've got to watch constantly. I often here that before opening your own SEO firm you should work with another firm for at least a couple years to get all the ends and outs. I finally just decided to find someone that I could contract out or my clients. He knows SEO and knows it well, so I still can provide the service while allowing myself to focus on what I'm better at, code.
don't get me wrong, I think every Dev or designer for the web needs to have a decent knowledge of SEO, just not all of them need to be SEO experts
good luck.
Darren Walker
4,877 PointsIt's something I've been very interested since I started affiliate marketing last year. I do enjoy the marketing sides of things more then the actual design of everything...even though I like doing that too. I've dabbled at MOZ a little bit reading numerous guides and posts the past week...as I know with online marketing and SEO you find yourself constantly reading to keep up to date.
The thing I hate the most about it all is the constant sales pitch from websites out there...read this, buy that etc etc. While I've used other tools in the past like Market Samurai Im wondering if you've used any of the tools like SEOMoz, SEMRush etc?
Moz comes with a 30 day free trail so Ill definitely be check that out.
Andrew McCormick
17,730 PointsI've wanted to get into affiliate marketing, but haven't had the time. Yes the constant selling is such a pain. That's kind of the barrier in my opinion. It's breaking through that level of 'here are a bunch of tools for you to buy' and getting above the clouds so to speak. Getting to where you look down and you see all advertising as just cloud cover, but you're coasting above that, doing real stuff, making a real impact, and looking at the pretty clear blue skies ahead.
I did the trial with Moz. I used WooRank a lot for white label reports and some tracking. Moz offers a lot more than WooRank did and has some pretty good tools. If I was to get back into it, I would rather start with ScreamingFrog for the audit side of things and learn how to filter that data and format it for reports to the clients. SEMRush is a great tool for research, though I never paid for it. From what I could tell the Paid version is well worth it. And then SEO SPyglass was highly recommended. Most all of those tools have their place and it's really learning to use them in conjunction with eachother. However what I realized is that you can do almost everything you need with more detail and better with an Excel sheet. That's about when I turned it over to a professional.
Make sure you watch the MozCon videos here in the Treehouse library. Those are gold!
MozCon 2012
MozCon 2013
Do Real Things
Excel Tricks
SEO Tools
*btw, thanks for getting my ADD mind thinking about SEO again and totally distracting me from work... lol *
Darren Walker
4,877 Pointshaha that seems to be the problem with SEO, once you start thinking about you find yourself reading article after article about it...something I've been doing all day.
Wasn't aware of ScreamingFrog, watched the video on it and looks like a pretty nifty tool for someone who needs feedback on why their site isn't ranking well. Added it to the list to check out some of my own sites first. Spyglass as well looks interesting.
Of course like you mention the knowledge of how to put it together and understanding it is the real benefit.
Im definitely going to use this knowledge to get back into affiliate marketing at some point. Im not sure why I stopped in the first place as I could see my traffic and profit increasing from month to month, I got to a point where I was making anywhere from $250 to 500 a month but felt my strategy needed improving to generate more leads and I still didn't quite understand the backlinking. Felt like I was doing it wrong but I look back now and realize I must have been on the right path to be generating increases in both traffic and profit. Fell in the loop of paying for crap backlink services which probably hurt me in the long run.
Theres just so much more information I've learnt along the way but again it is useless if you dont have quality content people arent going to read (or watch).
Darwin Pérez
2,351 PointsGreat topic guys, thank you for sharing your knowledge and experiences.
I am about to start learning SEO and Analytics, it seems pretty cool. I just finished the SEO videos here in Treehouse, now it' s time to really start working/ learning SEO with my websites :)
Take care
Darren Walker
4,877 PointsHey Darwin,
I've just finished spending arguably the last month refreshing my knowledge on SEO and have "sigh" signed up for another course. What I've learned from it though has been really really great stuff. I will say again that reading MOZ is a must on a daily basis, it should get you a very solid grasp on what you need to do to have solid SEO. Still, there will be a lot of stuff you will miss beginning like I have.
Local SEO is a great sell if you do a lot of design work for local businesses. I've found a few of the businesses I've done websites for have wanted SEO services just for local. It's becoming a major importance of my work andhas provided some more upsell and recurring income.