9 replies to this topic

[scouseflip]

I am currently researching S.E.O companies for my company and I am struggling.

I have a basic knowledge of S.E.O techniques (PPC is more my thing!) and I think I know what to avoid in order to keep Google happy, but where I am strugling is in the big difference in price ranges out there for optimizing our two websites (both simple 4 page brochure request sites).

I have spoken with a whole host of companies charging in the region of £5000 annually to optimize the sites and continue the development over the year, but I have also spoken to a handful of (much bigger) companies who are talking in the region of £50000. I am not adverse to spending this kind of money as it is a fraction of our PPC spend, but how do I know (and how can I demonstrate to my MD!) that we would see a return on this £50000.

In simplistic terms, how much should S.E.O cost?

[qwerty]

Welcome, scouseflip

Bad news: you're not going to find an easy guide to show you what SEO should cost. We all have different ways of determining the cost of a project. Some charge ongoing fees, some charge for particular tasks, and some charge by the hour. And we all charge different rates, no matter what they're based on.

I'd say that £50000 seems very steep to me for two four-page sites, but the firm that quoted that price might be planning on drastically increasing the size of those sites. Since I don't know what they propose to do, and since I haven't seen the sites in question, I have no way of knowing for sure whether it's a fair price.

Your best bet is to ask the SEOs for references and see if they can break down the cost so you can see what you're paying for. If they simply say it costs £50000 to do what needs to be done and won't give you any specifics, that's a pretty bad sign.

If they can give you a decent prediction of ROI and show you how they came up with the numbers, that's certainly a plus.

[scouseflip]

I'd say that £50000 seems very steep to me for two four-page sites, but the firm that quoted that price might be planning on drastically increasing the size of those sites. Since I don't know what they propose to do, and since I haven't seen the sites in question, I have no way of knowing for sure whether it's a fair price.

Thanks for that, I should have put a bit more detail in!

The £50000 companies are offering a significantly more thorough proposition - Press releases, targetted link building etc on top of the basic content optimization. The cheaper options seem to focus on links and building new, content rich pages information (our sites were developed for PPC initially, focused on driving the browser through to action without distraction - as such there is very little text or content). The fact that I have been quoted so much by some people has affected my confidence in what quality of service I can expect for as little as £5000!

I can't post the website url here as I would rather not divulge who I work for (hope that's okay!).

[qwerty]

I can't post the website url here as I would rather not divulge who I work for (hope that's okay!).

That's fine. If you did post the URL, we'd have to treat it as a link drop (which you're obviously not here to do) and edit it out.

In any case, if anyone's offering you link building that isn't targeted, forget about them. It's a waste of time and money. Press releases can be helpful, but only if there's actually news to be released. Far too many SEOs will put out a press release without anything worth announcing, just to claim they're marketing the client's site. Just look at the sort of useless information that can be put out in a press release.

[jehochman]

Most sites has very simple problems that can be fixed for much smaller money than what you are discussing. I think several of the mods here offer affordable web site audits or consultations. Why don't you start with something like that. Then you'll be in a much better position to shop for services. How can you shop when you don't even know what you need.

Who's managing your PPC? That person should know where to get SEO services. To get the best results with PPC you need a thorough understanding of SEM.

[Jill]

scouseflip, be sure to read my article 10 Signs That Your SEO is a Quack before you decide on your seo agency.

[OldWelshGuy]

The ncost of SEO is relative to the volume of work required.

That said, I cn't see for a moment how anyone can justify £50K for seo on a four page site. In fact it is crazy to even look at that. Chances are that you need a complete new site, not lots of content pages tagged on.

Without knowing the difficulty, can you post the area in which you operate? if it is loans, mortgages, adult gambling etc then it WILL cost more as they are extremely competitive.

[scouseflip]

Thanks everyone for all the advice! didn't expect such a quick response and so quickly... much appreciated!

[OldWelshGuy]

Having seen the site(s) in question vie PM, these are very simple sites, the keywords they cover are not vast, and whoever quoted you £50k should be hot

Without betraying the confidence of a PM, I will try to keep it as loose as possible. The company operate in a fairly tight specialist niche, the aim of the site is not to sell directly to the visitor online, rather build relationships, build sales via offline methods, and to support the agents around the country.

As I say, the sites are not rocket science sites, they are certainly not in the realms of 5 figure £ sites, and I would say that ball park I would expect quotes from £3000-£6000 depending on the level of involvement in things. This would cover both sites, as they are really two bites of the same cherry with 'slight' differences. The keyword research etc however will work for both sites, so there is no duplication there.

Hope this helps.

[linux_lover]

Ouch that sounds pricey.

I would have written certain well known community video sharing sites for less than that!