SEO Consultant and Pricing
8th September 2006
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So… What does an SEO Consultant really do? The SEO Consultant must start with understanding the clients’ business and marketing goals to develop the strategy and approach for a winning SEO campaign. Ideally, the SEO Consultant should understand things like: Business Objectives, Marketing Strategies, Demographics of Target Audience, Media Mix & Flight Dates, Creative considerations, Messaging, Success Metrics, Dependencies, and Methods of Measurement. Then, the SEO Consultant starts the process of leveraging the client’s strategic marketing and messaging information (industry segment, target market, value proposition or offer, etc.) for keyword selection and creative development. Our objective typically is to increase overall site visitors & conversions, thru increased keyword rankings. Here’s our SEO methodology: 1. Keyword research & Keyword Tracking. Here is a summarized task list for the SEO Consultant. 1) Understanding Client’s Business Objectives & Strategic Marketing Plan Below is an SEO Proposal that I’ve used in the past: SEO Process, Deliverables, and Pricing The following provides details on our 9-Step SEO process, along with pricing. Our 9-step SEO Process ensures that we provide a thorough and comprehensive analysis and recommendation. Step 1: Identify initial webpages for SEO: We will identify and optimize the most important pages on your web property first. Step 2: Identify the main and alternate keywords for each web page: Identifying the right keyword phrase that will drive results is critical for successful SEO. Our findings show that in many cases, a phrase is better than single word, especially in an online competitive situation. Step 3: Interim Client Approval: Review the webpage’s and keywords with you to obtain agreement or make adjustments before beginning the actual SEO analysis and recommendations. Step 4: Baseline Reporting: Generate a baseline report for the primary & secondary keywords. The baseline, as the name implies, gives us an indication of where your pages are ranked on the leading search engines, and will be used to measure results. Step 5: Critical element analysis: We provide a deep analysis on the key elements that, when adjusted & optimized, leads to an overall successful SEO campaign. Step 6: Recommendations: Leveraging the analysis performed in Step 5, we create a comprehensive document that addresses specific changes and additions for your site. In some cases we include sample copy and the exact HTML code, suitable for cut & paste by your programming team. Further, we will explain in detail each of these attributes and include industry standards. We will review this document with you in detail and address any questions. Step 7: Programming: The actual implementation of our detailed recommendations. Once all the changes have been completed, we will run an audit to verify that the recommendation was implemented correctly and identify any changes, if needed. Step 8: Submission to Search Engines & Web Directories: Although search channels regularly spider new & existing pages, we recommend submitting pages to the key channels. We will, as part of the recommendation, identify the key search channels where we should submit your webpage’s, and any fee associated with each. (Eg: Google Sitemaps, BOTW, etc.) Optional SEO services include: Related posts: |
Analysis of HTML and page layout. 
September 10th, 2006 at
[...] Shimon Sandler » Blog Archive » SEO Consultant and Pricing What Shimon Sandler charges for SEO consulting time, based on an hours pricing model (tags: SEO Consulting) [...]
September 11th, 2006 at
I think publishing press releases shouldn’t just be an optional service anymore, and you should take time in educating your clients about its importance.
1) Writing Press Releases that are optimized for Search
Some of your clients’ websites could have been pretty much search engine optimized before you take over, but obviously some couldn’t have. I think fees charged should also be based on how “SEO” their websites are.
October 1st, 2006 at
[...] I just happened to be playing around with Google’s new Mobile Search (beta). And, I typed in the search box, SEO Consultant. It was interesting to see none of the usual suspects in the SERP’s. That’s because Google Mobile Web Search allows you to search for websites that are specifically designed for mobile phones and devices. If the website isn’t formatted correctly, then it won’t appear in the Mobile SERP’s. My previous post on a SEO Consultant appeared #17 only in the Web Search SERP’s. According to Google: 1. What is a mobile site? [...]
October 29th, 2006 at
[...] As an SEO Consultant in the New York metro area, it seems like I’m always asked the same question…Where are you based? New York, or New Jersey. Not that it matters, because SEO can be done anywhere in the world…even in India ( although, I wouldn’t recommend that). Anyways, I just had a few drinks with my dinner ( or supper as some people say). 7 shots of full-bodied, burnt flovored, delicious Michters 10 yr old bourbon. Freakin delicious. A real American treat. So, excuse me if this post doesn’t make much sense. [...]
December 7th, 2006 at
What do you find wrong with getting SEO done from India ? if it can be done anywhere in the world, why not India ?
December 7th, 2006 at
It has just been my personal experience with outsourced web development shops in India, that they are good at development, but they claim they are SEO experts too. That happens everywhere, even here in America. But, I’ve just been exposed too it too many times that it left me with a biased opinion. Please feel free to prove me wrong.
December 26th, 2006 at
[...] SEO Consultant and Pricing (Shimon Sandler) [...]
February 8th, 2007 at
[...] Here’s my answer: The solution is to NOT use the same anchor text in ALL the paid links. There is a need to mix up the anchor text a bit like: SEO, SEO Consulting, SEO Consultant, SEO and PPC, etc. Otherwise, if you don’t mix it up a bit, in the eyes of the Google algorithm, it will appear as if you are over-optimizing, and your subpage will get buried. [...]
March 13th, 2007 at
[...] For an SEO Consultant, here are some conversation starter questions: 1. Are you equipped to handle an increase in business? 2. How are you driving traffic to your site now? 3. Is the landing page that appears in the SERP’s the one you want to appear? 4. Do you know what percentage of your Share of Traffic is for your Keywords? 5. Have you conducted a Keyword Analysis? 6. How much traffic are you getting now? Organic vs. Paid? 7. What are your highest traffic keywords? 8. Do you use Web Analytics? 9. Have you previously done any SEO on your site? Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
May 7th, 2007 at
well Simon, I am fully aware of development firms with so called “SEO Experts” here in India who offer tall promises, only to end up with some crappy link exchange and some 90s technique of keyword stuffing that never yields any results - however, these guys are everywhere, not just in India. I have done such silly things and even worse work done by companies in UK and the US, who are “dedicated” to SEO business.
But there are good firms too ! I can name atleast 25 companies that offer excellent service in SEO and SEM and multinationals of the highest level egt their work done from India. I would not name the companies for privacy reasons, but for your information, companies like Dell, HP, Air France, Emirates Airlines, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Expedia and many other get bulk of their Search marketing work done from India. I guess, people who make the decisions for these ccompanies are intelligent enough to make correct choices and the growth in their business standa for the capability of the firms working for them.
Their are also many smaller companies doing great work, but unfortunately, the nagatives always get more publicity .
June 18th, 2007 at
[...] Implementing the 508 is a major endeavor, and quite frankly I don’t think it’s necessary component of the SEO plan to achieve high rankings in the Search Engines. There is lower hanging fruit which is less manually intensive, and cheaper, that will provide a bigger bang for the buck. But, a 508 implementation is definitely politically correct and the “right thing to do”. [...]
July 3rd, 2007 at
[...] Search engines need to be able to read the text on your webpage to figure out what it is about. If there isn’t any text, then your site most likely isn’t going to rank well for anything. So, before you trash that expensive flash site, hold on. There are some inexpensive SEO tactics you can try. Instead of redesigning an entire flash site or using technical SEO to optimize flash files, it’s possible to achieve high search engine rankings by doing just a few simple things. [...]
July 27th, 2008 at
Nice summary. I would have put a little more weight on the off-site stuff and broken up linkbuilding into link exchanges, directory submissions, article marketing, online press release distribution, web 2.0 marketing and so on.
August 14th, 2008 at
Does video get a mention? Lately I’ve noticed Google tending to favor videos.
September 22nd, 2008 at
Video works pretty well at the moment. I think Google has a weighting system that includes the level of creative difficulty - the more difficult it is to do something, the better the search results.
October 29th, 2008 at
[...] What SEO Consultants Do [...]
November 6th, 2008 at
[...] get frequent enquiries about my SEO Consultant services. Today, some guy contacted me, showed me his site, which looked like a 6th grader built. I [...]
February 10th, 2009 at
Articles also play some part in internet marketing. As articles are read by visitors there are more chances for visitors coming to the sites. Articles should be relevant to the theme of the site
August 9th, 2009 at
We have chosen to only optimize sites that we develop. I take my hat off to anyone that can continuously work with designers and developers ensure that they “actually” do what you have told them. Shimon, what is your most frustrating part of the SEO process.
September 12th, 2009 at
The most frustrating part of the SEO process to get good links from the other websites. Which requires very much hardworking.
November 8th, 2009 at
Great site guys. Thank you for the helpful information.
November 21st, 2009 at
I must say I agree. I only develop in Wordpress and I dislike dealing with anyone who is not a developer I use as they just do not listen.
Oh the fun of SEO.
December 1st, 2009 at
To be honest, you can find a SEO consultant pretty much anywhere. What you need to ask the consultants is whether they can provide you with proof of increased rankings and traffic.
April 19th, 2010 at
Thx for the article about seo consultant and very nice summary. I can get a picture in my mind.
May 4th, 2010 at
I think it is too many times that it left me with a biased opinion. Please feel free to prove me wrong.Thanks.
July 14th, 2010 at
I noticed your retainer fee is $4000. I also noticed that the date on this post is 2006. Just curious to know if you’ve raised or lower your rates since then. I know a lot of SEO companies have dropped their rates while others have raised theirs. Trying to figure out the standard.
July 14th, 2010 at
I think publishing press releases shouldn’t just be an optional service anymore, and you should take time in educating your clients about its importance.