What should I be paying for SEO optimization?
I am paying 0 a month for SEO optimization for a condo a real estate site I have. Am i being hosed. Why is it a monthly fee and not a 1 time fee?
6 Responses
Kaspid
13 Feb 2010
YA! 4ever
13 Feb 2010
Your paying way too much for your SEO. I agree that it should be a one time fee.
Matt H
13 Feb 2010
Hi,
SEO services / products will vary in price.
prices will often be based on the vertical your site falls into and what the SEO company have agreed to do
$900.00 is not expensive for "SEO" services, though it does depend on what you are paying for.
If they are simply optimizing the copy on your page, reviewing navigation and code structure then this is ok.
If they are constantly building external links for your site (via text links, directory submission etc) then this is very cheap!
SEO is an ongoing project, you can NOT do work on a site once then stop!
You must constantly build links, update copy, review your search engine rankings etc etc etc.
If you required more information on SEO and how much you should be paying please feel free to contact me here at http://www.addme.com
cheers 
Rob F
13 Feb 2010
Search engine submission services are worthless unless you’re targeting smaller, niche engines. What is being advertised in the first answer is PPC advertising – and there’s a big difference between that and SEO.
Some aspects of SEO are an ongoing process (link building, sometimes even on-page elements), thus there should be a recurring charge. I think Matt above summed it up nicely, but I wanted to back up what he said.
If you’ve been paying $900 for 6 months – 1 year and you haven’t recouped anything…. I would seriously reconsider your provider (but, this will depend heavily on the keyword market that is being targeted). You can gauge the value of what you’re getting by what it’s doing for you – but you won’t see results overnight (and if you do, it’s not SEO)… it could take a couple of months to start seeing drastic changes/improvements – but that really depends on your optimizer, the keyword market they’re going after & how competent they are.
Maybe you should get some quotes from a few different SEO providers to see what the average rates are for what you’re getting. Rates will vary drastically even for the same services from different providers – but if you have a competent SEO, it’s generally worth the pricetag even if you can get the same services elsewhere (cuz the others may offer the same services but not be competent).
Vetofunk
13 Feb 2010
Everything that people said is correct. It really depends on the services they are providing and how competitive your keywords are for free search.
We charge between $800 and $1500 per month, but we provide:
1/ Business strategies, not just SEO
2/ Link Building
3/ Natural SEO
4/ Site Audits
5/ PPC Management
6/ Product Feed Management and Submission
7/ Analytic Management
8/ Affiliate Program Management
So when a company like the one I work for (http://www.pwim.com) manages all that, the price works for most clients.
Tim Ng
13 Feb 2010
Frankly, you are paying too much. You can get it at a lower rate or even for free.
I am someone who likes to do things the economical way and therefore I have read up lots of books on SEO. There is one particular book that I would like to recommend to you as it written as the world’s top SEO expert, Brad Callen. His ebook usually comes with a product purchase, but I would like to assist you by offering you for free. I am sincerely hoping that it will help you as much as it has helped me.
=> http://www.wealthtreasure.com/recommends/SEO_MakeEasy.pdf
Warmest regards.
Hi
Do you know which phrases they are targeting? Are they doing any link building? You need to ask them to send you the details of what they doing and after that you can say if they are over charging you or not. Also send me the url and i will send you my advices.
thanks