Question

Client 6 months ago ️How much you charge for Complete SEO I said $$$ - $$$$ Client: I found some one doing SEO in just $200 - $300 monthly. You are too costly Me: Sorry Sir, SEO is combination of Art and Science, where you have to understand prospect buyers psychology, than you have to craft perfect conversion based content ( Research and mind mapping Required ) to drive buyers to landing page built in agile technology and than you have to promote it by targeting specific persona with marketing mind. Still client hired that cheap guy ‍ just to save some bucks ------After 6 Months -------⏲ Client: We are not able to see our website in Google , , , , Can you see why it's not appearing in Google  Inside me () Ever came across such clients?  

Answer 1

They'd have said the same if u were hired too :/

Comments

@broadspectrum Maybe sometimes uses this trick to negotiate

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Yeah s i agree

Answer 2

On a daily basis ;-) I charge fr. $150 (working from home).  

Comments

+1000 for the biggest pain and except the most

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So now everyone want s to go after the clients who willing to pay big bucks, everyone wants a rich client that is if you find and get them to sign, what if you don't get big pocket clients, are you still going to use your expensive means of getting these small fried fish? Life is full of uncertainty folks, there are mix of rich medium low pay clients and if your sole goal is to go after the top 1% rich client of the world. Go get them tiger! Until then for me I'll just eat client whoever knocks on my office, food is food. If their budget is $$$ I give them $$$ service using $$$ tools, if their budget is $ I give them lots of paper to sign basically summarizing you can't blame me for everything worst crap happening and I use $ means with $ tools as per agreed. Quick easy meal Ala vegan style versus Texas BBQ 4th July style, there are moments and there are diff clients diff approach.  

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@sewer $1k is far from the 1%. Most agencies in Australia start prices at $1k but usually start at around the $1, 600-2k mark. I actually charge less than the average.  

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@westbrooks nope I disagree. People that are willing to pay more usually have some success in business and are not counting pennies. That's the businesses you want. If they can't afford you, ask yourself why? Don't ever be afraid to say no.  

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@anywhere start getting 1k + pm clients. You live in a first world, country, stop making second world money.  

Answer 3

Reverse experience Someone ran an experience 2 new sites, identical setups 1. Toke 800usd month, with No remarkeable results after 9 months 2. 180 usd/month. By the end of month 3, their site had more traffic than the other had in 9 months.  

Comments

@nicknack3948 Expensive is not always the best. sometimes someone in very low cost can provide a lot more value.  

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@nicknack3948 sometimes innocent client falls in trap of referral or fake data or portfolio provided, , this leads to pay higher amount compared to what actually it deserves

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@nicknack3948 if they were identical, wouldn't Google filter one of them as s duplicate of the other? ;)

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@martin70 they had to make content, however we did provide content for the cheap solution at their demands

Answer 4

Yeap. I always say, "Go ahead with them. And if they manage to bring you customers at that price, please put me in contact with them as I'll switch my operations and start doing tons of websites leaving SEO to them. "

Comments

@cashew this will be ancillary support

Answer 5

I also charged $200 first month and $160 from second month

Comments

@groyne may be those were days of struggle or to establish yourself

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But i am working on the projects in the agency worth of $1000

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@groyne yes agencies always cost $$$$

Answer 6

389 a month and we hit 3800 clients. We offer more work than anyone in the world to. Real writers, etc etc. I even hold the most competitive gmb rankings in the world too.  

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@feaze911 trust me cost is subjective it all depends upon client requirement and efforts we are putting in

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That's a mighty bold claim.  

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@muscid No one comes close to what we offer. Wait until you see our new sheet coming out with what we offer for $389. No one is going to ever come close.  

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I understand but some people might be suspicious. If every price is the same, I'm assuming you've got your processes down but sometimes clients need different things. But if it's working, good on you, that would be impressive.  

Answer 7

I just reply with, "Your SEO provider should be able to answer that for you, " or I send them a new quote that is double the original one. Even though they came back at that point, I don't want to work with them. They are just going to be a headache going forward.  

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@boatload actually we need to clear client mindset and have to clear all the expectations and milestone before finalizing cost

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@haarlem What?  

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@boatload you are absolutely correct! Only a legit provider would understand that! As the mice fight for the crumbs. We are busy trying to fight off the crumbs.  

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@haarlem no, you don't. if they're going to be haggling over price with you at this stage in the game, they're a pain in the ass and you don't want to work with them. Vetting a prospective client should be more about figuring out if they're a good fit for YOU in the long-term. Taking on clients like this will drive you to an early grave.  

Answer 8

They're not "clients"

Comments

@meretricious  

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At my old business someone on the phone told me the client is always right. I told them they haven't spent any money and are not one of my clients.  

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@meretricious that’s right! Prospect, not client.  

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Hmm, My mistake we can call them prospect

Answer 9

I start at $1000 a month, anything below that isn't really worth the headache. Also if they are only spending $250 it isn't like you're going to be able to deliver good results. so they won't be happy and in end that will lead to negative experience.  

Comments

@ardor agree, we need to discuss in detail and should set expectations before proceeding for contract

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The way my packages are set are technically based on # of hours we'll spend a month on a client. So you figure out your hourly rate, how many hours a month you need to spend on client and that will give you the package cost. Now for some clients we do go over the monthly hours without charging them extra but that is cause we're working together for extended period of time and don't want to nickle and dime over things. I don't have many clients, but the ones I do have get bombarded by people offering SEO services for freaking peanuts. It has really gotten crazy and looks like it is only getting worse. Pick your clients wisely and stay away from cheap ones, let them have couple of negative experiences so they can learn the hard way that you get what you pay for.  

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I don't understand why are people complaining about clients giving a hard time, aren't you signing papers with detailed planning and with agreed expectations and all writing in words, by signing this you relieve me of any wrongdoings or burdening me of unrealistic expectations (see section 5d for full lists) etc etc. Just cuz they pay doesn't mean your their bitch. Yes I write this on paper with a lesser tone of course. Guess diff country has diff way of writing contracts, the norm here is the provider of service can not be held accountable and all hiring is the purchasers risk and purchaser already examine the said party as provider is not scammer as verified by the department of commerce section etc etc. You guys don't have this kind of contract I guess?  

Answer 10

Lol. I personally don't like clients that are too picky with content. One guy said he wants content but without any keyword targeting. What's the point of having content when you just want to do it without targeting specific keywords.  

Comments

Because that's how content should be written  

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@grig5952 lol. how do I rank a dentist without mentioning dentists

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Actually content should be informative not a promotional , , sometimes we need clickbait to get featured in mainstream media or to get backlinks

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@obligato you can have an article written on how to have a great smile for that dentist.  

Answer 11

I was working for the client and ranking of the website on 2nd page for most of the keywords and suddenly client shutdown the project and want me to work for free for three months

Comments

@groyne this is painful, , I would have stopped working, , because client thinks that he can get work for free

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You just say no.  

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Yes, i said no

Answer 12

Your Answer: Good luck with that. Hopefully, you can get the same level of work and results for that amount of money as we would be providing or better.  

Answer 13

I love it when people ask how I feel about my competitors. I don't even consider I have any competition. That's honestly how I feel. I'm position 1 in my town, which is the best I can be. I'm just me. I do what I do well, I do it my own way, which I've honed over many years. It gets results and I get repeated referrals. I've worked on about 200 industries across 12 countries. I charge the rates I'm worth, and I'm not bothered by a £20/hr SEO junior with 10 years less experience than me. Sorry what competition were you talking about, again?  

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@vanda  it's all about results.  

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@vanda you can say that again. Some folk/company extremely care about competitors without think twice, this competitors could be spending twice or 3 times more to get results.  

Answer 14

For the few who gave very low costs per month i would love to know what you can possibly provide for that cost that actually moves the needle for websites.  

Answer 15

Clients from USA, Europe & Australia pay good cost. But seo expert from Pakistan, Bangladesh and from other countries give low cost which effect to other people also, agency also took projects from clients in $300 for 3 projects and fresher monthly wages are $100 and they work on 4 to 5 projects. This is way how agency work

Answer 16

Depending on what was done at these prices, they may need to pay for a Disavow now!  

Answer 17

You need to grow that you out grow such leads to be taken seriously or with humour.  

Answer 18

So you hit them with a ton of meaningless jargon to try and get them to choose you? No wonder they went with the other guy.  

Comments

EXACTLY. @jointed said it all, here. WTF does any of that mean?  

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@hance nothing whatsoever.  

Answer 19

Every fecking day! But they will learn from their mistakes (hopefully) and that’s the point you swoop in educate. And providing you deliver everything you promise they will stay with you for many years. Give them a reason to leave you and they will.  

Answer 20

Politely warn them of the risk, and wish them luck. They sometimes come back later, because you made a nice impression and were honest.  

Answer 21

Honestly, I don't get much of this and never have as they seem to only approach me when they are in the right mindset to invest. But one time this did happen, she told me on the call she was shopping around for prices with 6 companies and she'd let me know if I made the cut. I told her straight away to rule me out as she didn't want to know anything about me or my skills, before the price. She then came back begging and I had such fun repeating my refusal to work with her  

Answer 22

You explained way too much nonsense to him. Probably why you lost him. I used to do the same thing. The client's just don't care. Either they're your client or they're not.  

Comments

@basir I'm sure he's paraphrased it for us, to demonstrate the point briefly.  

Answer 23

Literally every client is like this for all digital marketing.  

Answer 24

Your explanation flew over me haha. Talk to biz owners in terms of ROI.  

Comments

@idiopathy it'd fly over everyone because it's meaningless jargon taken out of context

Answer 25

Tell them how they'll be making money, not how their site isn't ranking

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@someway this is basically all they wanna know, they wanna male money without spending money.  

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@colonial Very true. A lot of times its just they don't understand how it works, or someone in the company had their cousin do it for practically free did a horrible job

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@someway  this is definitely something g happening to me right now. Clients goes online, make some research and says do this, client goes on to call different seo companies and in turn tells me lots of crap. Damn so annoying. Well I told client, I dont care what they tell you, all I care about is results to achieve it you gotta spend money. Google is no fool to give it all for free.  

Answer 26

4 times

Answer 27

Most of them who came to me told this.  

Answer 28

1 time only, but it was only after about 3 months

Answer 29

I liked the description more than the story. Shame on me.  

Answer 30

Agile technology? Wtf are you on about?  

Answer 31

Happens all the time. When the come back instead of $$$-$$$$ it is now 1. 5 x $$$-$$$$ to fix what the other guy screwed up.  

Answer 32

Av seen emails for $99 per month

Answer 33

Never write Sorry Sir. ;) fuck that

Answer 34

Exactly the same thing happened to me a few years ago!  

Answer 35

I wouldn‘t have hired you neither. Your pitch almost probably sounded like complete geek gibberish to the prospective client. I am not that long in the SEO business, but since 20 years I am selling products that need a lot of explanation. My rule no. 1: I only use terms and language I am are sure my client does understand. This gives the client confidence and creates trust. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but this works extremely well in selling SEO as well, even to clients who didn’t know that they needed SEO before they met me.  

Comments

I know Sir, it was including some jargons, but we have to explain them what all it needs