When it comes to retainers, SEO companies usually bundle these up into different packages. The bigger the monthly fee, the more work you get, and typically the more competitive the market or geography you can rank in.
The more educated you are about online marketing, the better you will be able to choose an SEO package that suits your business needs and the less chance of mismatched expectations between you and your agency.
There are three broad price points.
Small – generally up to $1000
This is suitable for companies who sell to just one geographic area, or who are starting out. Think local retailers and service providers. You’ll get local SEO optimisation to help you rank for searches in your area.
Medium –$1000 to $4000
This is suitable for businesses with an established online presence that target a national or international audience or operate in more competitive niches. You’re talking your large online retailers, wholesalers, and large brands making the move into online marketing.
Large or Custom – $5000 and above
Budgets beyond $5000 are typically for enterprise businesses targeting national or international audiences in very competitive markets. Things like car insurance, life insurance, travel brands, education institutions and the like.
Many SEO guarantees prey on the ignorance of the customer and their trust in the agency to do the right thing.
Typically an SEO ranking guarantee will say something like: “We guarantee to rank your website on the first page for your keywords within three months, or you’ll get your money back.”
They don’t typically say which search engine that’s in. It could be Yahoo! or Bing, which provide very little traffic compared to Google. And they often select easy keywords which have very little search volume or competition, and so are easy to rank for. They’re easy to rank for because they’re completely irrelevant and no one in their right mind is chasing them.
And anyway, keyword rankings aren’t all that matter – there are broader metrics you should be targeting, like audience numbers or the number of organic conversions you get.
So take any SEO guarantee with a grain of salt, and don’t rely on it for assurance that you’re getting a no-risk deal.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep your agency accountable. In my experience, most areas of conflict arise around expectation management. If you don’t understand what the agency is doing for you then you will get frustrated when their bill arrives.
Make sure before you start you have a detailed campaign plan that breaks down the proposed SEO activities by month.
If you don’t know what these activities are, make sure you ask your account manager in advance.
Think about what metrics you want to focus on. Your SEO agency should know what your business goals are, and make clear what they’re going to do to help you achieve them.
Chasing vanity rankings is no longer a viable goal. SEO is a much broader more complex activity now than ever before.
If you need or expect instant traffic, then SEO might not be where you should be investing your online marketing dollars.
Safe, sustainable SEO takes time to implement and get results, but once your site is performing well it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
If you need instant traffic then you might be better served by using paid traffic such as Google AdWords rather than SEO.
Here are the key things you need to be doing as a business owner to help ensure a successful SEO engagement with your agency.
Edmund Pelgen is a former SEO agency head of search and content, where he worked with clients like RACQ, Super A-Mart and Lorna Jane. He is the founder of online marketing blog Online Kickstart.
You can connect with him on Google+ or on Twitter at @edmundpelgen.
