Professional SEO Charges

[FoundByDesign]

Hey guys. I am curious, what would you say is the average charge for professional SEO work? I have not begun offering direct SEO services to others in the area, but know that there is a market place for it.

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share ideas on what is appropriate, or at least where to get some ideas on the subject?

Thanks
Ed

[Canonical]

It totally depends on your level of expertise, reputation in the business community, length of engagement, etc.

I work by day as a full-time SEO manager for a PR7 brand site that 85% of the people in the US recognize. I do SEO consulting on the side sometimes in which case I won't touch anything for less than $125/hr and always start with a mandatory comprehensive site review for a min of 20 hrs before suggesting any real changes to the site. Lots of smaller companies think it's expensive. Medium to large companies don't even blink an eye at that price. It weeds out all the companies who a) don't have a budget and b) are looking for a quick fix.

If you can deliver $500 per hr worth of ROI then ask $500/hr. I hear some get $1000/hr like SEOMoz. No matter what you ask, if you deliver then you'll continue to get work at that price through referrals. If you don't, the referrals will stop coming.

[FoundByDesign]

It totally depends on your level of expertise, reputation in the business community, length of engagement, etc.

I work by day as a full-time SEO manager for a PR7 brand site that 85% of the people in the US recognize. I do SEO consulting on the side sometimes in which case I won't touch anything for less than $125/hr and always start with a mandatory comprehensive site review for a min of 20 hrs before suggesting any real changes to the site. Lots of smaller companies think it's expensive. Medium to large companies don't even blink an eye at that price. It weeds out all the companies who a) don't have a budget and b) are looking for a quick fix.

If you can deliver $500 per hr worth of ROI then ask $500/hr. I hear some get $1000/hr like SEOMoz. No matter what you ask, if you deliver then you'll continue to get work at that price through referrals. If you don't, the referrals will stop coming.

So if I read that correct, min charges would be roughly $2500?

[FoundByDesign]

I found this very interesting website..
FreelanceSwitch Hourly Rate Calculator

Its an online calculator that takes all your expenses and desired profit into account and gives you an estimated hourly rate you should charge... anyone used this? How accurate is it to your current rates?

[innominds]

The SEO charges depend on various things.

1. Expertise
2. Brand value
3. Time frame
4. The target niche
5. Age of site
6. ETC

[Canonical]

So if I read that correct, min charges would be roughly $2500?

Basically, yeah. I'm not going to mess with anything that is not going to yield me at least $2500. It's really not worth the time to drive over to their site and discuss it with them otherwise.

I usually start off with a site review for $2500 (more if the site is large) and then review the results for them. Then we sit down and figure out next steps... what they will fix internally vs. what they need my help with... again at $125/hr and again with some minimum hrs of engagement.

That's just my way of doing it to ensure it's worth the trouble. But I'm not consulting full-time as I mentioned... I'm doing it nights and weekends as time permits. As I said, I work full-time already as an SEO so I don't really "need" the additional income.

[Tubby]

I only do the occasional odd job and the nearest I ever get to doing seo is arranging a link or two. I write a bit of content occasionally, now and then I create simple gif images. I make the odd trial web page - I have done a few promotional web pages.

I have never manages to work out a rate - I work on the 'whats it worth' system. I discovered a long while back, if it not worth much to the buyer. . . it is usually not worth doing.