Most Search Engine Optimization companies use either of two basic billing methods. Some use a "pay-per-hit" system in which you pay a sizeable account set-up fee and then pay an additional fee (from $.25 up to $2!) for each unique visitor to your web site. I don't like this system for several reasons. The first is that, in a sense, it penalizes you for success. I want you to feel more happy as your traffic increases - to enjoy increasing profits - and not to feel pinched because increasing traffic is driving your bill sky high.

The second thing I don't like about "pay-per-hit" is that most companies which use it host doorway pages on their servers, not yours. If you cancel your service agreement, they will remove your pages, terminating your increased traffic. Thus your investment has no lasting value. Also, doorway pages lacking in genuine, original content are regarded as spam by the search engines and may get your site penalized. I optimize your existing pages and may also collaborate with you to create additional information-rich pages. These are all an integral part of your site, hosted on your server. My maintenance program can help to keep their rankings from slipping, but if you choose not to participate in that, you keep whatever work I've done for you. It will continue to draw traffic for a long time to come.

The second billing method is to charge an initial fee to perform SEO services (site optimization, submissions, link exchanges, etc.) and then to charge a monthly maintenance fee to keep those pages in conformity with the latest search engine rules. These fees are based upon the number of key word phrases being positioned for you. Some companies charge according to the rankings your pages achieve. For instance, they might charge $100 for each key word that achieves a top 10 ranking (1st page) on a single search engine, $75 for a ranking between 11-20 (2nd page), and to $55 for a ranking between 21 to 30 (3rd page). The trouble with this is that rankings tend to jump around. You might be #1 on AltaVista one day, #11 the next, disappear entirely the next, and be back to #1 the next. Also, it's tricky basing fees on the number of key words being positioned, because many aspects of the job have to be performed regardless of the number of key words involved. Also, it's easy to rank well for unusual keyword that no one searches on, but harder to rank well for competive keywords. A SEO company could easily charge you for getting many unusual keywords to rank well, yet you'll derive little benefit from them.

I find it simpler and more fair to charge an hourly fee ($50). I'm confident of my ability, I work efficiently, and I can thus assure you that you're getting your money's worth. I'm happy to guide you to do some of the work yourself if you wish. I charge $75/hour if I'm just dispensing advice so that you may do the work yourself. My recent projects have ranged from $300 to $3,000 (not counting submission fees for Yahoo! and the like). Some companies have starting fees as high as $5,000 for a small site. A while back, one company was charging $22,000 to position three key word phrases! (I think they went out of business.) Most are more reasonable. Keep in mind that submission fees for Yahoo, etc. can cost hundreds of dollars, excluding any time I may spend making these submissions for you, and pay-per-click fees can be significant. (PPCs do allow you to set a daily cap on spending.)

I'll keep costs in line with whatever budget we agree upon.