Watch Those SEO Costs

By David A. Utter - Mon, 05/05/2008 - 6:44pm.

You could be overpaying for some basic services

Some firms may try to charge what we can only describe as overly generous margins on certain services.

WebProNews pop quiz - I'd like to charge you $3,000 to submit your website to 100 directories. Your response to this should be:

Handing me a check for the full 3 Gs, made out to my design firm, C. Ash
A hearty chuckle followed by a brisk run away
Several whacks with a tire iron

We can't advocate violence or other such punishments, richly deserved though they may be. The thoughts you entertain in privacy about such a deal may be as detailed as you like; go wild.

The maxyRO blog said they have seen this level of pricing for directory submission, a service they feel might be worth $50, based on charges for it by manual submission services. Nice work, if you can get someone to pay for it.

MaxyRO also criticized overpriced article writing and submissions ($100), rewriting and resubmitting that article to more sites ($50), and keyword ranking consulting ($300). Plus SEO consulting by phone; "I can imagine a call center with bored teens reading some script," said the blog.

Naturally, worthy SEO businesses exist. Word of mouth is one way to find a good one. Ask other businesses you trust what they did with SEO, then look for them via their expected niche keywords to see where they rank.

If they rank well in search, top 5 or better, the choice that business made could be the right one for you.

News Tags: SEO, Costs

About the author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Follow me on Twitter, and you can reach me via email at dutter @ webpronews dot com. Why not Mixx this article while you're here?

Comments

Submitted by J Macdonald (WPN reader) on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 5:07am.

SEO Charging

It's an unfortunate fact that there will be companies that overcharge and spin a "smoke and mirrors" story when they are dealing with companies and personnel who have little or no understanding of the subject matter. The fault lies with both parties, no less with the buyer if they don't do the research or understand what they are buying. In addition, in all business scenarios there is a "profit to cost" relationship. If the buyer will make a million by carrying out a piece of marketing well then the actual cost of the marketing including any learning curve mistakes may be insignificant. They just need to get it done. Its hard for overcharging to occur if a company gets detailed estimates from more than one supplier. Any other method introduces the risks mentioned here.

Submitted by search engine ricky (WPN reader) on Fri, 05/09/2008 - 11:54am.

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