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SEO Packages and Pricing
SEO Packages and Pricing

SEO Packages & Pricing

The Benefits of Custom Search Engine Optimization Packages

Search engine optimization is complex and most SEO service agencies offer different packages are too simplistic with low-value results. That’s why Crevand SEO takes the time to listen to our customers and offer custom organic SEO service packages that are designed to give them the best results for their budget.

In this article, we explore all the different types of packages SEO companies offer and why we think a custom package is best.

Basic SEO Package Pricing

Basic SEO Packages

SEO companies offer basic SEO packages for new businesses that only have a low budget. These basic packages include essential steps in order to drive traffic to their website and reach a higher ranking in search engines. But most of these are low-level and will not return results. Some of what is often included sounds good until you dig a little deeper:

  • Site audit
  • On-page SEO
  • Google Analytics Installation
  • Content Creation
  • Link Development
  • Keyword Research
  • Inbound Link Examination
  • Title and Meta-Tag Optimization

Pricing for basic packages differs from one SEO company to another. It can range from $500 to $1,500 per month and we have all received that email touting “First Page Ranking for only $29.95 per month”. The average consumer does not understand the value or even what an SEO package consists of. They just like the bells, whistles and the incredibly low price.

SEO Companies Workflow

What do SEO Companies Actually do?

For newly-opened businesses, it is important to establish an online presence in order to start acquiring new customers. When potential customers search for products and services, they tend to choose the top results displayed on the first page of search engines. This is where SEO companies come in.

SEO companies are the professionals that get businesses listed as high as possible in the search engines with both local and national SEO marketing. These professionals help in tailoring a strategy for a website so that it can reach the client’s goals. Crafting quality content with appropriate keywords will bring organic traffic to the website and can generate leads and sales. It is the SEO professional’s job to make this happen.

The keyword here is “Professional”. As you look to hire an SEO company ask the critical questions of how they achieve rankings, how long it should take, what their strategy is and how they acquire data to make decisions within an SEO campaign.

SEO Pricing

When it comes to SEO services, digital agencies typically have one of three pricing options: hourly, fixed price, and monthly retainer.

Methods For SEO Package Pricing

Fixed Price SEO

Price of SEOClients may opt to pay a fixed price for SEO services only if they know precisely what their website needs and what they will be getting. This is not a recommended option especially if the digital marketing campaign is complex. A fixed price SEO service means that the focus is only on one segment of the strategy and not the whole. By choosing this, clients might spend more of their budget than by choosing more efficient pricing options like a monthly retainer.

SEO is an ongoing process… it is not a quick project and requires continual maintenance and research to remain at the top of rankings.

Hourly SEO Pricing

Price of SEOHourly SEO work is never a good option. Any legitimate agency does not charge hourly but rather, works off of a retainer. SEO is like a wave with highs and lows and opportunities arise based on Google updates, available links, news events, etc… Hourly workers are typically from third world countries from people doing SEO as a part-time job for extra income while serious agencies that invest in training, expensive software, teams of strategists, and companies that really know their stuff work on a retainer.

Retainer SEO Pricing Structure

Price of SEOPricing SEO on a retainer of project basis typically is fixed at a monthly cost but enables an agency to have more leeway to complete monthly tasks based on what Google is currently rewarding for ranking. Meaning, a pre-packaged SEO campaign locks a client into receiving a marketing model that is far less flexible. A SEO retainer enables a USA based SEO company to alter the campaign as data demands changes allowing for greater impact and better results. Avoid pre-packaged plans.

 

Fixed Pricing SEO Model

Why is SEO so Expensive?

Some business owners say that SEO is expensive and this is true if they hire a reliable SEO company. Going for a cheaper SEO option results in mediocre results and potential penalties in the long run.

There are several reasons why SEO is expensive. Here are some examples:

  • Great content writing. There is a lot of competition when it comes to ranking in search engines. The best way to get the top spot is to have great content which requires extensive research.
  • New website. A newly developed website needs to have a lot of work done in order to gain an online presence.
  • Size of the website. Larger websites with heavy traffic need to be constantly monitored, improved, or changed if necessary.
  • Monthly campaign reports. A good SEO company will not just give a simple report but a very detailed, comprehensive one. A successful online marketing campaign relies on interpreting analytical data. It helps in making adjustments in the campaign which will ultimately help in increasing ROI.

The Cost of SEO

Is SEO Cost Effective?

Definitely, SEO is cost-effective. SEO returns a higher ROI than PPC… if done right. It might seem daunting to hire an SEO company to handle website marketing, but it is beneficial in the long run. Getting SEO services will increase site traffic and can generate more leads and sales than other marketing strategies.

How Much Should I spend on SEO per Month?

Usually, the price range of SEO services ranges from $1,500 to $10,000 per month. However, the pricing will depend on a lot of factors such as the client’s budget, website’s age, website’s online presence, and competition for keywords in the website’s niche.

If a website is relatively new with a low online presence, SEO pricing will be higher since the site needs a lot of content and back links to increase organic search traffic. On the other hand, older websites will need technical adjustments in order to keep ahead of the competition. Keywords are also important especially when the website’s industry is very saturated. The pricing will tend to go higher due to any of these reasons.

A client’s budget will ultimately determine how much to spend when it comes to hiring an SEO company. Hiring an SEO agency will definitely help, however, it’s not recommended to hire subpar agencies. It’s better to spend a bit more with a quality agency for guaranteed results. A good agency can give you pricing and set the expectation for an SEO campaign.

web design and SEO packages

SEO and Website Packages

Most small businesses that get a new website built are also interested in SEO as they soon realize that their website won’t get any traffic unless they are prominently listed on search engines. For this reason a lot of web design companies offer web design and SEO but in reality a lot of web design companies are not SEO experts.

SEO is a highly technical field requiring coding and research where web design incorporates a lot of graphic design. Coders and designers usually think they know SEO, but they really do not understand or have the research to rank web sites for heavy traffic keywords.

Web Design & SEO Packages

Good website design is an essential part of good SEO and also for generating leads and sales. Bad design turns off potential customers which leads to less traffic and fewer sales. The images, text, videos, and the overall layout of a website contribute to the success of any digital marketing campaign. A website with an attractive design will capture its target market and keep them coming back.

Despite what most people think and how many web site design companies work, SEO starts far before a web site is created. Research and data about demographics and keywords needs to be put together before any design takes place. Building a page site before you know what keywords you are targeting is foolish. Typically a web site needs 1 original page of really good content targeted to a single keyword. Building pages and then trying to jam keywords into them with the expectation that they will rank well is backwards.

Website Costs

How Much Should I Spend on a Website?

The goal of having a website is to show a client’s products or services and then generate revenue. A starting business may have a hard time setting aside money for web design due to budget constraints. There is the option of creating a website using a website design builder but often these solutions are not good for SEO. When using a builder, it will cost $0 to $300 but be ten times harder to rank in search engines.

The second option is to hire a freelance web designer which typically costs $500 to $5,000. However, freelancers might not be better in the long run, especially if the business is starting to grow.

The most efficient way would be hiring a website design agency which will handle everything from scratch. These agencies have a vast understanding of the technicalities and fully develop every function a website needs. Depending on the client’s budget, they can hire a small, boutique or large website design agency. This option typically costs $3,000 to $100,000.

Best CMS for SEO

Best CMS for SEO

Choosing a Content Management System or CMS is the first step in building a website. It is where content will be added and handling the site’s SEO. It is also very useful when it comes to planning the content strategy for a website. Not all CMS are good for SEO or have the ability to make optimization easier. Some of the most common CMS which clients use:

  • Wordpress. Probably the most popular CMS because of its ease of use and overall great SEO management.
  • Joomla. Another popular CMS which is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses.
  • Drupal. It is a more complicated CMS which is designed for large businesses with thousands of pages on their websites.
  • Blogger. A free, easy to use, and cost-effective CMS with built-in analytics which caters to small businesses.
  • Magento. A search engine-friendly CMS popular for e-commerce websites.

Small Business SEO Packages

Monthly Small Business SEO Packages

Small businesses or those who are just starting out usually don’t have the budget to pay for full SEO services. Good news is that SEO agencies offer basic packages that are budget-friendly while delivering the necessary services in order to reach the client’s goals.

Below are some examples of small business SEO packages by other agencies and their monthly costs:

Monthly Small Business SEO
WiSEOBasic SEO Package – $175
Ez RankingsStarts at $210
WebFXStarts at $950
Firestarter SEOStarts at $1500
Sprout Media LabStarts at $499

These are low level packages and consists of local business profiles most businesses can create themselves. A package means that each company is treated in the same way and each action within an SEO campaign is completed for every client. But Google ranks web sites based on their competition and has different expectation for different industries. Trying to jam a cookie-cutter solution into and SEO campaign where different clients are in different industries and with different levels of competition is a disaster.

Pricing For Local SEO Packages

Monthly Local Business Packages

Local SEO packages are designed to help a client target a limited geographical location, for example, the city the business resides in. Getting a high exposure to local consumers would be of great help to a business. This SEO package will be tailored to a strategy that will enhance visibility to the local area.

Local SEO

We offer Local SEO but we don’t offer generic packages because we think that’s not in the best interest of our customers. Most local packages consist of building local profiles on Google My Business, Yelp, MerchantCircle, and a large number of local directories websites a submitted to. Setup on these directories, often referred to as citation building, is nice but unless these profiles are built manually and correctly they will have little, if any, value.

Below are some examples of Local SEO by other agencies and their monthly costs:

Monthly Local Business Package
WiSEOLocal Essential – $250

Local Advanced – $500

Local Premium – $750

Ez RankingsBasic – $160

Growth – $200

Booster – $250

WebFXStarts at $350 depending on the number of location
Firestarter SEOStarts at $1500
Sprout Media LabLocal – $499

Local Plus+ – $779

Local Market Leader – $999

Ask a local SEO agency what they do after the profiles are built or how they can justify charging a monthly fee? Many companies like Yelp or Dex hold your profiles hostage and require you to continually pay a monthly fee in order to have access to them. Most consumers don’t understand this until they need to change a phone number or address and can’t do it.

E-Commerce SEO Packages

Monthly E-commerce Packages

SEO services for e-commerce websites are designed to be aggressive in reaching a wide audience to generate leads and sales and therefore require more SEO work and resources.

Ecommerce SEO

We offer Ecommerce SEO but we don’t offer generic packages because we think that’s not in the best interest of our customers. Call us if you’d like to discuss a custom package on 208-488-3125

There are a lot of factors that go into play for ranking products and increasing online sales. Package deals are humorous with e-commerce. How can a business offer a price when they don’t know how many products a business sells, what their growth model looks like or what the level of competition is. Below are some examples of Ecommerce packages by other agencies and their monthly costs:

Monthly Ecommerce Packages
WiSEO
Ez RankingsEnterprise – $650

High Volume – $950

Blast – $1450

WebFXSilver – $1250

Gold – $2250

Platinum – $4000

Enterprise – Custom

Sprout Media LabMarket Leader Plus+ – $1499

Market Leader Pro  – $1999

Advanced SEP Pricing and Packages

Advanced SEO Packages

SEO companies also offer advanced SEO packages wherein they tailor their services to the particular needs of the client. Usually, advanced packages include elements from basic packages with additional extensive features that will reach a larger audience and gain better results. Most SEO companies offer custom pricing for this type of plan.

However, Crevand believes that businesses and individuals are better off finding a custom SEO package rather than adhering to standard packages like what other companies offer.

We make sure that our clients will reach their goals through digital marketing campaigns without breaking their budget.

We do extensive research and then apply white-hat techniques and SEO strategies tailored to our client’s needs.

Customizing and SEO Package

Customized SEO Campaigns

Crevand SEO LogoBy doing a customized plan, Crevand SEO will focus more on what a business lacks while staying on budget. Getting a standard package means getting also features that a client doesn’t need and can be a waste of money.

We want to give our clients the right solutions which will fit their budget. At Crevand, we work hand-in-hand with our clients to make sure that they reach their business goals whether on a specific location only or a bigger geographical area.

Call us if you’d like to discuss a custom package on 208-488-3125.

 

 

 

Author: Jim O'Donnell
Jim ODonnell has had a business management consulting practice for over 25 years along with a varied online marketing experience for over 15 years. His business models are characterized by Savvy Business Strategies first before integrating the online marketing initiatives that support the client company's mission and business objectives.