SEO rates (contract)?

I've been an employee for years. What would I charge as a contractor?

[Papagaio]

I've been doing SEO for many years, as an employee. What would I charge somebody as a contractor? I'm looking for an hourly rate rather than a package offering. I have no clue what the going rates are for this service! I am in the Los Angeles area.

Thanks in advance.

[keywordguru]

SEO Rates are definitely a tough one to target.

What I find is that some are willing to spend thousands, while others aren't willing to spend even a little.

The hardest part is getting them to put the trust into your SEO Skills.

Hit them for what you can.
KG

[Papagaio]

LOL! Thanks. I'll do that.

[SEOMike]

The more successes you can show, and the bigger clients you can say you work on, the more you can charge. I've talked clients into several thousands of dollars per month in maintenance fees plus their large setup fee. Just gotta say the right things and make them trust your expertise.

Good luck!

[OCSupertones]

I agree with Mike...

"I've done this for me, and I can do this for you."

[jamesa]

Keep in mind that to keep your current level of income you'd need to bill out 2-3 times more than you're making now at your job. That's because:

- taxes
- medical insurance
- business overhead
- the number of billable hours you'll have will decrease because you'll be wearing new hats, like sales, administration, accounting, janitorial ;). (Offset slightly by the fewer number of showers you'll eventually take.)

Build your rate structure so that you can hire yourself and still leave profits for the business on top of that.

[markatapd]

HI,
This is a great question. One I would also be interested in. Do you think it would be fair to charge a percent of someones advertising budget? For example if someone was spending $5,000.00 a month for key word advertising and you charged 10% ie $500.00, would that be a fair and reasonable thing to do? Or is it just get what you can with no real industry guidelines for guidance? Love to hear some other feedback on this subject.

Mark

[SEOMike]

5,000.00 a month for key word advertising

Well, as a guideline, we won't touch PPC campaigns for less than a 20% agency fee. (20% of their monthly spend and we have a minimum amount the client has to spend)

I agree wholly with jamesa... you'll HAVE to make at least twice what you make as an "employee" to surive as the owner. And you HAVE to make sure to hold enough back for taxes or you may be hit with a HUGE tax bill that would put you under.