SEO work do you charge once?

You work on somebody's site, do you get paid once or monthly?

[silverbytes]

I wonder how to charge SEO work for clients.
You work, then results come you get paid and that's all?
What about the permanent or transitory benefits?
How do you actually do? Monthly payment, or just a freelance job done one time only.

Real experiences are appreciated!

[ritualcoffee]

I'd split up the services.

Evaluation of Site and Recommended changes - $ (this is the most expensive - laid out plan of SEM, SEO, PPC, PPI)
Implementation of pages - $ dependent on # of pages and who is doing the changes
Submissions - $
Reporting - monthly $
Bid Mgmt - monthly $

[eaden]

I do it as part of a web design package and leave it at that. If after 6 months their rankings have gone down I will re-quote to get them back up to #1.

[albert]

Many of my clients seem to think about websites like "launch and forget" until an update is necessary (because they have new products or similar).

But more and more clients begin to understand about the value of current SEO analysis and work when I explain about two or tree months after launch what happened and what could be improved.

I'll charge them on a quarterly basis.

[pageoneresults]

1. Initial 90 day agreement.

This includes the rebuild of the site which covers research, organization, optimization, validation and conversion to CSS.

2. PPC (Pay Per Click) PFI (Pay For Inclusion) CPC (Cost Per Click)

The initial setup for PFI is included in the 90 day agreement minus the cost of URL submissions. Note that PFI may be priced separately depending on the number of URLs to be submitted.

PPC and CPC is priced separately based on the number of keywords and maintenance involved.

3. Monthly Maintenance Fees

After the first 90 day engagement this fee will vary depending on the size and scope of the site. If you are a professional, you will sell your maintenance fees accordingly. It is not just a matter of checking positions and reporting them which I do not do. It is a matter of keeping abreast of the latest changes in the industry and incorporating those changes where appropriate. There is also time involved to review statistics and act accordingly based on the results of those statistics. This could mean adding new content, breaking up existing content, etc.

4. Telephone Consulting Fees

This option is available to those who have the in-house staff to perform ongoing maintenance. The first telcon is a minimum 2 hour engagement and priced accordingly (not cheap). Once there is a level of comfort that the in-house team knows what they are doing, ongoing telephone consultations are minimum 1 hour engagements and priced accordingly (affordable for most).

5. Price Per Project

This is for those who do not need an ongoing maintenance schedule but who have additional needs throughout the tenure of their promotion. This would include adding new content, usability features, etc. These are priced per project and usually by the hour, in 1 hour increments.

When a client has opted for monthly maintenance, they now have me as their Internet Marketing Consultant during that time. Minor changes and updates on the site are done on the fly as time permits, usually within 12-24 hours, even on weekends. My maintenance agreements run in 90 day increments, billed in advance, not after the fact. Maintenance agreements are also revised after each 90 day engagement to reflect the degree of work required to maintain the site.

[menton]

33% upfront and the rest upon completion of the job. If I don't hit the targeted placings on particular search terms I will discount it in some way that is agreed before hand.

menton