What to charge for SEO?

Specifically for a beginner. :-)

[vich1]

I run a number of websites that have great visibility for my selected search terms which are fitness related.

I've been referred to someone who has a mortgage website getting zero traffic.

Now yes, I realize that is probably one of the most competitive fields and I certainly don't expect to rank first page... but I do think I could get the guy some traffic.

I don't really know how to charge for something like this... I've heard of people charging an up front fee, and then actually charging per clickthrough. I've heard of fees upwards of $10 per click!

My thoughts on how to proceed were something like this:

1. Either create a gateway site, or optimized pages on the existing site.

2. Of course submit to free SEs.

3. Submit to paid inclusion SEs.

4. Create a Google Adwords campaign.

5. Create an Overture campaign.

I was going to come up with an hourly rate (say, $75), track my time, and also add maybe 15% to the cost of the paid inclusions. If I was going to charge per click, I could charge maybe double what I'd be bidding for search terms for the PPC ads... although I don't know what that number might be.

Or should I just come up with a flat fee, do the work, and hand it off? If so, how do I calculate what to charge?

I'd REALLY appreciate your thoughts on my ideas.

Thank you!

Vic

[SlowMove]

>2. Of course submit to free SEs.

>3. Submit to paid inclusion SEs.

Maybe not. I don't bother. I just get inbound links, watch the spiders gather in the log files and grab the spider fodder.

[vich1]

Um, "grab the spider fodder"?

You have me at a loss.... what does that mean, exactly?

Thanks,

Vic

[SlowMove]

I meant search engine fodder. That would be content that's a little heavy on the keywords.

[vich1]

Oh, I see....

Actually I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but as far as paid inclusion goes, I submitted about 2 dozen pages from one of my sites via Positiontech, and VERY shortly thereafter, all those pages had been indexed by Google.

As I said, I don't know if this was a coincidence or not, but I have another site with a similar template hosted on the same site (completely different topic) which I have *not* submitted to paid inclusion, and that sucker is just not showing up in depth in Google.

Vic

[WebDon]

I know some folks say you don't need to bother with the paid inclusion, but I did an Inktomi PFI and it did make a noticeable difference. And it's cheap enough per year that in the overall scheme of things I figure it doesn't hurt.

[identity_00]

25hr.

You might get laughed out of the room for 75.

[vich1]

identity,

Thanks. I'm looking for non-sugar-coated feedback. :-)

Although $25/hr is awfully low. I live in SoCal, where EVERYTHING is more expensive. :-)

Vic

[identity_00]

Just telling you - dont be shocked.

[vich1]

Hey, no prob. :-)

I was actually going to estimate how much time I'd have to put into it and just bundle it into an overall quote.

Again, thanks for replying!

Vic