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A New Pricing Structure For SEO Companies . . . Paid Performance (Part 2 Of 3)
By Robin Nobles
Expert Author
Article Date: 2003-03-16
Barry Lloyd, one of the top SEO's in the UK and the CEO of Microchannel Technologies Ltd., which provides SEO/SEM services through their MakeMeTop brand (http://www.makemetop.co.uk), answers the following questions:
Question:
If I'm understanding this correctly, all visitors are logged through a special domain specifically set up where you have full access to the referral logs in real time to make sure that the traffic generated is applicable to your site, and the phrases used are relevant to your market and services. How is this set up? As a separate subdomain of the main site?
Barry:
We are, in essence, selling traffic. A completely separate and visible domain is created. We don't use subdomains.
Question:
So, you set up another site, related to the clients' domain or industry, and all the traffic you generate goes through this domain, and the client can then track it effectively and accurately?
Barry:
Absolutely. In order to do a decent job, you need to have an on- theme site with the client's contact details. Everything is tracked through this site. The site has to be suitable for DMOZ, Yahoo!, etc. We ask for a deposit to cover the initial costs of paid reviews, spidering, etc.
Comment:
You mentioned the mistrust of clients when pitching SEO to them. This is a very real problem for many professional SEO's and one that many of them wrestle with every day. This pricing structure appears to be an ideal solution.
Question:
How do you determine the cost per visitor? Which tools do you use to determine value? Overture?
Barry:
Overture is very helpful. We look at the most important key phrase price, then look at the secondary phrases to give an overall average value of the traffic. Obviously this is significantly less than the top Overture price. Espotting in the UK can give a great indication, and so does AdWords. We also have to gauge traffic. It isn't worth doing this plan for an area where there is no real volume.
Question:
As an example, let's say it's $3 for the VIP phrase and $2 for the secondary phrase. Is the value then 3+2=5/2=2.5 per visitor?
Barry:
In that case, I would probably pitch at $1.50 to make it a no brainer for the client!
Question?
That's a big difference though than $1.50, but you know you would win with the traffic anyway, is that right?
Barry:
Yes, knowing the potential volume for particular searches allows you to have more flexibility in setting an attractive figure for the click-rate. If you know you are going to get high volumes, then you can reduce the price significantly from the going rate. Of course, if volumes are not high - your margin for reduction is not going to be so large.
Question:
Do you have a set number of key phrases you agree on, like 10, 20, etc.? How do you work this out with a client? I can see some clients having many competitive phrases for their sites.
Barry:
We do it on the basis of 'key themes' rather than particular phrases. We select a number of competitive phrases that we base the figure we charge on. We only have 2 clients who have put on a ceiling. Most want the traffic. Obviously, it has to be good traffic or the deal fails at the first hurdle.
Knock on wood, apart from a bit of fine tuning in the first month, we really have never had any queries or complaints. Clients love it. No ranking reports either.
Question:
Any "best practices" advice for an SEO starting out with this strategy for clients? How to avoid the possible pitfalls?
Barry:
Like all things, don't bite off more than you can chew! Judge the type of client you are dealing with and their ability to pay. The deposit we ask for often doesn't cover the actual costs incurred in building a good site which we know will convert well for the client, let alone cover the costs of the SE's.
Question:
For a given domain or client, how many pages are you setting up for them (i.e. how much time are you investing)?
Barry:
It really depends on the area you are in. A low PPC rate often means you need a broader spread of terms. A high one means often a more focused site. An average site is probably 10-15 pages. However I'm just starting on a car hire site which will be targeting major airports which will be around 150 pages!
Question:
Where does the content come from?
Barry:
Usually it is based on information on the client's site but re- written to prevent duplicate filters from kicking in. Often the client has dynamic content which has not been indexed. In any case, this is quite simple to do. Sometimes we just start from scratch.
Question:
Do you give the clients access to your Web stats?
Barry:
Absolutely -- they have full access to real time figures with the ability to check referrals.
Question:
If I'm understanding correctly, you own the domain and the site that you set up for the client. So if the client terminates the contract, he loses all the traffic coming from you.
Barry:
Correct. A contract period is entered into whereby we agree that this is for the sole use of the client for the defined period. We also undertake that if the contract is terminated, all references to the client will be removed, and they have the option to purchase the domain, though not the content. We are selling traffic. In essence, we are setting up an affiliate deal with the client.
(Continued in Part 3)
About the Author:
Robin Nobles conducts live SEO workshops
(http://www.searchengineworkshops.com) in locations across North
America. She also teaches online SEO training
(http://www.onlinewebtraining.com). Sign up for SEO tips of the
day at mailto:seo-tip@aweber.com.
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