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We’ve all been there. We sitting across the table from a prospective client, talking for an hour or so about SEO strategy, past clients, past experiences, and future expected results. Then the question is asked. The question you’ve been waiting for. The clients ask about pricing. Of course, you go easy on them. After all it’s a very delicate subject. You know other SEO companies have given them a monthly price, and some have definitely lowballed them. You don’t want to scare them away with your higher prices, and you also don’t want to underbid yourself, and look like an amateur. So, you do what most SEO professionals do. You make the biggest SEO pricing blunder; you give them a price! Never offer or give SEO pricing, without getting a budget first.
Below is a small infographic on how to get a SEO budget before offering pricing.
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Why is giving SEO pricing first a huge blunder?
Here’s a line I stole from the movie, The Social Network. I’ve said it to almost all of my past SEO clients. “SEO is like fashion, it never ends.” Well, if SEO never ends, then how can you give your prospective SEO client an accurate “price”. You can’t. Instead you rattle off some random monthly fee, based on your prospective client’s shoes, watch, car, office, and overall appearance. That’s a huge mistake. I once gave a price of 5k per month to a client. Their response was, “That’s way off.” As I’m thinking, “SHIT!” in my head, the prospective client says something that shocked me a little more. “We’re looking to spend about 10k per month.” Not only was my pricing way off, but it was way too low. I made a Sales 101 mistake. I bid too low. That’s when I decided to change the way I handled pricing.
Never offer or give SEO pricing without getting a budget first. Tell them that SEO really doesn’t have a price, because SEO never ends. Tell them you could spend 2 hours a day on their site or 10. 20 hours per month or 100. You’ll never know your client’s budget unless you ask. Ask for either a 6 month budget or the year’s budget. If it’s 2015, ask for the 2015 or 2016 budget toward SEO. Otherwise, you risk losing the deal because you overbid or underbid the price.
What if my SEO prospect refuses to give a budget?
If your SEO prospect still refuses to give a budget, then put things in perspective by giving them a wide-range of budgets. Tell them that you have clients who spend anywhere between 2k per month and 20k per month (put in your own ranges). This works, trust me! When they hear your budget ranges they’ll give you a budget, because those ranges are a wake-up call on what their peers are spending. Plus they don’t want to waste their own time getting a contract with a budget that is too high or too low. Again, this works, please just trust me. I rarely had any prospect make it past this point without giving me a budget.
Conclusion
Don’t make the biggest SEO pricing blunder. Never offer or give pricing before you get a budget. Always ask (demand) for a budget. I did this for years, and I never left money on the table. Keep in mind, my SEO company was acquired in November 2014. So I know what I’m talking about. If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment below and I’ll be sure to address them. Good luck!