Search Engine Optimization or SEO is the practice of getting your website on the initial pages of the SERPs or Search Engine Results Pages for keywords related your brand’s product or services. In Singapore, the industry of SEO companies has matured. Its pricing is much more transparent than the past years. Today, SEO services pricing in Singapore has set its models, one of which and the most common one is the monthly retainer package that charges by number of target keywords. This system is created to accommodate companies of different budgets; they’ve come up with the following number of keyword packages: 5, 10, 20, and the likes.
No standard price has been set for the offered services, but the rate usually ranges from a hundred to thousand. If you’re wondering why there’s a great difference, think of it as buying a precious collection of bags or other collectibles; price can differ from several thousand for an authentic item to just a few dollars for the fake ones. In the terminology dictionary of SEO industry, this is called as the white and black hat.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Without the discussion about SEO’s benefits, there will be no completed cost conversion. Its services can be a powerful weapon in the marketing arsenal of the business. In Asia, a study shows that less than 60% of the marketers are ranked as the top inbound marketing priority.
With all these details, you probably want to know more about what SEO services can really offer. Yes, it includes technical stuff, on-page and off page Optimization, and others, but if you fast track with the result, all ends with rankings.
Most of the SEO proposals will come with this kind of disclaimers: for you to see or experience the result of SEO services, it will take around three to six months, and that the rankings are not certain which can be bothersome to the client.
Observe that offering a guaranteeing ranking is way different from a guarantee. Those agencies that tell you that they are confident and can guarantee the ranking your website is still not a guaranteed promise. If you read updates, particularly those published by Google about non-guaranteed rankings, it shows that there is no 100 percent certainty when it comes to rankings.
In Singapore, the SEO agency’s KPI or Key Performance Indicator would typically be getting 20 to 30 percent of your keywords on the first page of the search results page in a span of three to six months. In case the agreement or condition is not met, the agency will continue to do SEO services for your company for free thereafter.
The Two Pricing Models of SEO Services
Performance-based SEO
Since search engines are unpredictable, some SEO companies have opted on using performance-based pricing model wherein they’ll only charge the firm once it begins to rank. This case is the same when the site is no longer ranking, the pay also stops.
This is a very reasonable model, except that you must be ready to pay a huge sum of money once your website appears on the first page of the search engine. Each one of the ranked keywords is billable. You have to compensate them for their efforts since they’ve taken the risk and forgone several months upfront of payment.
So before you sign for a package, be sure to create precise calculations to know whether the cost can offset the possible profit of each keyword ranking.
Revenue-based SEO
Just like a salesperson, some SEO practitioners will offer you the related services on a commission basis. This means that whatever amount they managed to generate using their SEO effort will be split among them.
With this scenario, all the problems noted above will be removed by getting the SEO agency to split the risk with you.
This model is adopted by small and big SEO agencies around the world, may it be a first or third world country. But, they also scrutinize the business of the client and practice due diligence to make sure it is a worthy investment. In this model, the company must be prepared to work with the SEO agency for long-term, like two to three years.
Lastly, keep in mind that sustainable rankings result to sustainable profits.
