Hi SME World, 

SEOmoz surveyed 600+ SEO firms r.e. their pricing models, I figured it could be of some use to the community. So basically rates vary, fixed price for projects is most common. Does this support what you see in the social media world? Are you guys charging a monthly retainer fee? 

Key findings are:

1. Hourly SEO Costs Vary Across Countries, but $76-$200/hour is Most Common
   With the exception of India (the only developing region that was well-represented in our survey), hourly costs of $76-$200 (representing three responses) covered 50%+ of all firms. It was highest in Australia/New Zealand at 62%, followed by 58.1% in the US and 56% in Canada. Granted, this is a wide range, but it provides the answer to a frequently-asked question from those seeking SEO services for the first time.
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2. By-the-Project Pricing is Popular and Most Commonly $1,000-$7,500
   70.1% of respondents said they offer project-based pricing (the most common pricing system selected in the survey). 43% of consultancies were represented by the four price ranges: $1,001-$1,500, $1,501-$2,500, $2501-$5,000 and $5,001-$7,500. Obviously, there’s a wide variety of prices here, not surprising given that the types of projects offered may be quite diverse. 
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3. Monthly Retainer Pricing Has the Widest Distribution
   While both hourly and by-the-project rates do have a wide range of pricing, monthly retainers are certainly the most distributed of the price questions asked in our survey. The two most common were $251-$500/month (13.8%) and $2,501-$5,000/month (11.3%).

@donpurdum Agree with all of your points. It’s also the most work though! We’ve been experimenting with different models. You definitely have to put out the best product/strategy wearing the consultant (as opposed to hourly hat). I’ve seen the happiest clients with the tightly defined project business, but the upside is limited. 

Growing into the retainer/consultancy model. I like it.  

@robpeck definitely. Your conclusion is right re. prices. As far as it is concerned with india, here are still very big variation in different parts of the country. Unfortunately, here, there is no fix formula. Prices are fixed by weighing client’s capacity and project size etc. but no uniformity in terms of countrywide price formula.

@robpeck in ahmedabad (gujarat)

@deairby glad to know that! Always Love to connect with people from different part of world depicting different culture, values and of course knowledge!

@robpeck good to know that! But i am busy in hiring process right now so i don’t think i will be able to be there. Though i will keep an eye on the event, and wish you all the best for the successful trip.