[JesseLY]

I know a lot about SEO and have been very successful with many of my client's sites. My own site comes in at #1 on Google for "Seattle web site design" and variations thereof.

However, I've never offered SEO as a distinct service. I've always done basic SEO when building the site, and then give the clients lots of pointers as to writing their content.

I get inquiries all the time from people with existing sites wanting SEO services, but I always turn them down because I don't want to charge for something I can't guarantee. I'm thinking of changing that, though, since I could obviously get a lot of business doing this.

How do I deal with the fact that SEO services are not a sure thing? I don't want to be like those scam SEO companies that promise a number one ranking on Google, only to disappointment the clients.

Anyone else in my position, offering SEO and wanting to do it honestly and fairly? How do you deal with the fact that none of it is certain? How do you put that into a contract?

Thanks...

-Jesse

[RaelRode]

While I will do my absolute best to get you the #1 spot on (your choise of search engine(s)) this is not guaranteed.

Obviously you'd need to put it into "lawyer terms" and fanny it out a bit, but that could be the gist of it.

[JesseLY]

Thanks. That much I knew. In fact, I already have that in my existing contract for web design. Guess I was just looking for feedback from others that have been in the same position.

-Jesse

[cjgraphix]

Put the specifics of what you WILL do in the contract. you WILL search out logical keywords AND keyphrases. you WILL optimize the text with a 3%-5% keyword density. you WILL optimize the meta data to match the keywords and keyphrases within each page. you WILL link specific keyphrases and keywords to other sections of the site. you WILL write guidelines for incoming text links.

There are a lot of things that ARE involved in SEO that go into high SERP rankings and those are the things to focus on.

[transparent_opacity]

This is a great question, one I have wondered many times myself....in fact I couldn't have wrote it better myself! I hope you don't mind Jessely, but I reposted this on an SEO forum where I hope it may be answered by SEO professionals:

How to offer SEO services honestly? - SEO Chat

[weldo]

never guarantee any positions.

i'd go with cjgraphix's comments ... they make a lotta sense.
they pay you for your time, based on what you will be doing, preparing guidelines and reports and monitoring the results accordingly.

anyone who takes money off people and says 'i'll make you number 1' is a cunt.

[Justinskie]

I agree with Weldo.

Offer SEO honestly, its more about customer and client expectation nowadays and getting them to LISTEN.

eg:
NO you DO NOT want to be number 1 for "big mad widgets that are brown and go pop" just because you personally happened to search for it one day and you found a competitor.

Explaining to them all the ins and outs of what you will actually do is usually done in much to technical fashion, and even though it can seem logical to you, the guy who has to do it, most companies will not have a clue about targeting markets, lead generation, back linking, content generation, W3c mark up, etc. and as soon as you mention it they will go to never never land.

Clients want results, leads, and ROI plain and simple. Help build confidence in your abilities by producing results, and spend the time not getting side tracked into doing things that will be of no benefit on line for some personal indulgence by some monkey that works there. don't agree to work on commissions though, there are just to many ways they will screw you over.

In fact having said that maybe you need to worry less about offering SEO honestly and finding a client that will pay honestly :P

All joking aside however, its a long haul job and communication and reporting are key.