Knowing your SEO Contract Inside Out

SEM comes into different shapes and forms: basic or in depth, on-page and off-page SEO, PPC management, multilingual SEO, XML feeds, etc. Some companies break their services down to number of hours, others take performance as a reference point. Some offer the guarantee to refund your money if you're not satisfied with the results, while others not. The contract is the most important aspect of your relationship with a SEO company. It protects you from any wrongdoing on their part and ensures that your money is well spent.

What Should the Contract Include?

The first thing a contract should include are all services to be performed. They should be presented in great detail, in plain language so that you can understand exactly what the SEO campaign consists of. SEO is just a term, an umbrella for a large and varied combination of services. It may be a tediously and boring aspect, but it's crucial for the protection of your business to understand exactly what you're getting in return for your money.

Services to be performed can include but are not limited to:

• Evaluating the current status of your website
• Keyword research, analysis of the degree of competitiveness
• Site structure analysis, recommendations and adjustments - Fixing the site for users and search engines
• Manual submissions to directories such as the Open Directory
• Paid inclusions to directories and search engines, trusted feeds
• Link building
• Consulting and training for your staff
• Providing accurate reports on web site performance

There can be any number of extras such as PPC management, multilingual optimisation, copywriting, e-mail marketing, etc.

Payment for Services

The contract should clearly state whether you are paying by the hour (the most common method) or by performance. If the pricing structure is based on an hourly rate, then the contract should provide a ballpark figure regarding the number of hours each service or task requires. That is essential to establishing how much your budget is buying. You also want to be able to predict any additional expenses. Make sure the SEO company consults with you before they start spending on your behalf and you're faced with a huge bill.

Performance-based pricing structures are trickier. Customers and companies have different ways to measure performance. Some unethical companies even try to trick you into believing your site is doing well.

You can measure performance by rankings (for keywords that actually deliver qualified traffic), by targeted traffic or by ROI. Your contract should spell out quite clearly what performance means and how it is measured.

Don't ever pay more than 50% up front. Work out a payment schedule that protects you. Avoid paying for each visitor or "per click" as that might add up to an unreasonable figure.

If the SEO company accepts such pricing structure then you should still expect to pay for consulting hours, meetings etc. Their time is worth money and you can't get around paying them for that. This is often where misunderstandings arise as businesses feel that "pay for performance" means that if there is no performance, they will not paying any fee. SEOs see matters differently, they will charge you for the cost of carrying out the consulting and implementing changes, but they will not charge you above that limit in order to make a profit.

Other Contract Considerations

The time scale needed to perform and obtain results from SEO services can vary based on the varied complexity of some services. A minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 6 months is needed to obtain the desired results. If at the end of the 6 months there are no satisfactory results you should end the contract and ask for a refund (if this has been agreed upon).

Some SEO companies will want to link back to their website in order to help their own rankings. Discuss this with them and insist on a discount in exchange of a link back to their site or to their clients'.

If the SEO is also going to write content, it is a good idea to buy the copyrights. That will avoid any discussions regarding copyright in the event of contract termination.

The agreement should also outline all responsibilities of the SEO company: they should present timely reports of the services performed on your website, be prompt in responding to your requests. assume responsibility in the event that your website should be banned or penalised by search engines or in case of any other wrongdoing on their part. Should this occur, not only should you be able to claim a refund but also ask for compensation for damages caused to your business.

If the SEO guarantees results or top rankings double check the refund conditions. No SEO can guarantee top rankings but if they do, make sure you can get your money back and it's not just sales talk. SEOs can be tricky and may guarantee results for obscure keywords that are of no real value to you.

Without a well drawn contract you are at the mercy of search engine marketing companies. If you don't make sure you're covered, you may find yourself in a position where you invested money in SEO and obtained virtually nothing in return. Don't let a poorly written contract put your business in a vulnerable position.

How Much Does SEO Cost?

This article was first published on 14 August 2004 and does not necessarily match current events or the current opinions and views of bigmouthmedia ltd.

Home | Careers | RSS | Contact Us | Newsletter

International sites: