Question about site promotion and my fees

[Phoenix]

Hi everyone,

I think I've gotten myself into a bit of a spot here, but I'm really not sure.[nbsp][nbsp]When I build a site for a client, my fees are broken down into either hourly rates or lump sum charges for graphics sets, html pages, etc.[nbsp][nbsp]Once the site is built, I've usually included in the contract a nominal monthly fee for site maintenance, meaning if something "breaks" I'll fix it.[nbsp][nbsp]

Here's the problem.[nbsp][nbsp]I've finished a site for a client, however he's a)the spouse of the gal who owns my house and b) keeps complaining that his site's not in the top 10 on the search engines.[nbsp][nbsp]If you're a site designer, what do you all interpret as your responsibilities to a client regarding search engine rankings?

I swear I will NEVER get myself into a situation like this again.[nbsp][nbsp]

Phoenix tearing her hair out

[elite]

Well for one tell them there are millions of other people that are also wanting in the top ten. And for some sites its nearly impossible to get a high ranking and keep it.

Just tell them its a fact of life. Depending on the site you can often get much better results by spending a few hours emailing other related sites to link to it and returning a link.

Hope that helps :)

[Rich]

Phoenix:

Does you contract make any mention of advertising the new site to search engines? Is this included in your "package"? If so, then the client might be implying that the submissions did not produce "top 10" results. If not, then I would not see any implications of "rankings", but you might want to check the language of your contract carefully.

You might also want to ask the client "why" he thinks the site should even be listed at all at ANY search engine.

You will want to clarify for you client the difference between site design and site promotion. (If you build it they will NOT come.)

You could also collect some informaiton from the sites that do site promotion and show the client the fees charged for "top 10" positions--the figure $500 sticks in my mind for some reason--for each top ten keyword for a single engine.

Rich

[Phoenix]

Hi,

Thank you both for answering.[nbsp][nbsp]I needed to hear someone else validate what I've been thinking.[nbsp][nbsp]I think I've been so hesitant to say anything because he's the spouse of my landlady (who also happens to be a close friend).[nbsp][nbsp]You made very valid points, Rich and Elite, thank you.[nbsp][nbsp]I emailed him tonight explaining that I'd made the final changes he requested (this is the 14th "final" draft of changes), would resubmit the site to the search engines.[nbsp][nbsp]After this I told him it's my normal maintenance fee of $20/hr for any and all changes/resubmissions with a 1/2 hr charged per change or resubmission. I also outlined for him that he'd basically gotten an 11 page site for a fee of $150.00. Probably would have cost him somewhere between $750-1000 at least elsewhere.[nbsp][nbsp]I also explained to him that my contract states that I will design the site and submit it to 13 major search engines, but says NOTHING about site promotion.[nbsp][nbsp]I suggested he do a search on "website promotion" and he'll discover that he's really gotten quite a deal so far.

Anyway, thanks again for responding and listening to me ramble.[nbsp][nbsp]

Never again,

Nix

[julian]

Hi...

I charge £150 (about $94) to design up to 10 HTML pages, and include a form at the end of designing a clients web pages, so they can fill out and complete what they would like to be published on search engines.[nbsp][nbsp]I tend not to advise the client on how they can make their web site successful as it should be up to them for the price, otherwise I put them in touch with a marketing company to give them independent advice (which is paid for seperately).[nbsp][nbsp]It's difficult to say that "I'll get your web site in the top 10" because it may well be impossible with so many web sites popping up everywhere to do with the same subject.

Once they return the form with my payment I register the details with up to 5 or more search engines, then the rest would be up to them, or if they pay a monthly maintenance fee then I will keep registering the details for them on a scheduled day.

julian@soft-ware.co.uk
[This message has been edited by julian (edited 11-28-99)]

[tedloh]

Hmm..

Julian... £150 is equal to roughly $225, not $94...

Phoenix - boy do I know that feeling LOL...[nbsp][nbsp]except I charged NOTHING for the site except a premium ad spot...[nbsp][nbsp]sometimes working for family/friends/acquaintances is the hardest of all..

I have now established two graphic design teams to handle work.[nbsp][nbsp]Our charges will of course be dependent on the type of design the client requires, but on average we will be charging about $16/page for general work, and a minimum of $250 for site design.

These fees are still some 30-50% less than competing design firms in the US, simply because our cost advantage comes from being in Thailand!

Site promotion is another thing entirely.[nbsp][nbsp]We will submit them to a number of search engines - but if they want high positions then we will charge per position achieved, much like Rich describes.[nbsp][nbsp]Top-10 positions would certainly cost no less than $100-500/keyword phrase, but of course certain unique keywords (like some company names) would not cost as much.[nbsp][nbsp]I have to work on a table for various types of keywords.

------------------
Ted (Chief Do-It-All)
Tygre Systems Co Ltd
Bangkok, Thailand, Land of Smiles :) :)
http://www.tygresystems.com (work in progress)
ted@tygresystems.com

[julian]

Ted...

Opps![nbsp][nbsp]I was thinking of something I bought earlier.... thanks for pointing it out though :)

[julian]

any software developers want to advertise their site for free?



[This message has been edited by julian (edited 12-05-99)]