About SEO Evaluations

magnifying glass Depending on the SEO package you select, this is a brief sampling of elements that I will evaluate your web site for and a few of the services performed in the process of applying SEO to your web site:

Review, research and analyze keywords/phrases and content
Review and edit tags, titles, overall web site coding and images
Submit to appropriate search engines as needed
Ongoing monitoring and modifications as needed
Rewriting of content as needed
Submit to appropriate directories as needed

The evaluation is generally initiated within ten business days of receipt of payment. Your web site is evaluated for search engine needs and there is no SEO work performed on your site during the evaluation.

Upon completion of your evaluation, I then automatically proceed to perform the actual site optimization unless you have requested a written estimate. Information on obtaining an estimate is found beneath the Evaluation Fees list at the top right of this page.

Fees for actual SEO services are billed at an hourly rate of $50.00 per hour for all work performed. The work will be performed but held for upload to your site until final payment is received.

You may take advantage of the convenient online payment options or if you prefer you may pay by check. If you pay by check, both your evaluation and your upload will be delayed until your check clears our bank.

Important: In order to perform the necessary services, I must download your existing site. If your site is built in a Content Management System, I will instead need to access the CMS administration area of the site. Accessing the site is discussed in the SEO Application for which you'll find a download link below.

During the time the work is being performed you must not make any changes to existing pages on your site. Please notify your web designer of this! After the work is performed and your pages are uploaded, your web designer must then download the newly optimized pages in order to make any updates to your site. I am not responsible if updates are made to pages that are overwritten after I upload your optimized pages. I'm also not responsible if your web designer alters the work after it's performed.

How Do I Secure an SEO Plan?

All that's necessary for you to get started is to download the SEO Application, complete and return it to me along with the evaluation fee. The evaluation fee may be paid with a check by mail if you return your application by mail, or through our secure online payment center if you elect to return by fax or eMail.

The application is in PDF format. You may left click the link to open and print it, or right click the link to save it to your computer.

Because I must ask for sensitive information that neither of us want transmitted over the Internet via eMail or submission by form, for security reasons the application is in PDF format. The completed application is then returned to me by mail or fax. I understand that this is a bit of an annoyance over just filling out an online form, but I'm fairly certain you agree that your site's security is more important than a slight inconvenience.

SEO Is Also YOUR Job!

It's important that you understand that I can do my very best SEO on your site, but if you don't cooperate and do your part as well, you're not going to do as well in the search engines as you could be.

It will be your job to locate related directories and web sites on which you will want your site link to appear.

There is work to do in order to actually get your site listed in directories. Most of my clients do the footwork to find them and then send the link to the diretory for me to review. If it's determined to be a good place to link your site — I will do the work to get it listed. I'm more than likely not going to regularly remind you to do this. It is your web site and your responsibility to do the best you can for it!

If you do your part and I do mine, there is an excellent chance that your site will do quite well in the rankings. If I'm working my end of things and you are not, then you simply have no one to blame but yourself.

Putting All Your Eggs in One Basket

I shudder when I hear that someone is counting solely on their web site to bring in their salary. Never ever consider your web site as your sole means of income! Eventually there may come a day when one can do this but that day is not here yet. I'm not expecting this to happen in my lifetime.

Never ever count solely on a web site even with the best SEO to spring you into millionaire status!

If you're in business, securing a web site and some good SEO is pretty much a "must do" in today's world. But you are not done yet! Your web site does not automatically market or promote you — you must market and promote your web site!

If you need someone to assist you with marketing and promotion — ask me! I will put you in touch with a promotion and/or marketing professional.

SEO Evaluation Fees

$99.00 - up to 5 pages
$179.00 - 6 to 15 pages
$229.00 - 16 to 25 pages

Sites totaling more than 25 pages should submit the $229.00 fee and you are then billed hourly for additional pages.

I do not provide estimates for SEO work performed after evaluations. Why? Because it would add to your cost. I simply evaluate your site and then proceed with the SEO application according to the SEO Plan you select from the options below.

If you request a written estimate, you'll receive an informal email which includes a very brief summary of the SEO services I will perform on your site. An additional estimate fee of $35.00 is required. Estimate fees must be paid with your Evaluation Fee.

Search Engine Optimization Plans

Basic SEO Plan: For those on a very tight budget ... a one time service which involves title, image, meta description and very basic content analysis. Key words and phrases are optimized solely based on those supplied by the client, but no research is done on the supplied key words or phrases. No humanly visible changes are made to your site content.

This plan is most definitely not what I recommend for any site as there is no research or other in depth services performed that would be much more beneficial to your web site. Remember for best results, good SEO is an ongoing overall process and involves much more than is provided with this plan.

Basic Plus SEO Plan: One time service which includes the basic services above and additionally research of keywords and key phrases provided by client. Keep in mind that the client may not truly know what are the best keywords or phrases to get their site found! This is one very important reason why the Basic and Basic Plus Plans are not something I recommend.

Further includes simple content editing or rewriting which means there may be minor humanly visible content changes. The client is responsible for review of all changed content.

A simple eMail report outlining additional recommendations for improving your site SEO is supplied to the client on completion. It's suggested you discuss the recommendations with your designer.

Once again I must stress that any one-time SEO service is not ideal, nor is it advisable to do just a portion of SEO to a web site.

Advanced SEO Plan: For those who are seriously dedicated to doing the very best they can for their web site!

Includes all services in the Basic Plus Plan, with the addition of code clean-up and more intense content and key word research analysis.

Clean code is essential to good search engine optimization. Sites that use outdated coding will be updated to more current standards. In some instances this means rewriting of the existing style sheets, the addition of style sheets if the site doesn't currently use them, in-page code updating and/or re-writing and other miscellaneous backend tasks that may keep your site from doing as well as it could in the search engines.

Additional key word research means I will not only utilize the key phrases you supply but I will perform my own research. It may be found that your site is not using the most appropriate key phrases to gain better placement.

Your site will then go into recurrent monitoring status which takes place approximately every 8-12 weeks dependant upon search engine activities, edits, modifications to your site, technology changes and the overal needs of your individual site.

Advanced SEO Plan Billing

Many clients ask how much the ongoing Advanced services run on a regular basis. It's been my experience that aside from the evaluation fee, the initial SEO procedures are the most costly. After all, I'm starting from scratch on a site that may or may not need substantial help. Subsequent monitoring & modifications are generally inexpensive. You may receive billings where only a ranking check is performed. This is good news, it tells you that your site is doing well.

After a recurring ranking check is performed , if the site ranking is good I most often don't touch it except for an occasional tweak here or there. You are billed only for the recurring ranking check. A minimum $25 fee applies. No reports are submitted to the client — no news is good news.

If I find rankings are significantly slipping (peaks, valleys and plateaus are normal) I automatically make modifications accordingly. You're billed on an hourly basis for all work performed in addition to the recurring ranking check fee of $25.00 minimum and performed every 8 to 12 weeks. Unless you have a very large site, rankings checks generally average no more than the minimum.

Plans for the Future

Eventually I will be offering different programs for Advanced SEO Plan clients to take advantage of that will give them the opportunity to receive ranking and other reports. This will take time put into place. When it's ready, I plan to announce it both on my web site and privately to my clients.

More than likely I will provide a poll on the site for you to vote for the various reports you'd most like to take advantage of.

I invite you to check back every so often for new and exciting things happening at Digital Mouse Designs!