Need Some Help With My New SEO Contract

Hey Everyone,
I recently shared an experience about one of my recent seo clients at this post and I got a lot of good love and feedback, I really appreciated it and you gave me some good suggestions about contracts.
http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackh...tion-client-does-not-want-pay-me-anymore.html

Anyway, I am in the process of readjusting my seo contract and I was looking for some feedback. Because of the economy many of my small - medium sized prospects are not ready to pay my high prices or they claim that they simply cant afford it. Instead of closing the door of opportunity I have decided to "make then an offer they cannot refuse". So what does that mean exactly?

Basically I am offering to work at a pay cut of 50% - 75% of my standard rate for a period of 1-3 months (enough time for them to see some results), after this time frame they will agree to pay my standard rate which is 50%-75% more then the "trial pay". I want to work this type of language in my agreement. In addition, for ecommerce clients, I am thinking to negotiate on some form of profit sharing as well.

The bottom line is that I want to work with clients that have smaller budgets, but once I demonstrate results they will agree to pay me more. What do you guys think about that and do you have any additional ideas or suggestions? All feedback is appreciated!

Don't lose backlinks control. Use your own pyramids for that.

1. I'd look for clients that have the right marketing budget and not cut the standard rates. There are companies that will have this budget even in this economy. The problem with going to the lower end of the market is if they can't afford current rates, then they're likely to use that as an excuse for dropping your service(s).

2. I'd advise not to tinker with legal contracts unless you're legally qualified. Take the advice of a qualified lawyer to create a legally binding contract, so if in the minority of cases where the client doesn't want to pay, and you do need to enforce it, it won't fall down (in court).

@SEOWhizz,
Good point,
Actually what I do with contracts is I write what I want in the contract then I go to justanswers.com and hire a qualified attorney there to finalize my contract. It usually costs less than $50. And because I pre-write the terms it saves them some time also. Thanks for your feedback.

SEOWhizz said:

2. I'd advise not to tinker with legal contracts unless you're legally qualified. Take the advice of a qualified lawyer to create a legally binding contract, so if in the minority of cases where the client doesn't want to pay, and you do need to enforce it, it won't fall down (in court).

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I think if you go for companies with little marketing budget you will find that after the trial period, and they see results they will say goodbye. Clients can be VERY shortsighted.

What about a discount based on referring new clients to you? With a longer term contract, you could scare away potential clients who don't want to be locked in if you suck. After all, most people seem to think that SEO is just adding some keywords on your site, and shortly after google will rank you for high-comp keywords.

I think the main problem is that if you have already ranked them, you'll need to really educate them on why they need to stay with you and pay you more. Why not turn it around - do a 3 month trial period at the full rate and they can cancel if they don't see results.

For e-commerce you absolutely need to make it revenue sharing not profit sharing!

If your service is good and your client's have never been docked by Google you don't need to worry about price slash. People are now seeking real SEO experts with proven track record, the money still doesn't matter.

In my experience, it is very hard to get someone to pay a higher rate when they have been paying a discounted rate. Raise your published prices but charge the clients the same so they feel they are getting a discount. You can also quote a per project discount price for an initial project but then charge your regular hourly rate on future projects.

A easier way to start of higher and let them haggle or offer them a discount everyone loves to think there a business god. The problem with higher pricing and contracts is people don't like to be tied into contracts and a lot of customers see seo "internet guy" as just some other trade like electrican they have no idea the vast diffrence of quality and results you can get from one person to the next.This leads to the risk of lossing a customer straight after the contract ends because your prices may be to high.Much better to have long term customers who are happy to stay because they think there getting a great discount rate.

Maybe the answer is to create 3 seo companies. One SEO company that focuses on high quality results with a high dollar, then have another SEO company that focuses on cheap pricing and offers just enough to get by at the current time, but when google sends out the newest algorithm update, the clients site will get slapped so badly they wont rank anymore. Then they will need a recovery service. Then you can have a 3rd company that specializes in recovery services, like "Google panda recovery", this way it doesn't matter what type of client and budget your dealing with you get all of them from all angles, now that's the way to do it!
Then you hire a lawyer to make sure your bullet proof and protected.

sitemaster8 said:

I think if you go for companies with little marketing budget you will find that after the trial period, and they see results they will say goodbye. Clients can be VERY shortsighted.

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