SEO and PPC Marketing Consultation

cooper_man

Hi guys,

I am currently working on a small project with a client of mine and we are considering getting a PPC campaign with Google AdWords and some search engine optimisation. However, i was wondering what is a reasonable charge for this?

What does an agency charge and how do they work? Im a little unclear at what would be a reasonable charging or what is the method that they normally charge?

The idea would be:
Have an agency control and assist us with our online advertising goals (search and content).
Have an agency work with our webmasters to ensure best SEO for our site to achieve our goals.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

CallieO

Ask a few agencies for quotes.

Remember that content is the most important issue. Basic analytics will tell you how well it is performing.

Draw up a profile of what you want to achieve?

Is it more sales? Is it raising your profile? Is it feedback?

Once you have the answers, think about where your customers will be. It may well be that your target demographic will be best reached through a different social media.

A basic guide to online presence

zAbbo

I've worked in an agency, and those with genuine SEO & PPC skills are few and far between in Ireland.

I work on a freelance basis, and charge 15% of the monthly spend or an agreed retainer- this covers everything regarding the PPC account, including split testing and conversion rate optimisation (CRO).

I agree beforehand with the client the KPI's and work with them to establish a Cost Per Acquisition figure (as most don't have a CPA)

For example, the initial work involved in setting up a account, far exceeds what 15% of a clients spend is, but over time - less man hours are required for optimisation and maintenance.

Data gained from PPC analysis, is fed back into SEO - as well as any relevant CRO to the development team.

It really depends on the size of the project.

alex kaner

As Zabbo said agencies with these skills are hard to find, in my experiece you would be better finding an integrated communications company that will offer a full range of services, therefore saving you money. I have found one productions in Dublin quite useful before, they offer a good range of services, think their website is just oneproductions.com

Ullyz

Well firstly dont give your money to company/freelancer who promise you first places on search engines, because it is 100% lies.

And how already been told most of SEO companies work for 10-20% of all advertising budget.

dclare

PPC & SEO skills are very different. Get a PPC specialist to quote you for the PPC work & an SEO specialist for the SEO work.

Both types of traffic offer pro's and con's.

Obviously the SEO can bring in free traffic, but it takes time before you see results.

PPC is paid advertising but it's immediate - 10 minutes after setting up a campaign, you can have visitors to your site. With PPC you can test & tweak a campaign until it works, and when it's converting well, you can turn the tap and buy lots of profitable traffic.

When it comes to PPC, there's 2 elements you'll probably be quoted when you speak to a PPC company.

1. Account Set Up
2. Management

In both cases, the prices vary depending on the size of the campaign & what markets you are targeting (in particular if it's just Ireland or other territories too).

Assuming it's a small to medium size campaign targeted Ireland only, set up fees should be in the region of €250 (one off).

You then have to decide if you want to manage it yourself on an ongoing basis, or have it managed by the PPC company. Again, if it's a small to medium campaign you could get the campaign managed for about €250 a month.

The big question you need to ask is how much you are planning on spending advertising on Google a month.

If it's more than about €1000 a month, you should probably get it managed professionally.

If it's less than €1000 a month, it will still make sense to get the account set up professionally, but after that you could either manage it yourself or get the client to manage it. The biggest return on your spend from PPC is on getting the set up right.

I run a PPC management company so if you have any other questions, you can send me a private message.

cerebus

Sort of related: anyone ever used any of the SEM/PPC analytics and bid management tools that are available?

I'm looking for some comparisons of cost/benefit of tools like Omniture's SearchCenter, Kenshoo and Marin. If anyone has used something similar and has any feedback they are willing to share, that would be great.

TextingGuru

Ad agencies are NOT the place to go!
Try it yourself is my recommendation, its not difficult alternatively post what you want done on elance.com
Have you considered using a keyword (a word that defines your business) to a short-code for your advertising purposes e.g. Text WEDDING to 51444.
Less than half of homes in ireland have broadband, there are a LOT of people that cannot view websites.....everybody has a mobile phone!

DrivingInfo

Just wondering what you done to sort this problem.

Let us know.