SEO packages are easier to compare when you can see the work behind the label. Start with the problem you want to solve, the resources you already have and what a successful engagement should deliver.
When you pay for a service, you want to know exactly what you’re getting for your money — particularly when it comes to search engine optimization, where there are a lot of moving parts.
Decide what your business needs
A new website may need research, a content map and technical setup. An established site may have useful content but unresolved technical issues. Another business may have a sound site and need stronger editorial coverage. Those are different briefs, and the package should reflect them.
Common parts of an SEO package
Keyword research
Keyword research refers to the process used to identify the words and phrases that your target audience is using when they’re looking for your services.
The searches customers make reveal how they describe their needs and compare options. This helps with:
- Content planning and strategy
- Link building and promotion
- Increasing the quantity of visitors to your site
- Improving the quality of those visitors
Keyword research helps you understand what your audience needs from your website.
Competitor analysis
Every business has competition, especially in the world of SEO. Competent website owners consistently try to outrank each other by staying on top of their game, optimizing every aspect of their content, building authority, and fine-tuning their site until it’s perfect.
This invariably results in an impressive array of content, and ultimately, a great user experience.
Review who competes for your target searches, the quality of their pages and the gaps your business can fill. A useful competitor analysis explains what you can learn from those sites and where a different approach would serve your customers better.
Combined with keyword research, this informs a content map that helps to structure your new site or restructure your existing site.
Local SEO
SEO isn’t limited to e-commerce sites — even businesses like retail outlets, hotels, bars, gyms, and bike shops can benefit from search engine optimization.
However, the main difference is that websites belonging to businesses that derive footfall-based revenue need something called Local SEO.
This form of SEO targets specifically those users who live in your vicinity and can potentially visit your physical location.
If you run a plumbing company in Denver, Colorado and someone Googles ‘Denver emergency plumber’, you want your business to show up, right? That’s what Local SEO can achieve.
Link building
When someone important vouches for you, it boosts your credibility. People see you in a different light, and they are more likely to trust what you have to say, or what you sell.
Something similar happens in the world of SEO — often referred to as ‘authority’.
When a page on your site is linked to from another trusted website, Google sees that as a positive sign and tends to favor your website, making it more likely to rank. These are called ‘backlinks’.
The more quality backlinks you have, the higher your chances of being seen by the right people. Link building is a marketing function used to boost the trust and authority of your website by earning these links. An ongoing SEO plan may include outreach alongside work on the website itself.
Content creation and optimization
Content marketing and SEO go hand in hand. When the two are used properly in unison, you can create a result that establishes itself on Google’s first page for a long time. Use the two improperly, and the result can be the exact opposite of what was expected.
Having dealt with thousands of pages and articles over the years, it’s obvious to us that content is a heavily misunderstood channel of communication.
It seems as though many business websites post compulsively — publishing content that doesn’t educate, isn’t valuable, and doesn’t excite anyone. Needless to say, this type of content won’t rank, and even if it does, its low engagement rate will ensure this is a short-term result at best.
Planning content for search involves two connected tasks:
- Knowing what content to create, and
- Optimizing it according to Google’s guidelines so that it ranks.
The goal of content planning is to have a wealth of information on your website — usable content that people are actively looking for and are happy to spend time-consuming, leading them closer to becoming a lead, or sale for your business.
Technical site auditing, fixes and maintenance
Auditing your website’s technical SEO issues and fixing those issues is key to getting the greatest return from your SEO budget.
A technical audit checks issues such as broken links and images, indexing, internal links and how search engines crawl the site. Its recommendations should identify the affected pages and explain what needs fixing.
Check whether the proposed scope includes implementation. Dialed Labs’ Technical SEO Audit & Fix is a one-time project that includes both the audit and the fixes.
Reporting and monitoring
Agree how the work will be reviewed. Rankings, relevant traffic, enquiries and completed implementation can all help explain progress, depending on the purpose of the engagement.
An ongoing package should explain its reporting schedule. A one-time project should provide a record of the work completed and the next steps, so you can see where the budget went.
Compare a project with a monthly retainer
A fixed-price project works well when there is a defined scope and finish line. Ongoing support fits a continuing programme of research, implementation and review. Compare the full scope and responsibility for implementation, not just the monthly invoice.
Read our fixed-price SEO guide for project planning, or the managed SEO guide for what ongoing work involves. Our fixed-price versus monthly retainer comparison explores the budgeting decision.
What a useful proposal should explain
Ask which pages or systems are included, what access the team needs and who approves changes. The proposal should identify the deliverables, the expected sequence of work and how progress is reported. If implementation is excluded, allow time and budget for your own team to do it.
Evaluate examples and relevant client experience. Ask the provider to explain why the proposed tasks fit your business and how they will prioritise them. A package that lists every possible activity can be less useful than a focused plan with clear ownership.
SEO pricing packages and value
Compare like-for-like scopes. Research, writing, development and outreach require different skills and levels of effort. A lower fee may cover recommendations only, while another proposal includes the work itself. Check the full campaign or project cost, not just the headline price.
Choose a practical next step
Dialed Labs offers managed digital PR for earned coverage and editorial backlinks, and Technical SEO Audit & Fix for the website’s technical foundation. Agencies can explore white-label SEO support. Start with the part of the work that will move your business forward.