How much margin do you add when estimating client projects?
-
After you calculate how many hours you need to complete a marketing project for a client, how much extra do you add for project management, communication, all the little things that come up, unexpected problems, client questions, etc.?
One resource I read said to add 10% to 20% for project management, then add 25% to 33% more for fluctuations, then state a +/-15% margin of error on the estimate. I was wondering what percentages others use when estimating client projects.
-
Not really. We go by "feel" most of the time too. If you know they're not willing to pay as much as you think it's actually going to cost 'hours' wise, sometimes you just have to charge what you think they're willing to pay. Obviously, if you do this for too many clients you'll loose out, but if you're really slow it can make sense. Moral of the story, try to go for bigger clients :). The smaller ones usually end up burning you if you're on a Cost Per Hour model....in my humble opinion at least.
-
Do you have a specific % you use when over-estimating for small clients, or do you just go by "feel"? We've tended to do the latter, but are trying to be more disciplined about it.
-
From my experience it's much easier to go back to the well with larger clients. Smaller clients don't tend to appreciate the "margin of error" bit so I'll try to over-estimate the quote when dealing with them. Smaller clients tend to ask 2x as many questions as well.
10-20% sounds about right for project management, but I won't put that in the proposal. I'll mark project management and reporting as "free" and just include them in the package (with the markup in other areas). I don't put the hours estimated for each task either... though i know some agencies do.
That doesn't 100% answer your question, but I hope it can help.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Ocean of Project Management Software
There are hundreds and thousands of project management software out there.... Can you share what your agency is using and why?
Industry News | | Joseph-Green-SEO1 -
EMD's How much should you offer for a good one?
Hi Everyone, I am launching out into an e-commerce site and I am looking at purchasing an EMD as my brand. The brand of product I am selling is different "brand" but the e-commerce brand I will be building will be for a three word keyword that is competitive and gets great traffic. My questions are these: 1. Is an EMD worth it? The asking price is $42k for a site that is a keyword that gets 60k searches per month. 2. How much should offer without being rude to the seller? 3. The $42k represents a significant portion of my start up cash. Forget converting, (that will be an ongoing tweak that I am committed to perform) will a good EMD help brand the site and drive the traffic? My thinking is that with social media and ppc you could burn through that money and not be any further ahead. Thanks a ton in advance for the weigh in. Happy Holidays everyone. Gary
Industry News | | gdavey1 -
Need your professional feedback for a client
Hey everyone! I have a client that got a $500 proposal from some agency that summarized their work as follows. I'm literally copy and pasting this: Directory submission - 100/mo Targeted keywords - 5 Blogs writing - 1 per month Articles writing - 1 per month Blog posting - 10 per month Article posting - 10 per month Deep linking - 20/month Classifieds - 02/month Press Release - 01/month Yahoo Answer - 02/month Local Listing - 01/month Comments on blogs - 02/month Social bookmarking - 10/month Social media optimization - 10/month Regional directories submissions - 20/month Search engine submissions - 10/month This is a national company with a strong brand. Nowhere in this "proposal" is any mention of onsite optimization, any real content marketing, infographics, brand mentions, nothing... I have explained at length that the tasks they are suggesting are a terrible idea, that they will likely get penalized and that most budgets at this range are usually ill advised. The agency has even admitted that they source this overseas to illegitimate firms. I would love it if I could go to this meeting and have some community feedback as to why this is a bad idea. Please share your experiences, best practices and why most of these tasks are going to get them penalized. Thanks everyone 🙂 Kevin
Industry News | | GuestBlogPoster.com0 -
Has anybody used Yext or Universal Business Listings as an automated approach to getting clients into all of the many directories? If so does it work? Or does Google penalize in using these automated services?
I'm trying to figure out if using either Yext or Universal Business Listings is worth it. They have reseller programs for SEO agencies. I just am curious what other SEO folks think of these services as I'm considering using one of them to automate and save time for clients. If you go to Yext.com or universalbusinesslistings.org you can see these. Curious what others say about these. Thanks
Industry News | | SOM240 -
Best way to charge my clients...........I think I finally decided
I have struggled with the best way to charge my clients FOREVER it seems and I think I finally have decided on how to proceed! ANY suggestions would be greatly appreciated! (I have read the seomoz blog posts about the subject, the Art of SEO and Search Engine Optimization Secrets book and tons of blogs, etc). I got into this business because of what I was able to accomplish with my party rental companies website and what I had studied and read for months and months. Without knowing any better I tried to get into SEO and online marketing and fell straight into designing websites and subcontractors and hosting and everything EXCEPT seo work! sound familiar? I CAN'T be the only one this happened to 🙂 I have regrouped and finally gotten my FIRST pure SEO client. They agreed to pay me $3,000 over 6 months for JUST recommendations with monthly reporting on traffic, # of links, etc. My plan is to charge clients X amount of dollars broken up over 6 months - $2-5k. (that will include monthly reporting) for a list of recommendations. (on page, link opportunities, design suggestions, kw suggestions, email campaign, on and on). NO MORE $400-500 FOR A WHOLE WEBSITE - INCLUDING CONTENT CREATION! (I was stupid enough to do this - TWICE! I like doing it this way so I can focus on giving them maximum value right from the get go and not slowing spoon feeding my knowledge out to them or them getting burned out after 2 months and not wanting to continue because they haven't seen a miracle yet. I will justify the clients investment by dividing that lump sum by $75 an hour (low for some of you I know) and track the time I spend researching links, their competitors, their on page, etc. and include it in my monthly report. I plan to give my first client their report in a few weeks and it will be pretty comprehensive but not EVERY thing I can think of but enough to impress. They are welcome to pursue the links I found, make the site changes, etc themselves OR I will be happy to have ALL my recommendations implemented for them for a reasonable, fair amount. If they want me to do it I will explain my staff will be doing the work and it will be $25 +/- an hour vs. $75 Sorry for the long post and thanks for hanging in there if you read this far! 🙂 I would love any suggestions or flaws with my plan! Thanks in advance and have an AWESOME week! Matthew
Industry News | | Mrupp441 -
I'm looking for a freelance SEO ninja who I can pull into client projects from time to time. Any advice?
My company helps health care providers with internet and social strategy and solutions. At times, my clients need SEO services and I need a trusted and skilled pro to turn to who I can collaborate with on behalf of my clients. I may even be interested in putting together an SEO package for my clients if I can find the right person/agency to work with. Thanks for any help/advice you can offer.
Industry News | | bgeyser0 -
How to find non stingy clients
I was browsing around other SEO websites and seeing how they charge upwards of $2500 a month... In Australia things are a little different, many potential clients gasp in shock at the prospect of paying just $500 a month... Because of this it seems all the SEOs in Aus have taken to undercutting each other to the point where you can get 'guaranteed' 1st page results for just $200 a month - its become a necessity of doing a guarantee and having a low price just to compete... How do you find clients that actually have decent budgets? Most of the clients I have so far are from referals from web developers or from my participation on business forums etc. I have thought about trying a telemarketing campaign or a direct mail campaign to try and snag some lawyers, and cosmetic surgeons etc Has anyone had experience with these methods or can offer any other suggestions to snag clients with deeper pockets?
Industry News | | Netboost0 -
Is it smart to reveal your clients and projects in the Q&A forum? What about on your own SEO blog?
On one hand it seems like having my cake and eating it too: blogging about SEO using my clients as case studies in order to give them a couple backlinks. On the other hand it seems like asking for it from Google or from competitors. Got any advice? And what of mentioning actual domains and brand names when asking questions here in the forum? One one hand it seems like I'd get more specific advice, on the other hand, once again, it seems like it comes with some amount of risk. Any advice? Thanks!
Industry News | | TheEspresseo0