Optimum7 Introduces Performance-Based Fees for SEO Services

Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 September 2009 15:47 Written by Jorge Friday, 28 August 2009 20:52

Internet Marketing News :: Optimum7 Introduces Performance-Based Fees for SEO Services

Optimum7 announces the adoption of a new type of fee structure that is contingent on actual performance. The plan is designed to provide Optimum7 clients with the peace of mind that fees they pay for Search Engine Optimization will now include a performance contingency. This contingency provides that any agreed-to keyword failing to rank on at least the 3rd page of the major Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, and MSN) will not result in these fees. No performance = no performance-based fee. The fees start on page 3 and increase based on rank for positions 1 thru 30 for each of the 3 major Search Engines.

Arthur Cooper, President and CEO of Optimum7, explains, “We see a real opportunity in the marketplace. Many new and prospective clients come to us with a heavy dose of skepticism after having been burned in the marketplace. They have paid many thousands each and have received no measurable performance. We have drawn the proverbial line in the sand with our new fee structure. While we still receive a base fee for our services, which is not guaranteed, we have drawn a line that says above the base fee, no customer should have to pay more unless we achieve measurable visibility. Since 68% of searchers do not go past page 1 and 98% don’t go past page 3, top 3 page rankings represents real performance.”

The fees are not only scalable on performance. They are also scaled based on the competitive aspects of the keyword. Specifically, the fees are scaled based on the number of competing web pages that are vying for the same keyword phrase. Cooper asserts, “We don’t want to get paid for ridiculously low hanging fruit like complex phrases that are obviously specific to the client and are not hard to rank highly for. If there are fewer than 10,000 competing pages, we don’t want to be paid as if there were 2 million competing pages.”

“We want for our SEO Services to be more of a meritocracy than a simple service-based fee structure with no financial tie-in to actual performance, adds Cooper … our focus is and always will be on results, the ROI of the client’s investment. It is not enough to say, as others do, that we will get you a certain number of inbound links (backlinks), perform a certain amount of online submissions, update your website internals, etc. These are services that few clients even understand to begin with. Problems result here. Many times the number of agreed-to backlinks or articles and press releases may not result in any significant visibility for the keyword phrase. If, for instance, 150 backlinks and optimized internal pages resulted in a page 27 listing on Yahoo and a page 33 on Google, then who really benefits? The client is only interested in the bottom line. For SEO that is the successful achievement of highly visible rankings that increase the likelihood that searchers will click the listing and land on the website.” Cooper emphasizes, “The burden is on the SEO Company to achieve the ranking, not to just provide a certain level of service. If the level of service is inadequate, then we must do more and not ask the client to write additional checks until we have actually achieved something measurable.”

An additional aspect to this innovative plan is that Optimum7 SEO professionals’ compensation is directly tied to the same rankings that clients’ pay for. So Optimum7 employees responsible for specific SEO projects are paid on the exact performance-basis that their clients pay for. “This is a key aspect to the plan. We want all parties to be working together towards precisely the same goal … also never be satisfied with “just enough activity” to get the job done, Cooper points out. We want maximum visibility and maximum effort to make our clients as successful as possible. I think this is real partnering!”

Chief Technology Officer, Duran Inci, is a strong proponent of the plan. “We all feel a strong sense of bilateral commitment, says Inci … we also emphasize the necessity of content and gaining the strong commitment of our clients to continually add content through their internal efforts and through our Copywriting Services. That makes for a really strong and successful approach. We get very excited about the performance rankings and even elated when we are told of a large or important sale or new client as a result of our services.”

The company has already tested the plan with several new and existing clients with great results. “We did run into a few issues that we did not foresee so testing this first has proved very important, says Duran Inci, Director of Marketing and Operations. We noticed that clients tended to want to shorten the keyword list under the fear that they may get a huge bill if we were eminently successful. This is the last thing we want our clients to do because often the more specific a keyword phrase, the more serious and more focused the searcher is. So we instituted a “cap” on our performance-based fees to alleviate the situation. The clients gained the peace of mind and the confidence that, no matter what, they now knew exactly the limit of their fees. This was good for Optimum7 too as we would rather go this route than limiting the keyword list and limit the opportunities for visibility, sales and profitability for our clients. These are the ultimate measures that will keep our clients as Optimum7 clients.”

Inci has over 10 years experience in all aspects of online marketing. He further points out, “The new Performance-Based System has resulted in better collaboration on the projects and the better use of all of the tools at our disposal which is one of our main strengths to begin with. We don’t just take a contract with a new customer promising those 150 backlinks … we don’t use those kinds of numbers or offer these things piecemeal. We use all of our sub-specialties, all positively affecting rankings like copywriting, directory indexing, social bookmarking, blogging, and many other services you can read about on our website (www.optimum7.com).”

Optimum7 is an Internet Marketing Company specializing in Search Engine Marketing with special emphasis on Organic SEO. Their adjunctive services include PPC Management, Submissions programs, Affiliate Marketing programs, Email Marketing Programs, Website Functionality and Design, Website Consulting, Custom Packages and Programming. The company is based in Morristown, NJ with offices in Miami, FL and Istanbul, Turkey.