However, we’re starting to offer a new “pay as you go” type of package. Rather than pay a flat fee of $3,000 or $4,000 per month, clients pay us a base rate of $1,000 which cover consulting advice, analytics, and reporting. Essentially we tell the client “This is what you need to do” but it’s up to them to implement our advice, then we give them reports on how the changes they’ve made are affecting performance. However, if the client decides they are too busy or just don’t want to implement the changes we’ve recommend themselves, then we give them a price for implementing those specific changes. This way the price might fluctuate from month to month, but it’s a great fit for companies that have someone in-house who can make the changes but doesn’t know exactly what changes to make, but if they need help making the changes the flexibility is there for us to jump in and do the work as well.

What is the average cost of an SEO contract. I realize it differs by site, but what is the ballpark range in terms of price to successfully implement a successful optimization (on an ongoing basis, etc.)?

Does that include SEM, keyword managment, etc?