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.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
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
-
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 -
Train Client to SEO?
What would you do if a potential client asked you this: Bob and I could meet with you soon to discuss how we would like to work with you regarding SEO. We are specifically curious whether or not it is worth it to have you work on SEO-related issues for a specific period of time or to pay to have you train Bob in doing so for that period of time. We would be interested in comparing rates and the value of each proposition. I am tempted to tell them that I do not doing SEO training. But, I have a feeling that there is a way for me to help the client and to make some money for myself as well. I'm curious what the rest of you would do in this situation though. Thanks in advance.
Industry News | | theBREWROOM0 -
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 -
How to add excel in Google custom Search
Hi I was watching this video http://www.seomoz.org/blog/eight-link-building-tips-whiteboard-friday and i wanted to know how to put the excel sheet in Google Custom Search engine? Many thanks
Industry News | | conversiontactics0 -
Help! I need to hire a SEO / SEM Specialist - Am I asking for too much?!
Hey all! I'm expanding my in-house marketing team and I need to add an SEO / SEM Specialist that will strategize, execute & manage the following: Organic SEO PPC across multiple channels (Google, Bing & also social sites like Facebook) Remarketing & Display marketing Banner ads Retargeting We're a lean company that's all about doing more with less. But not being very familiar with the SEO / SEM world I'm afraid I'm asking for too much! What do you guys think? What's your experience been? If you do think that this is potentially a single position, what would be the best title for attracting talent? SEO / SEM Specialist? Digital Marketing Manager? With the research I've done - jobs / titles have been totally across the board! I'm not able to find much consistency. Thank you all for your help 🙂 It's greatly appreciated!!!!!
Industry News | | RochelleRietow0 -
Why do most Local Directories turn around and lie and try to steal your clients?
OK, it'ssssssss RANT TIME! I am quite accustom to clients sending me emails they have received stating how their site is not optimized and the spammer can get the site ranked number one on Google. They all have @Gmail.com so I am assuming that is a very large SEO firm. Occasionally I send them an email from an anonymous account asking about their site and phone number and they have neither due to exigent circumstances (I assume prison left them broke). But, I am ready to declare war on some local directories! I have now had several clients call me regarding inquiries they received within minutes or days of local.com or merchant circle or SuperPages etc. having us post a listing for the client. Ten minutes ago, I get a call from a pleasant young fellow who introduced himself as being from Web.com. As he began to talk (or read) he stopped all of a sudden and said, "Oh, I see you do most of what we do....." I stated hold on a minute, now who are you with?" It finally came out that my local specialist had listed our company or changed our company with them a few days ago and they were calling to tell me how unoptimized we were." NOTE: I am always pleasant to the caller as they are just doing a job. I said, understand that what I am going to say is not about you, but about your company. I sign up multiple clients with you which helps your business and you run around behind my back and tell them I did not do a good job and you can help them. They just need to leave me. He responded, "Sir, we never recommend anyone leave a company." I said, I am sure you don't. In the end he stated that it probably was not a best practice to mess with people who bring your site business. So, here is the question: Why do we put up with this crap?!?!?! When are we going to say: If you have a directory, be a directory and not a cover for a web sales firm? Why don't we start a couple of directories that are exclusive to those who can answer basic SEO questions and have an email address with the same domain as their marketing web site. Why do we keep letting these clowns do this? Imagine, having built my wife a site, she comes in at the end of the day and says: "I got this call from these people who said the site was not optimized correctly and we are not ranking in Google?" That was Local.com, I believe. My favorite was the rep who called and the more I questioned the SEO and ranking knowledge they were professing, she said: "I think I should let you speak to our Google expert." I said, Great. Three minutes later she returned to tell me he had gone to lunch and would call me back." I am still waiting. Hope I hear from a few of you, sorry for the long rant. I do feel better now though 🙂
Industry News | | RobertFisher2 -
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 -
Punchy Friday: Too much SEO Education?
This is not a question really, just an observation. Yesterday I was listening to "Stuff You Should Know" podcast, and it was about "Tickling". They were addressing how it is impossible to tickle yourself, and they theorized it was because our brain is AWARE that it's your own hand doing the tickling. The first thought that came to my brain was that our brain had put a "NoFolow" link on the tickling page of our brain website when it is from our own hands. I'm reading WAY to much about SEO . . . Happy Friday everyone.
Industry News | | damon12123