Month to Month SEO is not for all sites, but it can be the solution for specific clients that want to get started with SEO without the commitment of a big contract. There are good and bad things about a month-to-month plan. If you own a website that caters mostly to local clients, a month-to-month SEO service might be perfect for you. On the contrary, if your customer base is nationwide or even worldwide a month-to-month SEO plan might not be aggressive enough for your needs.

Benefits of a Month-to-Month SEO Plan:

No long-term Commitment or Contracts
Good Results for Small Sets of Keywords
Relatively Inexpensive

Pay As You Go SEO Plans

Pay as you go SEO Plans have been in the SEO vertical for a while because many clients that are new to SEO and how it works want a way to ease into SEO without making a huge commitment. It’s understandable for new websites to tread lightly when it comes to internet marketing. Usually, once the client gets a taste of what SEO can really do for a site’s traffic, a bigger commitment to more aggressive SEO is made. Often clients just stick with the month-to-month plan and do quite well with keyword rankings and traffic.

The results from month-to-month SEO plans can vary, but they tend to do better with local businesses and smaller niche products. This is because a month-to-month SEO plan involves the SEO guru working on specific niche markets available to the site. These plans often work for small sets of keywords and keyword phrases – perhaps 10-15 keyword phrases with local area modifiers. These plans are often “Starter” SEO plans and can go from $300/month to $1000/month. Typically, more than $1000/month requires a significant effort from the SEO expert and often requires a contract.

Drawbacks of a Month-to-Month SEO Service:

Often Fails to Meet Long-Term Goals (Because few are set)
Is Not Designed for Larger (national) Websites
Only Works for a Small Set of Keywords
Results Can Trail Off After Client Quits Service

As stated above, month-to-month SEO services can be perfect for some clients and a disaster for others. If a client chooses a month-to-month service and doesn’t go through with the SEO for long enough it could cause an issue with rankings in the future depending on how aggressive the optimizer got with the project. I have had clients hire aggressive SEO companies and quit after the second month. The issue here is that the site is now on the Google radar, but the aggressive SEO has stopped and it looks a bit fishy to the Search Engines.

Pay as you go SEO plans also fail to do well for large sites because the optimizer doesn’t have a full commitment to push forward with long-term tactics. In essence, the SEO expert starts over each month when the client renews. The last thing I want to do as an SEO expert is to start a project and have the client quit in the middle. This service usually only works for a small set of keywords because every month is touch-and-go with the client. Finally, if the client doesn’t stick with the plan long enough, the results can trail off after the project is done. This is the last thing I want to see for my clients and it’s the last thing you want to see for your site.

When you’re considering month-to-month SEO or Pay-as-you-go SEO services, make sure your site is suited for such a service. We do offer a trial 3 month SEO plan for clients that are new. Also, don’t get month-to-month SEO services confused with an SEO payment plan that might ease the costs associated with an aggressive SEO campaign. Please contact us so that we can give your website a free evaluation for SEO services.