Start every SEO engagement with a free audit to assess the client and see if you can help. Then offer two models: à la carte services clients pick individually, or a customized package built from those same services but tailored to their specific goals. Packages tend to be more cost-effective.
SEO budget, it's a big question. Lots of people want to know. Here's what I would say. When you're doing an SEO project, the beginning of the project should be an audit. Audits are free. I always do an audit for people for free because I don't actually know what their SEO looks like and I don't know if I can help them. After I've done an SEO audit, I break down everything I'm going to do for people in an à la carte way. Some people want, because they have a lower budget, to be able to say, I want to do this and not this, and I want to do this next year, and they just want to plan it based on their budget. Other people want to do a package. À la carte's always more expensive because you're just sort of paying for each individual item. When I do a package for people, I'm really putting together based on their SEO goals the things from my à la carte menu that they need and only what they need.
