How NOT to ask for a SEO quote

I received the following new business enquiry. The email was from a domain belonging to a company selling kitchen worktops:

We are interested in Website Optimization and promotion in UK.
Send us please, your prices for this service, inc. quality backlings.
Website address will give after accepting your conditions.

I didn’t bother replying to their email, however it wasn’t because of their bad grammar. Anyone know what “Backlings” are? Are they like ducklings? Perhaps they are tiny little links.

I did send them a new business enquiry myself…

Hi,
I’m interested in kitchen worktops. Please send me your prices inc. quality kitchen sink and taps.
The size and location of the kitchen will be given after accepting your conditions.
Regards,
Haydon

My enquiry was obviously tongue-in-cheek, but I hope it highlighted to them how stupid their request for SEO prices was. I wouldn’t expect them to give me a price for a new kitchen without at least knowing the size of it. How can I give a price if I’ve not the foggiest idea what I’m quoting on? Do they really expect me to give them a quote if I’ve no idea of the amount of work involved?

So there we have a prime example of how not to ask for a SEO quote. Should you find yourself looking for SEO quotes, then please don’t be shy and provide as much information as possible. At the very least the URL so that we know what we’re dealing with! Here is what you should include when asking for SEO quotes:

URL – website address of the site you want better rankings for
Details of your product/service
Your USP (unique selling point)
Your contact details!
Any suggested keywords you particularly want to rank for (the SEO should come up with their own list of recommended keywords based on their keyword research into your industry/area).
Your budget – (can be difficult if you have no experience or knowledge of current market rates)

So now I’ve turned this post into “How to ask for a SEO Quote”, you should also be asking your potential new SEO company a ton of questions. Not least of all, you should ask to see some of examples of their work. When buying any product or service you should research. Researching SEO companies and deciding on how to choose a SEO is a whole new post that has been covered in great detail by other SEO bloggers and even Google.

Haydon Rouse

Haydon is a business consultant / mentor and an expert at marketing and selling online. He genuinely wants to help you and provide exceptional service. Why? Because, when he achieves that, you will tell your friends about him. Haydon has been marketing and selling online for over 20 years. He has lived in East Kent all his life (cough... over 50 years.. cough), knows the local area like the back of his hand and has fantastic customer service skills. You can contact him here.

Sai Bharadwaj - 17 October, 2012

I'm not sure why there are many comments on this article. This is actually the case and many of the companies have no idea on what SEO is. I'm not going to fall for someone who spams in my e-mail and asks me to provide quote / says he can optimize my website for a particular price.

I think a detailed SEO quote including the man hours, work involved & how they will change the present status of the website, how they can bring quality traffic to the site and how it can help the personal / corporate brand of the site they are optimizing for…all this information would help the customer to get a clear idea & he would then be interested in talking further for a successful deal.