Let me tell you what happened last Tuesday.
A client forwarded me an agency proposal — $4,200/month, beautifully designed PDF, lots of impressive graphs. I reverse-engineered their deliverables against market rates. The actual execution cost? $1,100. The rest was paying for their WeWork membership and a junior account manager named Kyle.
This isn't an anomaly. After a decade of building the Specialist Network and overseeing 800+ pages of SEO content on this very site, I've developed a sixth sense for agency theater. I've reviewed hundreds of proposals, and the script rarely changes: arbitrary 'packages' priced by hours, not outcomes.
Here's the thing nobody in this industry wants printed: SEO pricing reflects agency overhead, not value delivered. That $2,000/month 'Ecommerce Package' isn't buying you $2,000 of work. It's buying you a sales commission, someone's benefits package, that aforementioned account manager, and — if you're lucky — maybe $500 of actual strategic execution.
I stopped chasing clients years ago. I don't believe you should chase agencies either. Consider this guide my interview. My credentials are above, my methodology is below, and by the end, you'll understand 'Retention Math' well enough to structure deals that focus on revenue — not the vanity metrics agencies love because they're easy to fake.
Key Takeaways
- 1That 'Gold/Silver/Bronze' menu? It's designed to maximize their margins, not your returns. I'll show you the math they're hiding.
- 2I've used 'Affiliate Arbitrage' to offset 100% of content costs for three clients this quarter. The model works—if you structure it before signing anything.
- 3Your real SEO costs have nothing to do with 'packages.' They're driven by SKU complexity, platform sins (I'm looking at you, legacy Magento), and how many competitors want your keywords.
- 4I haven't paid for a 'Link Building Package' in six years. 'Press Stacking' costs the same and builds something that actually compounds.
- 5Here's my $1,500 rule: Any agency pricing below this for Ecommerce is either losing money or automating your domain into a penalty. Neither ends well for you.
- 6The invoice that breaks most businesses isn't the retainer—it's the 47 developer hours required to implement what the 'audit' recommended.
- 7I've tracked the data: Ranking for one bottom-of-funnel term costs 5x less than chasing those ego-boosting vanity keywords. Yet 80% of agencies still pitch volume.