I'll admit, my pricing can at times be sporadic for monthly clients.  I do keep in consideration my hourly rate and how many hours I estimate I would spend per month on the project. Sometimes you make an extra couple bucks if you overbid but then others you lose a couple bucks if you underbid.  I also think its important to keep in consideration your level of interest in the project too.

I'm just curious to see what others in the industry do to determine pricing.

We actually calculated our labor costs for 6 months in order to determine what we should be charging for labor for one link IF we buy that link. We have another range of costs for guest posts depending upon the niche, if we go that route. With anything else we do, it's usually a custom cost that depends upon how tough the niche is and how tough the method will be.

I have been keeping track of my time for all client work for many years, so I have a good idea of how long it takes me to do things for most projects. Since I'm a solo consultant, it's fairly easy to price things out based on that knowledge and the kind of profit I want to make on each project.

A few projects will take longer than I expect, but most go the other way so it balances out in the end.

For the most part, I don't price based on an hourly rate though, but more in what I think it is worth for the client.

Hmm....like Jill....I too am now a solo SEO practitioner, but I contract out some tasks to SEO vets that I've used in one case for almost a decade. Knowing the contractors abilities, plus an exact hourly rate, means that when I quote, my own "margin" is pretty well understood right off the bat. however, then along comes someone brand new in a channel I've often thought about trying on for size, and I often quote low...knowing that the info/education that I'll get is somewhat as important as the $$$....so it's a "being paid to learn" type of deal....and I do do that a couple of times a year....:-)Jim

The simplest answer is that we try to understand and accurately estimate how long an average project or task will take, and then assign the hourly rate of the individual that will be working on it.  Once there are somewhat consistent estimates we analyze each project/task for the specific client to determine if the estimate is accurate or if there are extra issues that need to be worked through to complete the work appropriately.

Interesting topic, for sure... I used to bill by the hour, but I found myself giving much more than what I had billed the client. There are some aspects of SEO that we have a specific price, for example, a keyword analysis or a content audit (based on number of pages & keywords) However, after battling the 80/20 rule, I now charge by what it's worth to the client - that is, how much we put into a contract.Having said that, I've found we are busier; we have clients waiting for our next available time slot. It's crazy, but they wait. One client said, "If I want to work with the best, then we can wait in order to work with our trusted advisor." Sounds good, even though I know it's a nice way of saying, "Please push your time line forward a notch." Great insight, thanks!