Things you should know about SEO Contract's.
A contract is essential for anyone starting out in SEO in fact for anybody starting their own business. A Contract simply put, is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates an obligation to do or not do particular things. The term "party" can mean an individual person, company, or corporation. A contract should dispel uncertainty. The Modern business world could not exist without contracts. In order to be a contract, the agreement must include valid consideration. That is, both parties must contribute something to the agreement such as money, time, labor, a return promise, etc. A good contract is really a mini-business plan between the parties.
Points to remember when drawing up your contract
Make it clear, in good understandable English, try and make it as short as possible, but make sure all your clauses are included. An obvious one is never, never promise what you can't deliver. You also need to have the client agree to have resources available on time in order for you to get the job done ie ftp access details. Sometimes clients are so busy and tied up in their own little world. But have no doubt about it, they will blame you if something’s not done in time. Make sure that what you agree to verbally is put into the contract.
Look out for clients who don’t have objectives. You're going to end up frustrated because you'll deliver a piece of work based on their vague idea of what they think they're after. So make your contract granular. Never leave things to chance. Don't be vague. Its surprising how often clients change their minds and the goalposts. Create a clause to bill any changes to copy, and one to protect yourself if the client ignores your advice with a resultant drop in sales.
An important clause useful to include in SEO contracts is that it is: "subject to (you company name) advice being followed during the optimisation of your site i.e. all changes to your site code should be left intact throughout the duration of the campaign. Also your site should be live at all times during the term of the campaign to allow search engines to access and re-index it regularly.
Make sure pricing for initial work and monthly campaign fees are clearly outlined. When you create your payment terms, leave as little cash on the table as possible for the final payment - none is best. The last payment is always the hardest one to collect, even from decent clients. There have been many cases of clients saying they were ripped off because they never expected to pay monthly fees. Make sure you explain this verbally too. Make sure the person signing the contract has the authority to do so on behalf of the company, this applies on both sides. Any final agreement should be reduced to a final writing and signed by both parties.
Verbal contracts
Verbal contracts are legally but Verbal agreements are notoriously difficult to enforce. Verbal contracts can be upheld by a court if someone decides to breach the agreement, although without written terms and conditions it may be difficult to prove.In some cases a verbal agreements will not be upheld in court, not because of the lack of a written agreement but because the terms of the verbal agreement were not made clear. Written contracts protect both parties and if the terms have been agreed and written before hand then both parties will know exactly where they stand.
Do I need to see a solicitor or Law firm or to help me write up a contract?
This would be very advisable and if you can do this then I would strongly urge you to do so. But many small businesses when starting off cannot afford the extra cost involved. The alternative is to draft a contracts of your own. But again be careful. How do you know their contracts are legal, just because they said?
If you do take this course the first step is to gather sample contracts from other people in your profession (obviously SEO) or from contract form books you may find in your local library. If your lazy I have 6 example SEO contracts that be downloaded for free from my website (you will find a link to the page below). Feel free to link to it. These contracts are gathered from free sources and again for example only.
If all goes wrong make sure you have an agreement in place to use an arbitrator to help settle disputes. Also agree on a venue, which can be important if your client is overseas.
I hope this information has been useful to you.
