Client Query to Mary: "I don't usually respond to unsolicited offers in our RFP, but I am curious what you would charge to develop 6 pages of content for category pages at the top of silos. I would provide you with a tag cloud, keyword discovery reports and some keyword density guidelines."
 
Mary: “Yuwanda, I know I ask alot, but he's talking SEO that I don't know ...;-) What are "category pages," "top of silos," "tag cloud," "keyword discovery reports?" At $25/page (my stated rates), is that what I should charge? Or are these he is asking for more detailed and I should charge $35 or more?
 
Good golly, I need to do some SEO-speak research. I thought I knew enough -- I know what long tails are, what density is, etc., but he's speaking a language I'm clueless about. I'll do some research tomorrow and e-mail him then.

My Email to Mary a Bit Later that Evening:

Mary:
 
You're getting closer.
 
FYI, all he's asking you is what would you charge to write six pages of content for lead categories on his site. He will send you all the info (eg, keyword density reports, what keyword density he wants) to help you out.
 
Some definitions to help you out:

Siloing is basically categorizing a site so that information can be found easier. You’ll also hear it referred to as site mapping, site structure and site categorizing. A good indepth definition can be found here: http://www.wolf-howl.com/seo/seo-siloing/

Category pages are the subsections of a site, relative to the overall content on a site.  If you have a shopping site for example, some Top of Category page might  be Ladies, Men, Housewares. Some subsections might be Shoes, Handbags, Lingerie, etc.
 
To read more about it, click here: http://www.wolf-howl.com/seo/seo-siloing/  
 
A tag cloud is just keyword that you enter to describe the content on the page. Tag clouds are just clusters of keywords, labels or tags. When it's more than one, it's called a tag cloud.
 
As for charging more, you might quote him a project rate based on how long the articles are. If you want, feel free to call me and I'll answer any questions you have.

Hope that helps.
###

Well, Mary went on to land that client. I’ll post the rest (hmmm, I think Part III) of the story here on Thursday (2/14/08) and next Monday (2/18/08), I’ll post the finally to wrap up the series.

And a big thank you to “Mary” for allowing me to chronicle her success. You know who you are! J

Sincerely,
Yuwanda Black, Publisher
http://www.inkwelleditorial.com/
http://www.inkwelleditorial.blogspot.com/
http://www.SEO-Article-Writer.com
http://www.SEO-Articles-For-Sale.com
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