Recently, in a well known forum thread, a nice question has been raised on how much free SEO advice you would give away, before asking money from your clients. According to my experience, there are many people who will give up some time for free SEO advice and help while few will charge money for any type of SEO advice.


People those who charges for SEO advice, are often seen to have made a name in the industry. But those who are new and do not have a proper proven track records do not mind on sharing free SEO advices to earn the trust of their clients. Though exceptional cases are their and it varies person to person. Whatever may be the consequences, there are always a positive and negative side.


Before sharing SEO advice to clients one should understand the limitation. A little advice can go a long way but never share your SEO strategies and secrets away. If you give away too much advice for free before getting hired there is a high chance that the client may finally decide to go solo with your free advice. Sometimes you have to give a prospect advice just to get them thinking about SEO the right way to allow you to work with them. If you don’t share that before you start then you might have a client who is unhappy with you. It should also depend on how much the business is worth, if a client is going to spend a lot of money, and/or you think there are good referral opportunities, sometimes you have to play the odds and sacrifice a little more of your time for the client.


Last but not least, like everything in this world, its all about give and take. To secure your business you need to give some time for free advice to your clients to show that you know what you are talking about. But still there is a fine line between giving advice and actually telling them what exactly needs to be done.