What does SEO optimization actually include, and how is it different from an SEO audit service?
SEO optimization at ixni is a continuous program covering four pillars: technical SEO, on-page SEO, content strategy, and link acquisition. An SEO audit service is a one-off deliverable — a written report of what's broken and what to fix. The audit tells you the diagnosis; SEO optimization is the ongoing treatment.
A typical audit takes 10–20 hours and produces: crawl analysis (indexation, canonicalization, hreflang, robots), speed and Core Web Vitals report, structured-data validation (Organization, WebPage, Product, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList), on-page checklist per key template (home, category, product, blog, landing), backlink profile snapshot, competitive gap analysis on the top 30 target queries. You leave with a prioritized 90-day plan, and you can execute it yourself or with any SEO agency.
SEO optimization as a retainer is what happens next. Month one: fix the technical blockers from the audit. Month two: rewrite the top 20 pages using the semantic clusters. Month three: start the link and content flywheel. From month four onwards, we're compounding — new content lifts the pages we optimized in month two, which lifts the internal links pointing to product pages, which lifts conversion. It's slow-looking on the first monthly report and satisfying by month six.
Website optimization services is a related term you'll see — it usually means the same thing plus conversion-rate optimization (A/B tests, funnel improvements). We do this too, but as a separate module rather than folded into SEO — different tools, different measurement.
If you're a small brand and cost is tight, a one-off SEO audit service ($1 500–3 500) is a good first step: you get the plan and you can execute internally. If your team doesn't have SEO capacity, an SEO optimization retainer ($3 500+/mo, 3-month minimum) is usually cheaper than hiring a specialist in-house once you factor in tools ($400–800/mo) and management overhead.
For ecommerce specifically — see our ecommerce SEO offering; product taxonomies, faceted navigation and JSON-LD Product schema add scope that a generic SEO optimization company won't cover well.
How do your link building services actually work, and what makes them different from cheap alternatives?
Our link building services deliver 5–15 editorial placements per month from real sites with real audiences. Every link is manually researched, pitched, and negotiated — no automation, no marketplace purchases, no reciprocal deals. The typical acquired link comes from a site with Domain Rating 40+, at least a few thousand monthly organic sessions, and topical relevance to your niche.
The process for a single link takes 3–8 hours: we identify sites that already rank for topics adjacent to yours, find the specific article where a link to your resource would improve the reader's experience, pitch the author with a genuine reason (updated data, better source, a mention-worthy tool), and negotiate placement. About 15–25% of pitches convert; the rest either don't reply or say no. Realistic monthly volume from this process is 5–15 links per full-time link builder.
What makes cheap alternatives dangerous: link marketplaces (Sape, PBNs, Fiverr sellers) sell links from sites that were built for selling links. Google's link-spam classifier catches these, and the risk is either your link is ignored (best case) or your whole site loses trust (worst case, seen in real Q4 2024 updates). Press-release syndication ($200 for 200 links) delivers links from templated news portals that Google discounts to zero. Reciprocal link deals ("I'll link to you if you link to me") are trivially detectable by pattern.
What our link building services are good for: real Domain Rating growth (2–5 points per quarter for mid-sized clients), rankings on competitive terms where content alone isn't enough, referral traffic from relevant audiences (yes, editorial links actually drive clicks), and defensibility (links from real editorial sources survive algorithm updates).
What they're not good for: instant results. A link acquired this month influences rankings over 3–6 months as Google re-crawls and reweights. If someone tells you links can move you next week, they're selling something different.
Pricing: $2 500/mo for 5–8 links per month, $5 000/mo for 10–15 links, $8 000+/mo for high-DR editorial and digital PR campaigns targeting DR 70+ publications. Custom packages for specific vertical needs (ecommerce, SaaS, finance, health) available.
What's the difference between hiring you and hiring a content marketing agency?
A content marketing agency writes and publishes content. A digital marketing service like ixni includes content but ties it to SEO strategy, distribution, and measurement — so content isn't a standalone deliverable, it's a means to a specific business outcome.
Where a pure content marketing agency excels: brands with big editorial ambitions (weekly long-form, podcasts, video series), where the content itself is the product and SEO is secondary. If you're building a media property, a content marketing agency is often better than a full-service SEO/marketing team.
Where our approach excels: brands where content exists to drive organic traffic to product pages, capture leads, or nurture existing leads. We start with the semantic core (what people search that your product answers), map every content piece to a specific query cluster, publish under a taxonomy that reinforces topical authority for the site's main money pages, and measure whether the content actually contributed to leads or revenue — not just page views.
The practical difference in a monthly deliverable: a content marketing agency might ship 6 articles based on an editorial calendar built from "what feels relevant this month." We ship 4 articles based on: (a) target queries with proven volume from your semantic core, (b) SERP analysis of what already ranks (to know depth and format required), (c) internal linking plan that connects each article to existing category and product pages, (d) FAQPage schema on every article for AI Overviews visibility.
For SEO-driven content, our cost typically runs $2 000–4 000 per article for research + writing + editing + technical setup, with lower unit costs at higher volumes (10+/month). Pure editorial content marketing agencies often run cheaper per piece ($800–2 000) because they skip the SEO and measurement layers.
If content is central to your growth model and you want it done as an SEO play — we're the right shop. If you want to build a magazine — hire a content marketing agency that specializes in editorial.
Do you provide social media marketing services and what's included?
Yes — social media marketing services (SMM) is one of our four practice areas. As a small studio, we take on 2–3 SMM clients at a time, so we're selective; the format is best for brands with a clear voice that don't need 20-post-a-day content mills.
What's included in an SMM retainer: strategy (audience research, competitor content audit, positioning), content calendar (typically 3–5 posts per week across 1–2 primary platforms — usually LinkedIn + Instagram, or Instagram + Behance for design-led brands), copywriting for every post, design/motion for every asset, publishing and community reply monitoring during working hours, monthly analytics report with what to double down on and what to cut.
What's not included by default (but can be added): paid social ads (that's a different module — "digital advertising agency" pricing), influencer outreach, live-event coverage, TikTok short-form video production at scale (we're not a TikTok shop — we recommend specialists for that), or 24/7 community management (we monitor working hours; if you need round-the-clock, you need a community-manager hire).
Our SMM works best for: B2B SaaS building thought leadership on LinkedIn, D2C brands with strong visual identity on Instagram, agencies and studios building portfolio presence on Behance, professional services (legal, consulting) using content to build authority.
Doesn't work well for: brands that measure SMM only by follower count (we optimize for reach and conversion, not vanity), brands that want SMM to fix a bad product (SMM amplifies what exists; it can't invent value that isn't there), or brands that want to control every post's wording before publish (that kills the flow — we work with brand voice guidelines, not word-by-word approvals).
Retainer pricing: $1 800/mo for 1 platform, $3 200/mo for 2 platforms with cross-platform storytelling, $5 000+/mo for full multi-platform with paid amplification. Standalone campaigns (single event, product launch) from $2 500 as a one-off.
Do you offer web development services, and what platforms do you build on?
Yes — web development is one of our five service pillars, and it can be hired as a standalone project or bundled with SEO and marketing work.
Platforms and formats:
WordPress & Webflow. For businesses that need a fast-to-launch site with a clean admin they can manage themselves. Includes SEO-native setup (sitemap, schema, speed optimisation) and a flexible CMS for ongoing content updates. From $1,500 for a business site (up to 10 pages). Timeline: 4–6 weeks.
Shopify & WooCommerce (e-commerce). Full online store setup: payment and shipping integration, customer account portal, reviews, filters, email sequences, and mobile-first design. We've built Shopify stores for fashion boutiques, fishing gear, pet accessories, and electronics across multiple markets. From $2,500 for stores with up to 100 products at launch. Timeline: 6–8 weeks.
Custom Next.js. For business logic no template can handle — web apps, platforms, portals, SaaS products. React and Next.js with API integrations and a backend of choice. This site (ixni.agency) is built on custom Next.js with a headless CMS admin. Scope and timeline after a brief call.
Every web development engagement includes: UX analysis or wireframes before any pixel gets pushed, mobile-first responsive build, SEO-ready technical setup (schema, sitemap, canonical tags, Core Web Vitals), Google Analytics + Search Console configuration, CMS setup if required, and 30 days of post-launch support.
What's not included by default: copywriting (from $150 per page), custom illustrations, complex third-party integrations (Stripe flows, HubSpot, Salesforce — separate scoping), and hosting. We recommend Vercel for Next.js and the platform's native host for WordPress and Shopify.
The key difference from hiring a generic freelance developer: we build with SEO as a constraint from day one. Most developers deliver a site that looks and works correctly but is technically invisible to Google — missing or wrong canonical tags, no structured data, uncompressed images, no sitemap. You'd discover this six months post-launch when you start looking for an SEO consultant to fix it. We solve it upfront.
Web development without an SEO retainer is a standard engagement. If you want development plus SEO from launch, we bundle both to eliminate overlap. If you already have a site and want it rebuilt, we start with a technical audit before quoting so we're not rebuilding what doesn't need rebuilding.
Do you do website design and can we hire a website designer without buying the whole marketing package?
Yes and yes. Website design is one of our four services, and it can be hired as a standalone project without any SEO or marketing retainer.
Formats:
Landing page design. Single-page marketing site (e.g., product launch, event, campaign). From $3 000 design-only, $6 000 for design + build on Framer or Webflow. Timeline: 3–4 weeks design, 1–2 weeks build.
Full marketing site (5–10 pages). Complete company or product site. From $8 000 design-only, $18 000 for design + build on Framer, Webflow, or custom Next.js (like this site — ixni.agency is Next.js with an admin CMS). Timeline: 6–8 weeks design, 3–4 weeks build.
Product UI/UX (SaaS or app). For teams building a product interface — dashboards, settings, complex flows. From $15 000 for 30+ screens with design system. Timeline: 8–12 weeks depending on complexity.
Website designer as a fractional resource. If you have ongoing design needs but don't want to hire full-time, we offer 20–40 hours per month at a discount from project rates. Good for scale-ups shipping new pages weekly.
Redesign of existing site. From $6 000 for a partial refresh (visual language + key templates), full new-site pricing for total rebuild.
What's included in every website design engagement: competitive design audit, wireframes for every page, high-fidelity mockups for desktop + mobile, design system (typography scale, color tokens, spacing, components), interactive Figma prototype for stakeholder review, developer handoff with clear specs.
Not included by default: copywriting (add $150–300 per landing page for professional copy), photography, custom illustrations (small illustrative touches yes, full illustration series no — separate quote), complex integrations (Stripe, HubSpot, Salesforce workflows — separate scoping).
Website design is where our aesthetic sensibility comes through — check the ixni portfolio for examples. If a project isn't in our design sensibility, we'll say so on the intro call rather than take work we'd be embarrassed by.