(There was a post that I had replied to earlier where someone was asking for a recommendation for a Good SEO Company. I felt that there should be a stand alone topic on this. Other SEO's feel free to add more to this. You may or may not agree with what I have written)
1. One of the best ways it to get personal referrals from people you know. Most of my clients came from previous clients’ word of mouth. Bottom line, you need to see the results of their work first. Ask to call and speak with their current and past clients
2. Ask to see a report from one of their past clients and then verify the information with that client. If a SEO company wants your business, they will gladly do this
3. Don’t be afraid to ask the SEO company what keywords THEY rank for. Run away immediately if an SEO company tell you they don’t worry about ranking their own sites
4. Ask if there is a money back guarantee if they don’t meet their goals. While a SEO company should never guarantee rankings, they can guarantee that is there is NO material improvement then you are entitled to receive some or all of your money back
5. Do not be pressured into signing any long-term contract; ask if there is a trial of some sort where you could try their services without being tied into a long-term contract. Personally, I offer my clients month-to-month cancel anytime; If an SEO company is confident in their service they won’t need to hold you in a contract (personally speaking) 6. Most important: Figure out what each sale or customer is worth to you. Then let the SEO Company know that this has to be a positive ROI (Return on Investment). Basically if they are charging you $1,000 per month, they had BETTER be able to bring you $2,000 worth of business. What’s the point of SEO if you aren’t making money? I often tell my clients that my first priority is to make sure that they are taking in more money than they are paying me. Why? Simply because a happy customer means more referrals. Simple.
I would also like to suggest that you choose from the highest ranking
companies in your community as a starting point. SEO is all about ranking
well. If an SEO company can't rank well for their business how will they ever
get yours ranking well.
I am the owner of Tucson SEO Solutions 814 N. Belvedere Ave. Tucson, AZ 85711
520-505-6024 or at http://tucsonseosolutions.com.
I completely agree! A SEO agency cannot be trusted unless they rank highly in
their niche first. Usually, SEO prices are about the same, with some
variation for bigger companies, but even if you pay 100-200$ extra, at least
you know what you're paying for. Unfortunatelly, there are many people who
fall into the "50$ for 5000 directory submissions" trap, as many of them have
just barely heard about SEO and what it represents.
I have been helping our company for their SEO stuffs.
I found there is 3 main area you need to do, and you could hire different
company for each tanks in order to get a good price.
1, link building. Look for those company that will give you link reports. It
is pretty cheap. You will be looking for about $1 a link.
2, Content Writing. Keywords content writing could make your site look good
in google and yahoo.
3, Optimize your site. Make sure all picture have Alt and all links have a
title.
As you do all those, your ranking should improve a lot.
I have been helping our company for their SEO stuffs.
I found there is 3 main area you need to do, and you could hire different company for each tanks in order to get a good price.
1, link building. Look for those company that will give you link reports. It is pretty cheap. You will be looking for about $1 a link.
2, Content Writing. Keywords content writing could make your site look good in google and yahoo.
3, Optimize your site. Make sure all picture have Alt and all links have a title.
As you do all those, your ranking should improve a lot.
I forgot to mention. our company hired some "top" SEO company and spent
thousand of dollar to them every month. As I start taking over the SEO
myself, I found there was a lot of those link that top SEO company built for
our company was no where near good...
lifespanfitness | Window Shopper |
5/17/2012 - 5:22 am
After you have been dealing for some time with SEO on your own, you discover
that no matter how hard you try, your site does not rank well or that your
site ranks well but optimizing it for search engines takes all your time and
all your other tasks lag behind. If this is the case with you, maybe it is
better to consider hiring a SEO company to do the work for you. With so many
SEO companies out there, you can't complain that you have no choice. Or is it
just the opposite – so many companies but few reliable?
In my own experience, like any business relationship, it's important to
"like" your SEO guru. Since SEO is a long term process it is important to be
able to pick up the phone and feel like you are talking to a friend, rather
than just another vendor.
I think its important that an SEO also offer other ways of generating traffic
to your site then relying on strictly on google. As the penguin update shows
sites that rely strictly on Google can see a serious drop in revenue if they
rely on a no. 1 ranking.
I am an SEO pro and want to weigh in on these points:
1. I agree that word of mouth is a great way to find a reputable SEO. There
are a lot of crooks out there - always wise to hear from a real customer that
they were pleased with the ROI they got from the SEO they hired.
2. A good SEO should be able to demonstrate their skill level by showing you
some page 1 listings for clients they have worked with.
3. I don't worry about ranking my own site. I don't agree with this point at
all. Keywords for the SEO industry are some of the most competitive and
difficult to rank for. 90% of my business comes from happy customer
referrals...see my first point.
4. Absolutely not. There are no guarantees in SEO. Search engine optimization
is about making a website search engine friendly and then creating buzz
around it off-site. But the final outcome depends on the customer - you can
be page 1 position 1 for every keyphrase in your industry...but if you are
turning off your customers with a poor user experience all the SEO talent on
earth won't boost your bottom line.
5. I don't require a long-term contract...but I do recommend you invest in
SEO for the long-haul. Algorithms change constantly and your competitors are
always working to pass you in the SERPs. The best results come from SEO
campaigns that are consistent over the long term. SEO is not a 'one and done'
undertaking. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
6. I certainly agree that a happy customer means more referrals. I strongly
disagree that setting a dollar amount for ROI is logical. The customer has
the final say in whether they trust your brand enough to purchase from you.
As an SEO, it is my job to boost your visibility and traffic. While I can
focus my efforts on keywords that convert well, I cannot guarantee sales. See
my point #4.
Hiring a professional SEO can have a tremendous positive impact on the bottom
line of any web-based business. IGNORING SEO can have a similarly detrimental
effect. If you are guilty of this, there is not a moment to lose. Get to work
on your website's SEO without letting another day go by.
paul benoit | Window Shopper |
4/28/2012 - 8:57 pm
content...content...content this what google needs from websites: any SEO
action will be useless untill you offer to people interesting content and
services (just a personal opinion based on experience)
geeurbie1 | Window Shopper | 5/20/2012 - 11:05 pm
companies in your community as a starting point. SEO is all about ranking
well. If an SEO company can't rank well for their business how will they ever
get yours ranking well.
seopro | Window Shopper | 5/19/2012 - 4:55 am
their niche first. Usually, SEO prices are about the same, with some
variation for bigger companies, but even if you pay 100-200$ extra, at least
you know what you're paying for. Unfortunatelly, there are many people who
fall into the "50$ for 5000 directory submissions" trap, as many of them have
just barely heard about SEO and what it represents.
applelau | Window Shopper | 5/17/2012 - 11:21 am
I found there is 3 main area you need to do, and you could hire different
company for each tanks in order to get a good price.
1, link building. Look for those company that will give you link reports. It
is pretty cheap. You will be looking for about $1 a link.
2, Content Writing. Keywords content writing could make your site look good
in google and yahoo.
3, Optimize your site. Make sure all picture have Alt and all links have a
title.
As you do all those, your ranking should improve a lot.
applelau | Window Shopper | 5/17/2012 - 11:25 am
thousand of dollar to them every month. As I start taking over the SEO
myself, I found there was a lot of those link that top SEO company built for
our company was no where near good...
lifespanfitness | Window Shopper | 5/17/2012 - 5:22 am
that no matter how hard you try, your site does not rank well or that your
site ranks well but optimizing it for search engines takes all your time and
all your other tasks lag behind. If this is the case with you, maybe it is
better to consider hiring a SEO company to do the work for you. With so many
SEO companies out there, you can't complain that you have no choice. Or is it
just the opposite – so many companies but few reliable?
SolaceLaw | Window Shopper | 5/16/2012 - 11:52 pm
"like" your SEO guru. Since SEO is a long term process it is important to be
able to pick up the phone and feel like you are talking to a friend, rather
than just another vendor.
CitiWideFunding | Window Shopper | 5/15/2012 - 1:26 pm
to your site then relying on strictly on google. As the penguin update shows
sites that rely strictly on Google can see a serious drop in revenue if they
rely on a no. 1 ranking.
Charlotte | Window Shopper | 5/9/2012 - 12:06 pm
1. I agree that word of mouth is a great way to find a reputable SEO. There
are a lot of crooks out there - always wise to hear from a real customer that
they were pleased with the ROI they got from the SEO they hired.
2. A good SEO should be able to demonstrate their skill level by showing you
some page 1 listings for clients they have worked with.
3. I don't worry about ranking my own site. I don't agree with this point at
all. Keywords for the SEO industry are some of the most competitive and
difficult to rank for. 90% of my business comes from happy customer
referrals...see my first point.
4. Absolutely not. There are no guarantees in SEO. Search engine optimization
is about making a website search engine friendly and then creating buzz
around it off-site. But the final outcome depends on the customer - you can
be page 1 position 1 for every keyphrase in your industry...but if you are
turning off your customers with a poor user experience all the SEO talent on
earth won't boost your bottom line.
5. I don't require a long-term contract...but I do recommend you invest in
SEO for the long-haul. Algorithms change constantly and your competitors are
always working to pass you in the SERPs. The best results come from SEO
campaigns that are consistent over the long term. SEO is not a 'one and done'
undertaking. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
6. I certainly agree that a happy customer means more referrals. I strongly
disagree that setting a dollar amount for ROI is logical. The customer has
the final say in whether they trust your brand enough to purchase from you.
As an SEO, it is my job to boost your visibility and traffic. While I can
focus my efforts on keywords that convert well, I cannot guarantee sales. See
my point #4.
Hiring a professional SEO can have a tremendous positive impact on the bottom
line of any web-based business. IGNORING SEO can have a similarly detrimental
effect. If you are guilty of this, there is not a moment to lose. Get to work
on your website's SEO without letting another day go by.
Richkpysandwich | Window Shopper | 5/8/2012 - 1:07 pm
paul benoit | Window Shopper | 4/28/2012 - 8:57 pm
action will be useless untill you offer to people interesting content and
services (just a personal opinion based on experience)
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