Posts Tagged ‘Seo Firm’
What You Need To Know About Texas Seo Firms – Part Ii
Part II
2. Does their services include content creation, or just optimization of the site as-is?
Content creation refers simply the content on your site including images and graphics. Content can be optimized by being enriched with keywords and tags added to images, etc.
Any Austin Texas SEO firm can do a better job for you with optimized content on your site. Without optimized content, you’re basically throwing free money into the pocket of your internet marketing consultant.
3.Do they guarantee results?
Like I said earlier, no Austin SEO firm can’t guarantee top rankings. What results do they guarantee? Can you get your money back if they don’t live up to it?
4. Do they use a standard method of SEO or do they approach each site individually?
Cookie cutter approaches to SEO work, but a good Austin SEO firm will look at your site and determine what methods will work best for it. You’re a paying customer. You want your site to get the treatment it deserves and not put on an assembly line.
Of course, if your internet marketing consultant’s cookie cutter approaches with other sites impress you, then I can’t tell you not to do it?
5. How long until you see results?
Listen up! Results do not happen overnight unless the Texas SEO firm either owns a magic wand or starts PPC campaigns for your site. With just organic SEO, it can take months to see results.
Any legitimate internet marketing consultant will tell you this. PPC campaigns give immediate results. Everything else? It’s going to take a month or so before the Austin SEO firm’s work produces any noticeable results.
6. Will they just analyze and provide a report on your site or will they perform the SEO work as well?
Some Texas SEO firms analyze your site and provide you with a detailed description of what needs done. They don’t do it for you. If you want an internet marketing consultant, this becomes one of the most important questions you can ask.
7. Ask the Austin SEO firm to tell you, as precisely as possible, what they will do to and for your site.
If they don’t know the answer to this question after looking at your site, then move on to the next Austin, Texas SEO firm!
Now, don’t expect them to go into detail because that would tell you how to do their job (and saving you money), but you do want to know as much of their intended strategy as possible.
8. What search engines will they target?
Plenty of little, no-name search engines exist, and your site could achieve top rankings with them. But let me ask you this.
Who uses them? Get the names of the search engines the Texas SEO firm will target. Better yet, get those names in the contract!
9. PPC or paid inclusion listings with the search engines?
PPC gives you immediate results. Paid inclusion doesn’t guarantee top ranking, but it does guarantee ranking. However, the results the Austin SEO firm gets with these methods will stop when your contract ends or you stop paying them.
If this entails all the only SEO that they’re doing for you, just keep in mind that the SEO work lasts only as long as you fork out money to the Austin, Texas SEO firm. If that’s what you want from your internet marketing consultant, then go for it.
10. How many hours will they put into working on your site?
I think that’s clear enough of a question. Any internet marketing consultant or Texas SEO firm should put some initial time into kicking off the SEO campaign. After that, your site will require regular maintenance to retain its ranking.
These questions make up a few that you will want to ask all Austin SEO firms that you contact. Of course, I encourage you to come up with questions of your own and to request, then explore, a contract with any Texas SEO firm you decide to hire.
Top notch SEO provides you with a successful and profitable website. Hiring a knowledgeable, experienced Austin SEO firm spells out the difference between being an Ohio-like business and a Texas one. Everything comes bigger (and better) in Texas, you know.
By: Ben Jordan
About the Author:
2. Does their services include content creation, or just optimization of the site as-is?
Content creation refers simply the content on your site including images and graphics. Content can be optimized by being enriched with keywords and tags added to images, etc.
Any Austin Texas SEO firm can do a better job for you with optimized content on your site. Without optimized content, you’re basically throwing free money into the pocket of your internet marketing consultant.
3.Do they guarantee results?
Like I said earlier, no Austin SEO firm can’t guarantee top rankings. What results do they guarantee? Can you get your money back if they don’t live up to it?
4. Do they use a standard method of SEO or do they approach each site individually?
Cookie cutter approaches to SEO work, but a good Austin SEO firm will look at your site and determine what methods will work best for it. You’re a paying customer. You want your site to get the treatment it deserves and not put on an assembly line.
Of course, if your internet marketing consultant’s cookie cutter approaches with other sites impress you, then I can’t tell you not to do it?
5. How long until you see results?
Listen up! Results do not happen overnight unless the Texas SEO firm either owns a magic wand or starts PPC campaigns for your site. With just organic SEO, it can take months to see results.
Any legitimate internet marketing consultant will tell you this. PPC campaigns give immediate results. Everything else? It’s going to take a month or so before the Austin SEO firm’s work produces any noticeable results.
6. Will they just analyze and provide a report on your site or will they perform the SEO work as well?
Some Texas SEO firms analyze your site and provide you with a detailed description of what needs done. They don’t do it for you. If you want an internet marketing consultant, this becomes one of the most important questions you can ask.
7. Ask the Austin SEO firm to tell you, as precisely as possible, what they will do to and for your site.
If they don’t know the answer to this question after looking at your site, then move on to the next Austin, Texas SEO firm!
Now, don’t expect them to go into detail because that would tell you how to do their job (and saving you money), but you do want to know as much of their intended strategy as possible.
8. What search engines will they target?
Plenty of little, no-name search engines exist, and your site could achieve top rankings with them. But let me ask you this.
Who uses them? Get the names of the search engines the Texas SEO firm will target. Better yet, get those names in the contract!
9. PPC or paid inclusion listings with the search engines?
PPC gives you immediate results. Paid inclusion doesn’t guarantee top ranking, but it does guarantee ranking. However, the results the Austin SEO firm gets with these methods will stop when your contract ends or you stop paying them.
If this entails all the only SEO that they’re doing for you, just keep in mind that the SEO work lasts only as long as you fork out money to the Austin, Texas SEO firm. If that’s what you want from your internet marketing consultant, then go for it.
10. How many hours will they put into working on your site?
I think that’s clear enough of a question. Any internet marketing consultant or Texas SEO firm should put some initial time into kicking off the SEO campaign. After that, your site will require regular maintenance to retain its ranking.
These questions make up a few that you will want to ask all Austin SEO firms that you contact. Of course, I encourage you to come up with questions of your own and to request, then explore, a contract with any Texas SEO firm you decide to hire.
Top notch SEO provides you with a successful and profitable website. Hiring a knowledgeable, experienced Austin SEO firm spells out the difference between being an Ohio-like business and a Texas one. Everything comes bigger (and better) in Texas, you know.
By: Ben Jordan
About the Author:
Ben Jordan is x-Fortune 500 Texas SEO Firm consultant, who has consulted small business owners, up to $30 Billion dollar companies around the country. Please visit today http://www.whoisbenjordan.com
Denis
SEO Expert or Just a Cowboy?
As a website owner it is perfectly natural to expect your website to rank near the top of the search results. After all, with all that fantastic content that you’ve just spent days and weeks fine-tuning, how could it not be immensely popular?
And as sure as night follows day, when your site fails to make the first page it’s tempting to blame Google, because, how could your beautiful new website be the problem?
So, take a deep breath and read the next line.
It’s not Google’s fault, it’s not your website’s fault: it’s your fault.
Sorry, but you haven’t finished the job. Your next task is going to be challenging, but in this new world, competition is fierce, and to finish the job you’ll need to pay careful attention to the various ways you can claw your site up the rankings.
But don’t despair. You can get help, it even has a name Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and there are plenty of consultants and companies offering SEO services, the only problem is sorting the wheat from the chaff. Luckily for you, you are just about to read The Six Golden Rules for Choosing an SEO consultant.
Golden Rule Number 1: Contacted by an SEO firm? Keep your wits about you!
Although it does not automatically follow that all SEO firms that contact you are just out for a quick buck you should keep your wits about you and be wary of any that do. The majority of good SEO consultants will rather react to an inquiry than spend time trawling the Internet looking for poorly optimized websites.
Golden Rule Number 2: Guarantees are lies – spurn them and the companies that offer them
Okay, as Golden Rules go it is not fair to say that all guarantees are lies, there are a few genuine guarantees that are offered in good faith and as a sign of confidence, nevertheless err on the side of caution and treat them all as you would a suspect standing over a dead body with a smoking gun.
SEO consultants have no control over how the search engines search; they have no influence over the competition and so no matter how much you want it they are not in any position to offer you meaningful guarantees with regards to the results that can be achieved.
There are no ’special relationships’ or ‘tricks’, if you are offered a guarantee, or think yourself covered for insisting on one, it is quite possible that the guarantee offered will be worthless.
Guarantees that are freely offered are generally not what they seem. Anyone with a basic knowledge of SEO will be able to rank you high for an uncompetitive search phrase; being ranked number one for a search phrase that no one is using is as useful and expensive as erecting a billboard in the middle of the Sahara Dessert.
Golden Rule Number 3: Secretive SEO’s should be shown the door
Your relationship with an SEO consultant should be similar to that you would expect from your accountant as you are ultimately responsible for your website and the actions of the people that you employ to build and maintain your website.
There is no reason for an SEO consultant not to explain why and what they are doing and they should be prepared to document all that they have done. They should not insert undocumented code and you should be careful of those that want to install their own software; give consideration as to what will happen if you decide at a later date to end you relationship with them.
Golden Rule Number 4: Treat references with a pinch of salt
References are useful but will not always tell the whole story. Ten years is a lifetime in SEO, and it is a subject that is more to do with understanding the ‘now’ than the ‘then’.
Search engines in their current form first started to appear in the mid 90’s and a lot has changed in search engine technology which gave birth to the SEO consultant. As the search engines have become more adept at spotting and penalizing websites that achieve prominence by stealth rather than merit, so SEO techniques have had to evolve.
Despite the SEO basics being the same for any website how they are applied and to what degree is very dependent on each specific website; its design, maturity, market, purpose, objectives, the type and size of the organization as well as how competitive the market. Some SEO techniques that are relevant and effective for some websites will be irrelevant and ineffective for others.
Golden Rule Number 5: Prepared to be disappointed
Limit your expectations. No matter how good the SEO consultant they will not be able to take you from ‘nowhere’ to a number one listing overnight. There is no magic bullet that will allow a one page website to permanently out rank a large multi-national, if you believe those that say there are, expect to be disappointed.
SEO takes hard work, time and patience.
Golden Rule Number 6: Are they worthy of your trust
The most important quality to look for in an SEO consultant is trust, as more often than not you will be entrusting your SEO consultant with your business and reputation.
If you are not familiar with SEO speak you need someone who is not going exploit your ignorance, isn’t going to shift blame on to others and is going to do things right, with long term objectives, and not implement solutions that offer immediate rewards followed swiftly by long term and serious pain.
A good and trustworthy SEO consultant is worth their weight in gold, like good neighbors; when you have found one, think twice before moving.
Have you got a Champ or a Chimp?
The following is a questionnaire that can be used as an aid to ask potential SEO consultants a number of questions.
Based on how they respond to the questions it will help you root out those that lacks the basic knowledge, expose those that are willing to tell you what you want to hear and identify those that are prepared to tell you what you should hear.
It is not recommended that the information you gleam from the questionnaire is used as the sole criteria for evaluating an SEO consultant but it will help identify the SEO cowboy, saving you time, money and heartache.
http://www.surveygalaxy.com/surPublishes.asp?survey_id=2271
By: Martin Day
About the Author:
And as sure as night follows day, when your site fails to make the first page it’s tempting to blame Google, because, how could your beautiful new website be the problem?
So, take a deep breath and read the next line.
It’s not Google’s fault, it’s not your website’s fault: it’s your fault.
Sorry, but you haven’t finished the job. Your next task is going to be challenging, but in this new world, competition is fierce, and to finish the job you’ll need to pay careful attention to the various ways you can claw your site up the rankings.
But don’t despair. You can get help, it even has a name Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and there are plenty of consultants and companies offering SEO services, the only problem is sorting the wheat from the chaff. Luckily for you, you are just about to read The Six Golden Rules for Choosing an SEO consultant.
Golden Rule Number 1: Contacted by an SEO firm? Keep your wits about you!
Although it does not automatically follow that all SEO firms that contact you are just out for a quick buck you should keep your wits about you and be wary of any that do. The majority of good SEO consultants will rather react to an inquiry than spend time trawling the Internet looking for poorly optimized websites.
Golden Rule Number 2: Guarantees are lies – spurn them and the companies that offer them
Okay, as Golden Rules go it is not fair to say that all guarantees are lies, there are a few genuine guarantees that are offered in good faith and as a sign of confidence, nevertheless err on the side of caution and treat them all as you would a suspect standing over a dead body with a smoking gun.
SEO consultants have no control over how the search engines search; they have no influence over the competition and so no matter how much you want it they are not in any position to offer you meaningful guarantees with regards to the results that can be achieved.
There are no ’special relationships’ or ‘tricks’, if you are offered a guarantee, or think yourself covered for insisting on one, it is quite possible that the guarantee offered will be worthless.
Guarantees that are freely offered are generally not what they seem. Anyone with a basic knowledge of SEO will be able to rank you high for an uncompetitive search phrase; being ranked number one for a search phrase that no one is using is as useful and expensive as erecting a billboard in the middle of the Sahara Dessert.
Golden Rule Number 3: Secretive SEO’s should be shown the door
Your relationship with an SEO consultant should be similar to that you would expect from your accountant as you are ultimately responsible for your website and the actions of the people that you employ to build and maintain your website.
There is no reason for an SEO consultant not to explain why and what they are doing and they should be prepared to document all that they have done. They should not insert undocumented code and you should be careful of those that want to install their own software; give consideration as to what will happen if you decide at a later date to end you relationship with them.
Golden Rule Number 4: Treat references with a pinch of salt
References are useful but will not always tell the whole story. Ten years is a lifetime in SEO, and it is a subject that is more to do with understanding the ‘now’ than the ‘then’.
Search engines in their current form first started to appear in the mid 90’s and a lot has changed in search engine technology which gave birth to the SEO consultant. As the search engines have become more adept at spotting and penalizing websites that achieve prominence by stealth rather than merit, so SEO techniques have had to evolve.
Despite the SEO basics being the same for any website how they are applied and to what degree is very dependent on each specific website; its design, maturity, market, purpose, objectives, the type and size of the organization as well as how competitive the market. Some SEO techniques that are relevant and effective for some websites will be irrelevant and ineffective for others.
Golden Rule Number 5: Prepared to be disappointed
Limit your expectations. No matter how good the SEO consultant they will not be able to take you from ‘nowhere’ to a number one listing overnight. There is no magic bullet that will allow a one page website to permanently out rank a large multi-national, if you believe those that say there are, expect to be disappointed.
SEO takes hard work, time and patience.
Golden Rule Number 6: Are they worthy of your trust
The most important quality to look for in an SEO consultant is trust, as more often than not you will be entrusting your SEO consultant with your business and reputation.
If you are not familiar with SEO speak you need someone who is not going exploit your ignorance, isn’t going to shift blame on to others and is going to do things right, with long term objectives, and not implement solutions that offer immediate rewards followed swiftly by long term and serious pain.
A good and trustworthy SEO consultant is worth their weight in gold, like good neighbors; when you have found one, think twice before moving.
Have you got a Champ or a Chimp?
The following is a questionnaire that can be used as an aid to ask potential SEO consultants a number of questions.
Based on how they respond to the questions it will help you root out those that lacks the basic knowledge, expose those that are willing to tell you what you want to hear and identify those that are prepared to tell you what you should hear.
It is not recommended that the information you gleam from the questionnaire is used as the sole criteria for evaluating an SEO consultant but it will help identify the SEO cowboy, saving you time, money and heartache.
http://www.surveygalaxy.com/surPublishes.asp?survey_id=2271
By: Martin Day
About the Author:
Martin Day is a freelance Internet Marketing Consultant and
a Director of Survey Galaxy Ltd, to contact the author
please email martin.c.day@btconnect.com
Cedric
Avoiding Disaster – How to Choose an SEO Firm
There has been a flurry of entrants into the Search Engine Optimisation market in the past year or so. Judging by the horrendous rates some are charging, money rather than service seems to be the main motivation. Judging by the horror stories from clients who have arrived on my doorstep after being ripped off by sharp operators, in some instances there is evidence of a serious deficiency in both ethics and skills in some cases.
I have a new client who spent almost $30,000 last year, with no work having been done on the actual site, no evidence of link increases, and according to traffic statistics, site visitors have gone DOWN by 60% – so read the following sections carefully.
So, how do you choose an SEO firm to entrust your business to? I believe that there are some simple checks to put in place before committing yourself to any SEO proposal, no matter how attractive it might seem.
How To Shorten Your SEO Short List The following sections list a few ways you can find some potentially good SEO firms, and also eliminate some dodgy ones and thus reduce your chances of being disappointed.
How Well Does Their Own Site Rank? Do a search for search engine optimisation, seo rates and/or seo firm on the country-specific version of each of the big 3 major search engines – e.g. Google.co.nz, Yahoo.co.nz or XtraMSN.co.nz. Alternatively, go to the main Google.com etc site, and search for nz seo, seo rates, or new zealand search engine optimisation (or your own country-specific version of those). The market SEO has become very competitive out there, but you should expect the SEO business you are contemplating doing business with to be on Page One on each search engine! If not, drop them from the list of possibles, because how much help could they possibly be to you? A list of 3-5 potential firms should quickly emerge from this process.
Request For Proposal From your initial research, you should have a list of contenders you are considering entrusting your business to. Contact each, and request a site review. This will invariably result in a detailed analysis of your site, and a proposal which sets out what remedial action is required and an indicative costing to achieve this. Having now received a series of these, apply the following criteria against each one.
Guaranteed Inclusion in Google/Yahoo/MSN If an SEO firm offers a guarantee of inclusion into any major search engine, or assures you that they have a special relationship with a search engine, immediately drop them from the list of possibles. Frankly, search engines simply do not enter into such relationships. That would be as likely as a close friendship between a poacher and a gamekeeper!
What Are They Proposing? There are two key ingredients to web site optimisation, and if both are not assessed and addressed, drop the SEO firm’s proposal from the list of possibilities!
The first is on-site optimisation of individual pages to improve organic or natural search engine rankings. This involves keyword research with associated analysis of the business products and services. This is the most important aspect because it delivers ongoing traffic which is essentially free after the initial work is carried out.
The second key element is link analysis and recommended remedial action. Basically, the more links to your site from trusted sites carrying high page rank, the better. Insufficient links means your site is not worth indexing. Proposals to increase your 1-way back-links from web directories and other trusted sites are good. However, should there be any suggestions for participation in link propagation schemes, or place main emphasis on reciprocal link strategies etc, drop the SEO firm from your list because they are not up to date with current best practice.
Google Adwords & Yahoo Search Marketing Some SEO firms boast that they are certified Adwords practitioners etc. That’s all well and good, but what they mean is that with YOUR money, they are real confident of getting you top placing in the keyword bidding warfare! There can be some short term benefits in that, but guarantees along those lines are not overly helpful to your business. If a proposal places primary emphasis on Pay-Per-Click, slip it down to the bottom of the pile!
References Can your SEO firm provide you with some reference sites they’ve worked on successfully, case studies, and/or some clients you can contact for comment? Bear in mind that there are likely to be some commercial sensitivities that apply constraints.
Is There Value in 1 Year Contracts? Frankly, no! The hallmark of a professional, ethical operator will be a fixed price contract to carry out the initial remedial action on the site. As a reassurance, they will usually let you know that ongoing support is available if required, because the rules of the SEO game do keep changing. The best SEO practitioners do not attempt to lock you into 1 year contract because they know the initial work will often take 8-12 weeks to deliver full benefits, and the project cost will usually include a built-in monitoring component over that initial period. It is, in my view, a little unethical to double-dip on the project costs!
Not only that, but what if you are not happy with the results of the SEO firm or their level of service? A 1 year contract might just guarantee you receive a full 12 months of unsatisfactory services! My advice – do not lock yourself into a long-term contract until you have grown comfortable with the SEO team you are dealing with
Fixed Price Contracts Insist on one! A professional SEO firm will set out exactly what is wrong with your site, and explain the precise remedial action in a coherent and logical fashion. The actual work will be specified and a total cost provided. It is customary to require payment in advance. This is usually 100% for smaller jobs, which I would define as less than $1500. For larger projects, expect to pay a 50% deposit with balance on completion and/or when Top 30 rankings on agreed keyword terms show a demonstrable improvement.
How Much Should It Cost? Well, each proposal should come down to a judgement by each SEO firm on how many hours of work are going to be involved in the project. However, some seem more inclined to make an assessment of your ability to pay in big chunks! There can be obvious, huge discrepancies – its common to see variations of 1000% e.g. you will see that some firms initial cost proposal can be 10 times that of competing operator! From your point of view, you want to know how many pages are gong to be amended, what will be done by way of increasing incoming links, are articles being published, and if so, how many? Reduce it to a known quantity, compare apples with apples! When you are systematic about it, the choices become more obvious, and a decision becomes easier!
You Need to Know What Will Be Done An SEO professional will involve you at each step of the process, providing you with a preview of all site changes before implementation. You will be able to measure progress of the work on a page by page basis, and see the results in your site traffic statistics as well as SE ranking reports. As in all aspects of life, failing to plan is planning to fail! If there is no plan, no road map, don’t expect a happy ending or any rights of redress.
Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO There are other danger signs to be aware of. If your SEO proposal suggests cloaking, redirections, doorway pages, hallway pages, invisible text, multiple domain names for duplicated content etc, immediately drop the company from the list of possibles!
There are many Black Hat SEO operators who prefer to attempt to subvert the Search Engine guidelines, essentially looking for rapid, short-term ranking gains by ANY means, instead of taking a responsible, professional approach. If your site is caught up in any scheme like this, banishment from search engine indexes is assured! Essentially, good White Hat SEO involves thoughtful restructuring of site content, within the SE guidelines and parameters, and taking no risks of any kind.
Who Are You Dealing With? Does their site have some personal profile information? Are you dealing with a seasoned IT industry professional, a kid fresh out of high school, someone moonlighting from their primary job, or maybe somebody who has English as a second (or third) language? SEO is very much about words, semantics, languages skills and this, plus broad SEO project experience over several years, should be a key indicator to consider! Partnerships Your web site is an integral part of your business. The people you work with should have an intuitive understanding of your business, products and services, and should by now have demonstrated that they have given your particular circumstances some personal attention. Some, on the other hand, may have merely used automated site assessment tools. From the initial proposal, and exchange of emails with questions and answers to clarify any issues that have arisen, do you feel a sense of rapport with anyone? The best people to work with are those you are comfortable with.
I hope that this has proven a useful and thought-provoking summary of how to weed out the space cadets, cowboys and make-a-quick-buck operators. I really hope you do find yourself a competent, professional SEO practitioner, because they are out there toiling away, doing a great job for great people like you!
Good luck!
By: Ben Kemp
About the Author:
I have a new client who spent almost $30,000 last year, with no work having been done on the actual site, no evidence of link increases, and according to traffic statistics, site visitors have gone DOWN by 60% – so read the following sections carefully.
So, how do you choose an SEO firm to entrust your business to? I believe that there are some simple checks to put in place before committing yourself to any SEO proposal, no matter how attractive it might seem.
How To Shorten Your SEO Short List The following sections list a few ways you can find some potentially good SEO firms, and also eliminate some dodgy ones and thus reduce your chances of being disappointed.
How Well Does Their Own Site Rank? Do a search for search engine optimisation, seo rates and/or seo firm on the country-specific version of each of the big 3 major search engines – e.g. Google.co.nz, Yahoo.co.nz or XtraMSN.co.nz. Alternatively, go to the main Google.com etc site, and search for nz seo, seo rates, or new zealand search engine optimisation (or your own country-specific version of those). The market SEO has become very competitive out there, but you should expect the SEO business you are contemplating doing business with to be on Page One on each search engine! If not, drop them from the list of possibles, because how much help could they possibly be to you? A list of 3-5 potential firms should quickly emerge from this process.
Request For Proposal From your initial research, you should have a list of contenders you are considering entrusting your business to. Contact each, and request a site review. This will invariably result in a detailed analysis of your site, and a proposal which sets out what remedial action is required and an indicative costing to achieve this. Having now received a series of these, apply the following criteria against each one.
Guaranteed Inclusion in Google/Yahoo/MSN If an SEO firm offers a guarantee of inclusion into any major search engine, or assures you that they have a special relationship with a search engine, immediately drop them from the list of possibles. Frankly, search engines simply do not enter into such relationships. That would be as likely as a close friendship between a poacher and a gamekeeper!
What Are They Proposing? There are two key ingredients to web site optimisation, and if both are not assessed and addressed, drop the SEO firm’s proposal from the list of possibilities!
The first is on-site optimisation of individual pages to improve organic or natural search engine rankings. This involves keyword research with associated analysis of the business products and services. This is the most important aspect because it delivers ongoing traffic which is essentially free after the initial work is carried out.
The second key element is link analysis and recommended remedial action. Basically, the more links to your site from trusted sites carrying high page rank, the better. Insufficient links means your site is not worth indexing. Proposals to increase your 1-way back-links from web directories and other trusted sites are good. However, should there be any suggestions for participation in link propagation schemes, or place main emphasis on reciprocal link strategies etc, drop the SEO firm from your list because they are not up to date with current best practice.
Google Adwords & Yahoo Search Marketing Some SEO firms boast that they are certified Adwords practitioners etc. That’s all well and good, but what they mean is that with YOUR money, they are real confident of getting you top placing in the keyword bidding warfare! There can be some short term benefits in that, but guarantees along those lines are not overly helpful to your business. If a proposal places primary emphasis on Pay-Per-Click, slip it down to the bottom of the pile!
References Can your SEO firm provide you with some reference sites they’ve worked on successfully, case studies, and/or some clients you can contact for comment? Bear in mind that there are likely to be some commercial sensitivities that apply constraints.
Is There Value in 1 Year Contracts? Frankly, no! The hallmark of a professional, ethical operator will be a fixed price contract to carry out the initial remedial action on the site. As a reassurance, they will usually let you know that ongoing support is available if required, because the rules of the SEO game do keep changing. The best SEO practitioners do not attempt to lock you into 1 year contract because they know the initial work will often take 8-12 weeks to deliver full benefits, and the project cost will usually include a built-in monitoring component over that initial period. It is, in my view, a little unethical to double-dip on the project costs!
Not only that, but what if you are not happy with the results of the SEO firm or their level of service? A 1 year contract might just guarantee you receive a full 12 months of unsatisfactory services! My advice – do not lock yourself into a long-term contract until you have grown comfortable with the SEO team you are dealing with
Fixed Price Contracts Insist on one! A professional SEO firm will set out exactly what is wrong with your site, and explain the precise remedial action in a coherent and logical fashion. The actual work will be specified and a total cost provided. It is customary to require payment in advance. This is usually 100% for smaller jobs, which I would define as less than $1500. For larger projects, expect to pay a 50% deposit with balance on completion and/or when Top 30 rankings on agreed keyword terms show a demonstrable improvement.
How Much Should It Cost? Well, each proposal should come down to a judgement by each SEO firm on how many hours of work are going to be involved in the project. However, some seem more inclined to make an assessment of your ability to pay in big chunks! There can be obvious, huge discrepancies – its common to see variations of 1000% e.g. you will see that some firms initial cost proposal can be 10 times that of competing operator! From your point of view, you want to know how many pages are gong to be amended, what will be done by way of increasing incoming links, are articles being published, and if so, how many? Reduce it to a known quantity, compare apples with apples! When you are systematic about it, the choices become more obvious, and a decision becomes easier!
You Need to Know What Will Be Done An SEO professional will involve you at each step of the process, providing you with a preview of all site changes before implementation. You will be able to measure progress of the work on a page by page basis, and see the results in your site traffic statistics as well as SE ranking reports. As in all aspects of life, failing to plan is planning to fail! If there is no plan, no road map, don’t expect a happy ending or any rights of redress.
Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO There are other danger signs to be aware of. If your SEO proposal suggests cloaking, redirections, doorway pages, hallway pages, invisible text, multiple domain names for duplicated content etc, immediately drop the company from the list of possibles!
There are many Black Hat SEO operators who prefer to attempt to subvert the Search Engine guidelines, essentially looking for rapid, short-term ranking gains by ANY means, instead of taking a responsible, professional approach. If your site is caught up in any scheme like this, banishment from search engine indexes is assured! Essentially, good White Hat SEO involves thoughtful restructuring of site content, within the SE guidelines and parameters, and taking no risks of any kind.
Who Are You Dealing With? Does their site have some personal profile information? Are you dealing with a seasoned IT industry professional, a kid fresh out of high school, someone moonlighting from their primary job, or maybe somebody who has English as a second (or third) language? SEO is very much about words, semantics, languages skills and this, plus broad SEO project experience over several years, should be a key indicator to consider! Partnerships Your web site is an integral part of your business. The people you work with should have an intuitive understanding of your business, products and services, and should by now have demonstrated that they have given your particular circumstances some personal attention. Some, on the other hand, may have merely used automated site assessment tools. From the initial proposal, and exchange of emails with questions and answers to clarify any issues that have arisen, do you feel a sense of rapport with anyone? The best people to work with are those you are comfortable with.
I hope that this has proven a useful and thought-provoking summary of how to weed out the space cadets, cowboys and make-a-quick-buck operators. I really hope you do find yourself a competent, professional SEO practitioner, because they are out there toiling away, doing a great job for great people like you!
Good luck!
By: Ben Kemp
About the Author:
Ben Kemp is a free-lance
search
engine optimisation consultant and offers free SEO articles & web design tips, see The SEO Guys Blog
search
engine optimisation consultant and offers free SEO articles & web design tips, see The SEO Guys Blog
Cyrus
What are things I should look for when hiring an SEO firm?
hebercitydude asked:
I need to outsouce my SEO marketing but I am nervous to hire a firm that may not peform. How do I pick a firm? What should I look for?
Arron
I need to outsouce my SEO marketing but I am nervous to hire a firm that may not peform. How do I pick a firm? What should I look for?
Arron
Can somebody recommend an affordable SEO firm for a starting up website?
FChdeM asked:
I am starting a small business website and I need basic SEO.
I am planning to invest in further SEO efforts once the revenue justifies it but now I am only in need of the basic SEO. Thanks.
Abdullah
I am starting a small business website and I need basic SEO.
I am planning to invest in further SEO efforts once the revenue justifies it but now I am only in need of the basic SEO. Thanks.
Abdullah
