Choosing an SEO Company

[thejenn]

Authored by: Jill Whalen

Full Text: http://www.searchengineguide.com/wha.../0510_jw1.html

A Snippet:

How does Company A, that is new to search engine marketing, assess Company B to hire them to manage their SEO programs? I'm seeing that there are companies making claims to put our company on the first page of Google -- but there are black hat and white hat companies, companies that make the SEO program so obvious that the site gets de-listed. It seems just as complicated to pick a company as it is to actually optimize.

[vangogh]

Good advice from Jill. I'd also like to add that even if you want to hire an seo it's still a good idea to learn some of the basics on your own. The more you know about any topic the better you are equipped to make decisions about that topic.

[ska_ree]

well said jill. and i agree with vangogh. it doesn't hurt to know a few things about seo. this way you can work effectively with the seo company that you hire.

[Logan]

it doesn't hurt to know a few things about seo. this way you can work effectively with the seo company that you hire.

True, but if you don't that shouldn't be the hurdle. imo, any good seo is going to communicate in a manner that will improve your understanding over time, and will review the basics of the services they are providing if you truly are not informed. By asking questions and listening, a good seo will be clear about their clients level of understanding. Basics are required to communicate and establish appropriate expectations.

[vangogh]

That's true Logan. Any good company, SEO or otherwise should be able to communicate with you to improve your understanding. In fact if they can't you might be better off looking for another company.

My thought in some self learning though is that if you don't know anything about a given subject it's just as easy to convince you and communicate to you things that aren't true as it is things that are true. Even just a little learning can go a long way in spotting someone who isn't being honest with you.

[Old Welsh Guy]

If they can/won't tell youwhat they are doing, then walk away

[pageBuzz]

If these companies are so sucessful at SEO, why do they need to optimize other people's sites?

If they can get the front page of google, they could make millions with their own sites. But the don't and they prey on the people that don't know and take their money.

I had one such company contact me and try to sell me services. They ended up buying some old sites I was unloading for their SEO business. They did not even know what FTP was, had no clue how the search engines worked and had never even built a single website.

If someone can read an artile about SEO and start a business and take money, that is sad. But they do. How do you optimize website when you do not even know how to build a page?

Google has an article in their help section about SEO Spam. Saying they get the same mail. Letters reading Dear Mr Google - we can help you get to search engine listings.

It's pretty funny when you think about it. But not so much if you are footing the bill to one of these scammers.

The only way to optimize is to build an honest site. And even then, you could be excluded from the searches. So, be careful letting someone get you placed. Getting excluded is painful.

If you company does nothing, great, you just lost money. But if they get you inviolved in a linking scheme, you could end up banned from the searches.

[vangogh]

As with every industry there are those who can honestly do what they claim and there are those who don't have a clue. You're right in that there are a lot of seo companies who won't do anything other than take your money, but that doesn't mean the industry as a whole is bad.

Not all companies have a business model where they make money directly through their site by selling something or advertising on the site and having a number 1 rank in Google is no guarantee of making millions. There are only 10 sites that can get that first page ranking and there are certainly more than 10 seo companies that know their stuff.

The truth is you need to do a little homework before hiring an seo company. Just because they contact you with promises of what they can do doesn't mean they can help. In fact I would be that most of the better seo companies won't ever contact you in the first place. They don't need to since they are good enough at what they do that clients find them.