Tweet

How to select an SEO company

Written by: Justin Cook

Article Overview: There are so many companies and 'professionals' claiming to offer SEO, even providing guarantees of top placement. But how can you sort the wheat from the chaff?

How to select an SEO company

If you're starting to consider outsourcing your SEO to a Search Engine Optimization company, here are a few tip to ensure that you'll be getting high quality SEO:

* Ask about what they offer for on-site and on-page SEO, either hands-on or analysis. A quality SEO provider realizes that almost all sites will need modifications to be well optimized - it's equally as important as gathering inbound links.
* Ask them how they do their link building. They should have nothing to hide, and it should be very clear that they understand the need to gather high-quality, relevant links (on a regular basis) to produce lasting link value.
* Ask for references. Perform the searches for the sites they claim to have optimized, and verify the inbound links. You could even contact the website owner/administrator to find out their opinion of the SEO services provided by the company.
* What is their billing schedule? This is not an absolute rule to live by, but a real SEO company should have no problem with charging on a monthly basis. If they require the entire payment upfront, and are providing no guarantees for ranking improvements, you should definitely question their service.
* What reporting do they provide? You should expect to receive regular updates on their link building efforts, your search ranking improvements, and website traffic fluctuations. If they don’t offer those reports, find another SEO company!
* Do they guarantee anything? No SEO provider can really guarantee top position. However, once you've chosen your keywords, they should be able to estimate their level of competitiveness, and tell you what expect for increases in SERPs and traffic gains, as well as a time frame.
* Do your own SEO research. Now, you are outsourcing so that you yourself don't have to spend all the time to do SEO for your own site. However, the more SEO knowledge you can equip yourself with will enable to spot SEO companies that are fake or possibly use blackhat methods.

Anyhow, this is by no means an exhaustive list of everything you can ask about. Add to this list any question(s) you may have regarding their services, and make sure they provide answers.

A couple of years from now, SEO will be more of a mainstream service, and business owners such as yourself will be far more informed as to what is quality SEO. Companies will no longer be able to claim that they offer quality SEO services, and go unchallenged. Until then, you'll need to do your research in order to protect your business from any fake SEOs!

Related Articles
  Email Etiquette V
  How to Make Demo Tutorial for LMS
  Home Business Expert: What's In A Domain Name?
  Is there a place for Multi-Rater Feedback in the Selection Process?
  How to Make the Mastermind Group Unlock the Door to Success

Article Tags: inbound links, link building, SEO, SEO companies, SEO company, SEO services



Related Forum Posts
Coming up with a business name - I've always been curious about how people select their business names and would love to hear how you came up with yours. When I first started my company I was selecting between Evan Carmichael & Associates or the Carmichael Organization. The reason was I had read two books by Anthony Robbins and Donald Trump and learned about how they came up with their companies names to make them look bigger than they were when they were first getting started. Robbins chose Anthony Robbins & Associates while Trump chose the Trump Organization. I settled on Evan Carmichael & Associates and later changed it to Evan Carmichael Communications Group when I incorporated on the advice of my lawyer. I agree that it is not the most innovative name out there but my business is about building a brand. I would love to hear how you came up with your company name!
Licensing and Exclusivity - Is it better to receive a license from a company to provide a product to a certain region before of after your company is established? Ex. XYZ is a small company that manufactures cars and sells them in Europe and I want to get their cars licensed from them and be the sole provider of their flying cars in Asia. So would it be better for me to establish a company first or first get the licensing then build the company after? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Young electrical engineer - I'm 15. I am a Director of B&S Associates, and I also have a 50% stake in the company. It is a Ltd company incorporated in the UK. Underneath the company there are currently a few other businesses. Most are internet-based. I've owned over 10 different businesses so far, but this is my first 'real' company (as in registered and incorporated). Right now doing my exams here in the UK - my last year in compulsory education. I will probably stay on at college and hope to go to university. But I'm a little torn as I want to be able to put all my time in the company - if I do go to uni I am going to have to wait at least 5 more years before I can do that
Re: Google Chrome is not faster than firefox 3.1 - Hi bmueller47, to transfer from IE simply click on File (top left) then Import, select the IE radio button and follow the wizard instructions, hope this helps, Carol
Re: Keyword Selection - I think selection of keyword is the most difficult job.However your discussion make it easy to select the most appropriate keyword.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How To Be A Management Legend

International Employment Background Checks

Halloween Howl Seven by Author Paige Agnew

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.