I know this is a controversial question, and for this reason I think it’s a helpful one, because it forces the truth to come out. Read this and you will know exactly how to find a trustworthy seo company.
Before I got into the service side of this business I was one of the most sceptical people when it came to SEO companies. Back in the day when I was strictly internet marketing, I was in need of some help as I had multiple sites in completely different niche markets. The reason why I was sceptical was most companies could not answer detailed questions about strategies and techniques they would use to get one of my sites ranked. Some of them didn’t even give me a game-plan at all! I had to rely on myself and close internet marketing acquaintances that I trusted to do the work.
Here is my beef with most internet marketing and SEO companies here in Vancouver, Canada. There are about a hundred of them and I have spoken to many of them. I do see a very consistent trend, two main points come to mind. When I ask them about the most influential internet marketing minds in the world such as, Corey Rudl, Derek Gehl, Rich Schefren, Dan Kennedy, Ken Evoy, John Reese, Marlon Sanders etc. Most of them have no idea what I’m talking about. This shows me that they aren’t really passionate about internet marketing and SEO, they didn’t go the extra mile to try to connect with these people and better their own knowledge by learning the roots of internet marketing. Another thing that came up a lot was the fact that almost none of these so called SEO experts have ever run their own profitable website in a niche market. The only business they have ever ran is their own SEO company. This shows me that they haven’t put their strategies to use. The only sites they put up are their client’s websites, with their client’s money and outsourced work.
Here is a secret these SEO companies don’t want you to know; They charge their clients, then they use your money to find a real SEO expert to do their work for them. Sure they can get clients results, but at a cost that is inflated. I guess the only way to really find out who is for real is by asking the right questions. Before going with a search engine optimization company keep the following things in mind;
- If they guarantee results, this can be a big red flag. They are usually covering their own behind by aiming to get you ranked for keywords that get no traffic or low quality keywords that aren’t targeted. Basically they are making sure they live up to their guarantee by providing mediocrity or less. They don’t have your companies best interest in mind
- Make sure they use search engine friendly strategies. If they don’t, your website might get banned! I have no problem with some “black hat SEO strategies” some of them are creative and follow all the rules. But there are also some that go against Google’s rules and if you do this your site might get in Google’s bad books. This is not good, and Google is not very forgiving, once they make a decision it’s pretty much final
- Ask them exactly what they type of SEO will they be doing. Will they be submitting articles? and to the right directories? Will they do the correct on-site as well as off-site SEO based on keywords? Will their blog posting strategies be ethical? Will they do extensive keyword research and send you a report of which keywords they will be targeting and why? Will they give you detailed info on how they will obtain backlinks? Will they incorporate other aspects of marketing as oppose to just internet marketing?
- Try to set up a face to face meeting with them? Personally, I will not do business with someone unless I get to look them in the eyes. It’s a good idea to have a common understanding between company and client. Make sure that both party’s goals are realistic and reasonable, especially when it comes to any type of consulting service.
