SEO and SEM. Advice please!

[JungleJme]

Does anyone have any experience with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) agencies? I run a job board in a highly competitive market and need to increase site traffic/online profile drastically.

All these agencies say the same thing and i know it is hit and miss as to who can actually deliver. The companies i have approached so far are:

backbone solutions
big mouth media
justsearch

Any thoughts on any of these or any other SEO companies who can provide me with decent results on a moderate annual budget?

Thanks

Jme

[sysops]

Any thoughts on any of these or any other SEO companies who can provide me with decent results on a moderate annual budget?


The problem is that getting good results in a highly competitive market takes time - a lot of time. So you are employing someone who knows what they are doing to spend many hours researching and optimising to achieve your results. This does not come cheap.

[philbaynes]

We are without a doubt the fastest growing SEO company in the south east, we look after some major PLC's. If you would like some case studies etc please feel free to ask or look at propellernet.co.uk

[realmaverick]

You know what I'd do.

Type in search engine optimisation in to google, choose a site that's near the top.

If an SEO company has to do their advertising via adwords then I'd not touch them.

[realmaverick]

Out of curiosity Phil, what search criteria can I find your company under?

[philbaynes]

to be honest our seo guys are so busy that they do not have time to work on our site at present, but to give you an idea of how good we are Searchworks one of the UK's biggest search companies chose us to do their SEO work.

[realmaverick]

Cheers for the reply, nice looking site :)

[JungleJme]

Thanks, Big Mouth Media, Latitude and Justsearch are some of the top results under SEO/SEM terms, but i would love to hear anymore suggestions/advice. I'll check phil's company out too!

Thanks

Jme

[philbaynes]

Junglejme, i am willing to offer you our PPC Management service at a highly reduced rate if you are willing to keep the forum updated on the results we obtain.

[JungleJme]

Hi Phil,

As i said i am currently researching many SEO type companies. Although i recognise PPC as extremely important in an overall SEM strategy, i am also very interested in generating organic rankings. However, if your reduced rates consituted an offer that would support an organic SEO strategy then i would be interested and happy to post results.

I'll post your my url in a private reply for you to take a look at and consider a proposal.

Thanks for the interest

Jme

[philbaynes]

We are specialists in SEO we list U switch, Berkely Homes, First Choice Holidays etc as SEO clients. I would always recommend a combined seo and ppc campaign as the two go hand in hand. If you are willing to update this forum with our results i will ensure you a fantastic deal

[ryan82]

To answer the original question who is the best from these guys on the first page. Well a couple of tips on what to look for. First look at the back links of the site, type this into google link:justsearching.co.uk. For these guys you will see that the only reason why they show anywhere is because they link back from clients. If a SEO company has to link back from their clients they really don't know what they are doing. Second look at the portfolio of clients all call them and ask about some of their clients, remember to get a huge corporate company to the number one position is easier then getting a nowbody because the amount of links coming in an coverage of the site is much less.

i can't find any results from the backlinked clienst fomr justsearch and to look at the 'portfolio' they have doesnt say much either. BigMouth - biggest SEO company in Europe, do a reasonable job but are pricy, same as lattitude, but have a rep in the industry, although Bigmouth were dropped once a while back. Most of the guys on the frontpage are charging a fair amount for SEO, I would start to look for things like ethical search engine optimisation firm or try calling some of these guys if they are willing to come and meet with you then chances are they really want your business, since most SEO companies these days are cold calling, they want to close on the phone.

Hope all this helps.

[PintoPotts]

We too have been looking at using Big Mouth Media, they have some huge corporate clients and have managed to get their own site to No1 for most of the SEO terms, which in my opinion speaks volumes.

I would be really interested in hearing any further comments about them.

We are in a very competitive industry (Personal Injury Claims) and I need to make the right choice when it comes to an SEO company, they all make the same promises, but they don't all deliver - as I have already found out!

Any comments about making this choice will be appreciated!

Pinto Potts Solicitors
Offices in Aldershot and Fleet - http://www.pintopotts.co.uk (http://www.pintopotts.co.uk)

[netidme]

You should speak to the guys at www.hobo-web.co.uk (http://www.hobo-web.co.uk) Their results speak for themselves.

[PintoPotts]

Netidme,

How do their results 'speak for themselves' exactly?

What experience have you had with them to be so confident about their abilities?

Are you a client of theirs?

Pinto Potts Solicitors
http://www.pintopotts.co.uk/sitemap.html

[netidme]

Hi,

I am a client yes, I have recently started working with them after a few bad experiences elsewhere. As for their results, they came high up on every google search I did for SEO (e.g. SEO Scotland, SEO Awards, Best SEO - I can't remember all the search terms I tried, but you get the picture) Also, when I checked out their website, they had the term 'advertising agency' in the top 3 in google for one of their clients. As this is such a competitive term, I was impressed, so contacted them for a proposal. What I got back from them was a detailed proposal that was specific to my requirements, and not something that has been copied and pasted from another client's proposal. Finally, I am only interested in using ethical methods of SEO ('white hat' I think the term is), and that is what they provide. Hope this helps?

[SteveGibson]

Any thoughts on any of these or any other SEO companies who can provide me with decent results on a moderate annual budget?

I'd recommend Tin on this forum.

Most SEOs can't seem to predict 11am at 10:55, but when he says to do something, if you do it, it works.

I like that. It shows he knows what he's doing.

Also, unlike most SEOs, he doesn't charge an ongoing fee, he just does the work and the results are long lasting.

I'm guessing that's because he works with the google argorithm rather than using "grey hat" linking stragegies that google are always trying to find and close down.

Having said all that, there's a problem with him: if you want him, you might have to wait as he's always booked up and "supply and demand" means that he's not cheap so he could be out your budget.

Hope this helps,

Steve

[Richie N]

Does anyone have any experience with Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) agencies? I run a job board in a highly competitive market and need to increase site traffic/online profile drastically.

All these agencies say the same thing and i know it is hit and miss as to who can actually deliver. The companies i have approached so far are:

backbone solutions
big mouth media
justsearch

Any thoughts on any of these or any other SEO companies who can provide me with decent results on a moderate annual budget?

Thanks

Jme

Hi,

I'd be interested to see what job board it is ;)

[Aspect Investments]

Try searching for something like "tips for getting your website to number 1 on google"

Or maybe "optimizing services" or "free seo consultation" :)

[wilsonservices]

Have you tried google pay per click?

[MichaelG]

Pinto Potts Solicitors,

Best way to get your website up there is to do it yourself.

Download this non tech SEO guide (http://www.creotec.com/_creotec.modules/downloadfile.php?id=Mg==). Follow the simple instructions (or get your web people to do it)

Join as many industry related forums and local forums as possible - use the introduction board to generate back links.

DIY (small companies) will teach you a lot.

Remember - Content is STILL king, so write a few good articles

Also think about creating your own forum - a sort of "Ask the expert" type forum using a domain name like www.PersonalInjuryClaimsForum.co.uk

That's all for now.

PPC - wonderful for Google - Not for you (SMEs) the big boys have too much cash!

My take

[SteveGibson]

PPC - wonderful for Google - Not for you (SMEs) the big boys have too much cash!

I don't understand this logic.

If "the big boys" can turn a profit, why couldn't Pinto Potts?

After all, it's all about:

(1) cost per click

(2) conversion rate

(3) average profit per customer

If PP's site converts at the same rate as the bigger companies and his fees are the same, surely he'd make money by matching what they pay per click?

(of course, it assumes that the bigger companies are making a profit from their PPC)

Steve

[MichaelG]

This is not about profit - its about how much you are prepare to spend per click.

If 40 people are spending £1.50/click and they all have a budget of £2000/day (remember there are only x hours/day) - what chance does a small company have to fight for the same keywords?

Google is NOT always the answer!

My Take

[multilingual]

This is not about profit - its about how much you are prepare to spend per click.

If 40 people are spending £1.50/click and they all have a budget of £2000/day (remember there are only x hours/day) - what chance does a small company have to fight for the same keywords?

Google is NOT always the answer!

My Take

If you compete head-on on with PPC, then of course you will find it hard to compete against a mega-budget corporation.

It's the same as SEO, you have to find a niche, then PPC can work for anyone.

JB

[MichaelG]

Yes you have to find a niche but the guys with budget have the so called SEO gurus working 24hrs a day "finding the niche!"

SMEs need to think "outside the box" and be more creative.

[SteveGibson]

If 40 people are spending £1.50/click and they all have a budget of £2000/day (remember there are only x hours/day) - what chance does a small company have to fight for the same keywords?

If big company A can turn a profit at £1.50 a click and small company B is able to match their website conversion rate and profit per customer, then surely B can also turn a profit at £1.50 a click?

Or am I missing something?

Obviously, there's the issue of cashflow, particularly in a business where it takes a while to get paid (like PP's).

Maybe A can get listed on page 1 all day and buy 1,000 clicks at £1,500 a day and B can only put aside £30 a day (20 clicks).

But it's easy enough to reduce the number of clicks by reducing the number of impressions:

e.g.

- paying less per click and dropping onto page 2.

or

- only running with a small daily budget so the ads don't get shown every time

or

- only running the ads in certain geographic locations

or

- only running the ads during a certian time period in the day

So, it's easy enough to work within a budget.

This is not about profit - its about how much you are prepare to spend per click.

I'm puzzled by this.

Surely "how much you are prepared to spend per click" is determined by the return per click to your business?

Google is NOT always the answer!

I agree. And maybe I should point out that it wasn't me who suggested PPC in the first place. :)

Steve

[MichaelG]

I'm puzzled by this.

Surely "how much you are prepared to spend per click" is determined by the return per click to your business?


"how much you are prepared to spend per click"

My point exactly!

The only winner is Google - "the house always wins"

My Take

[SteveGibson]

"how much you are prepared to spend per click"

My point exactly!

The only winner is Google - "the house always wins"

Just in case anyone gets the wrong end of the stick

My point is most very definitely NOT that "the only winner is google".

Thanks for listening.

Steve

[gydqw]

Good content ,make sitemap!make link exchange