how to check I'm getting what I pay for

[Horsesport]

I pay a monthly SEO fee to a local company who I have trusted to get my website built and ranking high.

Recently, it has dropped like a stone from page 1 to page 10.

I am told its due to Google rather than my site..

All my competitors are still in their previous locations.

How can I check that SEO is still ongoing and that the site is being optimised regularly?

 

[tomsk]

Have they informed you that they have made any changes recently?

And how long since you noticed the difference in positions on google - it's not uncommon for rankings to bounce around for few days before returning.

If it has been sometime then something may of changed which might need addressing.

 

[wood1e2]

Google is the master of it's own destiny and doesn't give much away so it could be just google!!!

So what has this comapny said it would do?

They should be able to show what they have completed, achieved. And one hopes that matches with your ranking.

If you don;t want to mention in public the keywords etc you can PM me and I will have a look

 

[Horsesport]

I am advised that they speed 10-20 hours a month checking the keywords and changing where necessary.
Recently, they said they were concentrating on the .com side of Google rather than .co.uk. ( the site then bombed) which as a mainly UK site I found strange. Although we are looking to move into the bigger market once the Uk has been covered, I would have thought the .co.uk would be the best place to concentrate efforts.

I am being told, that the analytics state there is an 82% change of being on page 1 yet we still are not there. I am also being told I need to get more inbound links.

My concern is that I am not doing what I should to get the site noticed or should it be up to the web company to be doing this for my money?

 

[wood1e2]

Well I suppose the number of hours is immaterial, if they can produce details of the work they have completed!!

But then it is a problem when the ranking collaspes, from your point of view!!

Why are they concentrating on the .com ? Do they not want your work anymore? Maybe they are finding it too difficult to sustain your rankings with the monthly fee they are charging?

It does seem like you have been left in limbo with nowhere to go.

Although what sort of contract have you got? Is it an annual one?

 

[tomsk]

I am being told, that the analytics state there is an 82% change of being on page 1 yet we still are not there. I am also being told I need to get more inbound links.

That's a new one to me that they can predict that there is a 82% chance of you being on page one as no one knows how google operates their algorithm I find that statement a bit off.

Also I would have thought that paying a monthly fee to an seo company would included some form of link building strategy.

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

I pay a monthly SEO fee to a local company who I have trusted to get my website built and ranking high.

Recently, it has dropped like a stone from page 1 to page 10.

I am told its due to Google rather than my site..

All my competitors are still in their previous locations.

How can I check that SEO is still ongoing and that the site is being optimised regularly?

-Search on the Internet for the business and see if it's had any happy/unhappy clients.

-Do some research on SEO and see for yourself if any credible optimisation has occured.

SEO businesses aren't regulated. You could have paid a lot of money to a very good and experienced SEO, or you could have paid it to a 'wannabe' with no experience who will waste your money. There's a lot of them out there.

 

[Ali-v-8]

Would you like it fixed?
Or are you asking for information that will help your current SEO company to fix it?

 

[matt.chatterley]

Would you like it fixed?
Or are you asking for information that will help your current SEO company to fix it?

(Not picking on you Ali, just you make a good point!)

Surely they should be looking at fixing it, under your current agreement - not just telling you it's Google's "fault".. or are they?

Have heard quite a few reports of dramatic and sudden ranking changes recently, so led to believe a few changes are floating around in the breeze..

 

[directmarketingadvice]

That's a new one to me that they can predict that there is a 82% chance of you being on page one as no one knows how google operates their algorithm I find that statement a bit off.

It's even stranger that it's analytics that's meant to be saying that.

Horsesport, I'd be interested in knowing more about that statement - in particular, exactly what they said.

It may be that you misunderstood it (or haven't explained it well here). If not, it may be that the SEO company is stringing you along.

Steve

 

[Ali-v-8]

Ok steve said it first.

I was really trying to be nice but pull on the reins dismount the horse and take a look for a better one.
I have looked at the website and you need to get a new partner

 

[tomsk]

What I would suggest is that perhaps you give us a little more details of what you believe you are paying for, what you get for your monthly fee etc, and there are enough people on this forum who will happy to advise if this company may be telling you porkies.

Your earlier comments about back links and 82% chance suggest they might be avoiding there responsibility.

If nothing else forum members here can advise you of the questions to ask this company.

 

[Mystro]

Hi There

Was there a major change made when you dropped from page 1 to page 10, if there was put it back to how it was initially, if so how long ago was it ? as Google is quick to drop you but may take longer to get back to where you once were.

you should be getting monthly reports of what work is done to your site, if not request this.

Its a buyers market out there and if your not happy move the service to another company, but you may just find your rankings are a blip and could go back any day,

out of curiosity what was the search term you dropped from page 1 to page 10

 

[GreatSEO]

Ok I guess that the term was "horses for sale". Based on a little research. You are now ranking on the 11th page so from what you have said it seems that it is still dropping out.

Without going too much into detail there are a number of things wrong with the site that could be the reasoning behind the drop. From an onsite perspective a lot of things could be done to really improve things for you in terms of the structure of the SEO in the site and the way that it is all put together.

Your H1 tag is good from what I can see but could be improved. Your site title could be improved along with your descriptions across the site.

It looks seriously like you are using global settings on your site titles across the site. If this was changed it could also benefit you.

That is just a few pointers from an onsite perspective.

From an offsite perspective you do have some good sites linking in but it could do with a serious improvement.

So to sum up it really depends how much you are paying, what your contract stipulates and as above what they have done recently that could have caused the drop.

Happy to have a dig a bit deeper if your interested PM me your details and I will happily put together a free report for you.

I hope this helps

Regards

Dave

 

[Horsesport]

Ok..firstly, the point of this post was to determine whether I am getting what I am paying / paid for.
Currently havent thought about changing companies .......YET...as I haven't got any concrete proof that they are or are not doing the monthly SEO (the reason for this post)....

When we launched in August, we were placed on the first or second page depending on search terms (doesnt take much to work out which the search terms are going to be). This was with the site without any public content.

Now, we have public adverts for horses etc and business listings and lots of news on the news page as well as events listed..so plenty of pages with text. However, we have plummeted down to page 11 or so....

I am being told its mainly due to the front page not having as much info/text as the competition which is a problem as my customer research prior to setting up mentioned the competitors websites were too 'busy' on the front pages hence the idea to try and keep it to a simplistic but professional looking.
I am told we need to add another 500 words to the front to get to where we want. Inbound links need to be improved which up until now I have been told to deal with (using FB, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Eblogger etc etc) which I have done.

The SEO has run his analytical program whilst I was in the office and saw plenty of information regarding visitors etc etc as well as inbound links, where the site is lacking and also the fact it says there is an 82% chance of getting to page one of Google. Now I am no expert so cannot tell you what this software is but I know its not Google's analytics.

On reading some of the advice already mentioned above, I have had a conversation with the company and told them of my concerns again. They agree there are issues and that they are working on getting the extra text on the front page somehow without drastically changing the design. The inbounds links should be coming from them as well as me they agree and will be working on that.

I am meeting with them on Friday to discuss time frames etc.


I have had no previous reason to distrust them and do not distrust them now to a fair degree, but not being 'expert' at SEO, my concerns are I am being sold a Snake Potion that doesnt work.

So, I guess it is just advice as to how to check the SEO is being done that I am looking for (apart from the falling in ranking which is obvious)

 

[Mystro]

When we launched in August, we were placed on the first or second page depending on search terms (doesnt take much to work out which the search terms are going to be). This was with the site without any public content.

Being a new site also can have an impact, i too was on page 1 for my keywords, infact the biggest keywords in my sector and i dropped like a stone as i was impatient and kept changing titles Etc and i never recovered.

Not sure if this was the case with yourself, but i would say hold on till after the holidays, as Many strange things are happening and with the imminent release of Google caffein (After the holidays ) things may change again.

Seo will take time, and is not a overnight success (well for most it is not) Im sure with the advice on here you will get the answers you are looking for,

Stick with your current Seo unless you know they are not doing what they say they are, as you will always get conflicting advice from other Seo companys as The algorithims are secret and most advice are peoples views not facts,

If you do want to change your Seo in the future this will be the place to get one.

 

[wood1e2]

I am being told its mainly due to the front page not having as much info/text as the competition which is a problem as my customer research prior to setting up mentioned the competitors websites were too 'busy' on the front pages hence the idea to try and keep it to a simplistic but professional looking.
I am told we need to add another 500 words to the front to get to where we want.

Well if this is an issue ask them to explain the number one ranked website for 'horses for sale' Along with the other top ranked sites..

As they all have little or no text...well they do but not the additional 500 words you have been told.

And they are full of adverts so on the face of it they can't be a reason either.

Inbound links need to be improved which up until now I have been told to deal with (using FB, Twitter, Digg, Delicious, Eblogger etc etc) which I have done.

Inbound links should be of quality from within niche (ideally). Just obtaining links for the sale of it is not a great idea, altough I can understand why obtaining as many as possibly initially could be a good idea if you have none at all!!

But the key is quality and one quality link can be better than 100 or even 1000's of general links.

The SEO has run his analytical program whilst I was in the office and saw plenty of information regarding visitors etc etc as well as inbound links, where the site is lacking and also the fact it says there is an 82% chance of getting to page one of Google. Now I am no expert so cannot tell you what this software is but I know its not Google's analytics.

hhmmmm!!!

Possibly a free software package easily obtainable on the internet!!

On reading some of the advice already mentioned above, I have had a conversation with the company and told them of my concerns again. They agree there are issues and that they are working on getting the extra text on the front page somehow without drastically changing the design. The inbounds links should be coming from them as well as me they agree and will be working on that.

This is good that they recognise they haven't been doing their job and presumably will be sorting the issues free of charge or in lew of paying back the money you have spent.

No one can gurantee anything when it comes to rankings, but even doing the basics right woudl give an improvement in ranking... not a collaspe.

Maybe they were doing something dodgy and Google found them out?

I have had no previous reason to distrust them and do not distrust them now to a fair degree, but not being 'expert' at SEO, my concerns are I am being sold a Snake Potion that doesnt work.

Obtain a full list of reparatory work and then let us know on here. Starting with what are the issues that lead to the collaspe.

Also did you not mention they developed the site in the first place?

If that is so why did they present a design that did not fit their '500 word SEO criteria'

Even if they didn't design the website you could also ask them why they have not corrected:

ALT tags for the images
Why the coding used implies text and background colour is the same, inferring hidden text which Google does not like.

There is possibly more that I have missed, but I am sure there are more postings since I started writing this

Good luck for Friday

 

[webpromoterservice]

there are many factors that contribute to dropped listings,but a drop from page 1 to page 10 means there are some issues with your site.

 

[Rusty]

Here is a good thread which might help you to check that you are getting what you should be from your seo company.

http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=132201

Below I have added a bit of info to the pertinent parts to help you to understand exactly what you should be getting for your money.

1. The minimum on-page optimisation you should expect is as follows:

- page title - Unique to each page, 70 characters at most with your main keyword/phrase at the beginning. It should tell you what the specific page is about. With each page ideally targeting 1 to 2 keywords/phrases (it helps if these keywords are related) Either keep it short or ensure that the other words within the title do not dilute the theme down.

- page description - not relevant for ranking purposes but is your first sales pitch to your visitor and will be used by search engines as long as the keyword/phrase appears in it. It should be used to prop up the Page Title and should include your WIIFM (What's in it for me)

- meta keywords (for completion sake only as they have no impact) - These should not be filled with every keyword under the sun. Not used by Google, however, should it be over-used then there is a good chance that Google will not look too favourably on things.

- Header heirarchy: H1, H2 H3 etc - Only one H1 on the page, at the top, should be a tightly focused synopsis of the content of the page and should include your keywords but should not be verbatim to the page title. If your page requires further headings these should be h2 or h3's and each should be representative of the paragraph below it.

- URL - These should be descriptive to the page in question and user friendly if possible.

- Body copy - Easy to read and descriptive to your topic, each block of text should be relevant to the header that it follows. As well as using your keywords it is good to use other words connected to your keywords so if you use the word Horse you could expect to see words like Equine, Pony, Equestrian, etc also on the page.

- internal navigation - Should be spiderable ie not created by javascript or flash both of which gives search engines a problem. It is also good if your menu items are relevant to your topic as this helps to give a hiarachy to your site. If you think of your homepage as a hub and your main menu items as spokes, these spokes should support the theme of the homepage. If you have a very large site, you may have several hubs, these would be the spokes for the homepage but they would also have their own spokes which would in turn support them. Also, any content links should be created with supporting anchor text relevant to the page that they link to.

- alt tag optimisation - another opportunity to incorporate your keywords but should be used sympathetically and not keyword stuffed.

One more thing that is probably worth discussing with your seo company is canonical issues, this is where you may have more than one homepage but is fairly simple to sort. You currently have two homepage urls www.horsesport.com and www.horsesport.com/index.php

These are all things that should already be in place on your site, as far as checking that you are getting what you paid for you really need to have a good read of your contract with your seo company and discuss with them what has been done and what they are doing for you on an ongoing basis. You should be receiving a monthly report of work done.

Hope that helps, it's not an exhaustive list but should give you something to chat about.

Kerry

 

Sack them now.

-the site structure sucks
-the dynamic urls suck
-the pages are not keyword focussed at all
- the linking is a joke - have they never heard of anchor text or page rank? and where is the deep linking?

ALL they are doing is telling you how much traffic you are losing every month.

my suggestion.
1/ decide who is your customer - what they look for on the web -
what you can offer that nobody does -


so keyword research -finding the lower competition targets

2/ build another site
preferably uk domain uk hosted
a page at a time, each one laser targetted at somebody searching for something
at a keyword expression - and aimed at getting the view to
take a simple action, like sign up.

3/ when the site is running - and it need not be war and peace, wordpress will do just fine, so you are in control....then 301 horsesport.com over to the new domain

even horsesport.co.uk would help - but if you want kids, get a domain
with a searched kids expression - eventing - get an event domain and so on


just get one principle right now...most of your links are anchored www horsesport.com
if you ever want ranking for horses for sale - get a domain preferably - or second best
a page www.horsesport.com/horses-for-sale and link to it with anchor text "horses for sale"
make the titles , h1 tags and theme of the page - all about horses for sale.
and then just maybe google wont have to read your mind - they will know it is about "horses for sale"

sadly the seo industry is second only to the franchise industry in conning people who dont know the game.

 

[tomsk]

How can I check that SEO is still ongoing and that the site is being optimised regularly?

Horsesport simply asked a question and has had his or her site seo ripped to shreds.

You may be paying only £50 a month for a quick look over every month or £500 a month for a much more detailed service - rather than people telling you what is wrong with what they have or have not done for your seo, it might be best if you let us know what you are paying for etc and we can guide you from there.

Just my 2 cents

 

[sherry_d]

there are many factors that contribute to dropped listings,but a drop from page 1 to page 10 means there are some issues with your site.

I wouldnt say so, google often does this with new site and sometimes with old sites. Some call it google dance, sandbox or some say its just google responding to the new domain.

As long as your site is still indexed then I wouldnt worry much

BUT

I am VERY VERY weary of SEO companies and the majority are just junk pouncing on new business owner with no clue of seo and charging ridicoulous amounts.

From your post I can see clearly that you've a very vague knowledge of SEO if I were you I would dump this company for now and learn quite a bit about what important in seo and then hire when you have a good idea.

The way i do it is I know exactly what gets my site up in google and its mainly backlinks, and I make sure my titles are OK too. I use some freelancers to build my backlinks. I simply give them a list of the sites where i need my backlinks and they go and do the work and give me a report and i check to make sure my links are there. In addition I have article writers too for this and some software (even though its hardly used) for bulk article submissions and rss bookmarks

This way I know exactly what I am doing and getting for my site and its not unusual for a site to stay in the dumps or out of google even for up to 90days but consistance is the name of the game.

You really need to know what this company is doing, you never know they may be even getting links from you from bad neighbourhoods that gets you banned in google. I really kind of have a feeling this company maybe robbing you. From what you say, it seems they are looking for keywords for you. Whats that, no way I would pay for that with all the various free tools available and if its on page optimization there really isnt any rocket science

 

Horsesport simply asked a question and has had his or her site seo ripped to shreds.

You may be paying only £50 a month for a quick look over every month or £500 a month for a much more detailed service - rather than people telling you what is wrong with what they have or have not done for your seo, it might be best if you let us know what you are paying for etc and we can guide you from there.

Just my 2 cents

with respect - these people are taking money for the website and seo so they cannot blame anyone else - and pretty much everything they can get wrong they have...

it is clear that
- they failed to do any substantive keyword analysis and have failed to target any of the pages properly

- they have failed to do anything to create se friendly urls or a proper se site structure

- much of the on page stuff is wrong

- even worse they clearly do not know how to do the linking, let alone have done it poorly.

I fail to see a single properly anchored reasonable page rank link. not a one.

the question asked is how to know whether money is wisely spent - the fact is they are taking money for nothing, and have been for some time - which you can tell from the question horsesport is beginning to wonder anyway...


if that is ripping to shreds, that is what horsesport needs. - and since that site is built on a very poor foundation - you cannot build a ferrari on a rotting lada chassis - it would be better to build another all properly keyword focussed..on uk host/uk domain - in a way where she does not rely on web designers - eg wordpress.

and there is also a conversion issue - like what are people supposed to do when they get to the site ?

the same company apparently is responsible for the lot - and deserve to be in the hall of shame.

even on £50 a month you can build a few decent links - ALL they are doing is telling her how badly the site is performing .

 

[wood1e2]

I wouldnt say so, google often does this with new site and sometimes with old sites. Some call it google dance, sandbox or some say its just google responding to the new domain.

As long as your site is still indexed then I wouldnt worry much

If it was this why didn't the company state that rather than state there was some issues...

They should have stated what those issues are.

BUT

I am VERY VERY weary of SEO companies and the majority are just junk pouncing on new business owner with no clue of seo and charging ridicoulous amounts.

I would agree to some extent, but that's the same with any un-regulated industry, there will always be those that are trying it on.

Not that regulation is needed.

As for ridicoulous amounts that is a matter of opinion, £50pm (that could be one hour a month or two or 15 minutes!!) could be seen as a ridicoulous amount if the client expects the world. This is then obviously based on the competitivness of the niche/keyword requirements, what state the website is in etc etc.

From your post I can see clearly that you've a very vague knowledge of SEO if I were you I would dump this company for now and learn quite a bit about what important in seo and then hire when you have a good idea.

Horsesport is obviously willing to talk this through with her suppliers, so no need to just dump, as this could lead from frying pan into fire.

The way i do it is I know exactly what gets my site up in google and its mainly backlinks, and I make sure my titles are OK too. I use some freelancers to build my backlinks. I simply give them a list of the sites where i need my backlinks and they go and do the work and give me a report and i check to make sure my links are there. In addition I have article writers too for this and some software (even though its hardly used) for bulk article submissions and rss bookmarks

This is a solution, but it is only a good one if the business owner has enough time and enthusiasm to be bothered to do it.

If it was the case for everything there would be no trades in the world....we would all be doing the plumbing, web development, seo, painting, car repairs ourselves.

This way I know exactly what I am doing and getting for my site and its not unusual for a site to stay in the dumps or out of google even for up to 90days but consistance is the name of the game.

This is only true if you know you have totally research your niche, researched the directories to be seen on, the reciprocol links to acquire, the article websites worth publishing on, the coding clean as a whitsle...the correct use of tags, content written grammatically correctly but with a leaning to the keywords you are looking to be ranked in.

As written above this is only true if you have the time!! A lot of business owners do not have the time in the day to run the business of their business, let alonw learn something new.

Or they are in a completely un-competitive niche and get by with just having their titles adjusted and a couple of back links from some well known UK directories.

But do they really know the keywords that pay? Are they getting a good conversion rate? To be ranked number one getting a million visitors for 'Gold encrusted ankle bracelets' is no good if you are selling 'Flat screen TVs'

I know a slightly exaggerated example!!

You really need to know what this company is doing, you never know they may be even getting links from you from bad neighbourhoods that gets you banned in google. I really kind of have a feeling this company maybe robbing you.

This may or may not be true,

From what you say, it seems they are looking for keywords for you. Whats that, no way I would pay for that with all the various free tools available and if its on page optimization there really isnt any rocket science

If the free tools are correct!!
If the business owner has the time
If the business owner has the inclination
If they know their niche...my experience is that clients tend to know their traditional competitors, but not their virtual competitors, obviously as more and more businesses realise that having a decent online presence is a key marketing tool then the more the traditional will become the virtual as well.

But with some many off the shelf packages, cheap merchant services/shopping carts, then gandma Jo can set up in her one bedroom granny flat and beat the traditional at their own game!!

So the client knowing the keywords that pay is not a given....

 

[Ali-v-8]

I have to agree with Tomsk.
He seems to be the only one who pointed out the "OP's" issue.
The SEO isnt great (IMO).
I know that you all know that, BUT and i do mean BUT, we have no idea how much he has paid.

Recently i have seen a proposal from an seo conpany (excuse the pun) that has levels of SEO. They only optimise the first page and then charge monthly payments for links. Why?

What I would like to know is what have you paid for?
Are you paying for your SEO over 12 months. If this is the case then you are obliged to pay. They have trusted you to make the payments for work carried out.

 

[wood1e2]

I have to agree with Tomsk.
He seems to be the only one who pointed out the "OP's" issue.

No others have as well, but the answer of some have created further discussion, as with every post on here seems to happen.

 

I have to agree with Tomsk.
He seems to be the only one who pointed out the "OP's" issue.
The SEO isnt great (IMO).
I know that you all know that, BUT and i do mean BUT, we have no idea how much he has paid.

Recently i have seen a proposal from an seo conpany (excuse the pun) that has levels of SEO. They only optimise the first page and then charge monthly payments for links. Why?

What I would like to know is what have you paid for?
Are you paying for your SEO over 12 months. If this is the case then you are obliged to pay. They have trusted you to make the payments for work carried out.

We all talked about the OPs issue, and the fact is the OP is NOT getting ANYTHING for the money, large or small.

If an organisation doesnt know how to keyword target pages, and during the course of a month create some properly anchored reasonable PR3/4/5 links tot hem they are not doing the job period, and the way the links are at the moment, they dont know how to do it.

The lack of PR links is final proof of what the rest of the site tells you... Sack them.

 

[Ali-v-8]

I agree. The SEO is not anything near what I would do.
Looking at the terms he wishes to target i would charge him around the £8k-£10k.
Again the point is what did they charge for SEO.
Was it just links he bought?
Without the onsite SEO being dealt with its useless as a tooth pick against a Lion, but it still a viable product to pay for.

We all talked about the OPs issue, and the fact is the OP is NOT getting ANYTHING for the money, large or small.

If an organisation doesnt know how to keyword target pages, and during the course of a month create some properly anchored reasonable PR3/4/5 links tot hem they are not doing the job period, and the way the links are at the moment, they dont know how to do it.

The lack of PR links is final proof of what the rest of the site tells you... Sack them.

 

[QVA - Emma]

I pay a monthly SEO fee to a local company who I have trusted to get my website built and ranking high.

Recently, it has dropped like a stone from page 1 to page 10.

I am told its due to Google rather than my site..

All my competitors are still in their previous locations.

How can I check that SEO is still ongoing and that the site is being optimised regularly?

1.Ask for a breakdown of what has been done.

2.Ask for an ongoing Schedule of what the company plans to do and then check back on that Schedule now and again.

3. There will be times when the Schedule will have to be changed due to other onsite changes that are requested etc but you should be able to use it as a guide.

Hope that helps.

Kind Regards

Emma

 

1.Ask for a breakdown of what has been done.

2.Ask for an ongoing Schedule of what the company plans to do and then check back on that Schedule now and again.

3. There will be times when the Schedule will have to be changed due to other onsite changes that are requested etc but you should be able to use it as a guide.

Hope that helps.

Kind Regards

Emma

in this industry that is a passport to getting robbed - and the exact answer the SEO Company would like you to adopt.... because unless the OP understands how SEO works he/she cannot possibly gauge whether they are being told the truth - or how effective any of it is.

ONE thing they will say is ibuilding for example- but we already know that they cant build links - else where are the PR3/4/5 context based follow links with correct anchorr text they should already have in place - so if they are link buildint they dont know how.


It would be useful for the OP to understand seo spyglass - or samurai - seo elite or one of the other tools that can tell you how well the job is going. - however since they do not , then that is not the answer. .
and in the end the proof of the pudding is where they are at right now.

 

[QVA - Emma]

in this industry that is a passport to getting robbed - and the exact answer the SEO Company would like you to adopt.... because unless the OP understands how SEO works he/she cannot possibly gauge whether they are being told the truth - or how effective any of it is.

ONE thing they will say is ibuilding for example- but we already know that they cant build links - else where are the PR3/4/5 context based follow links with correct anchorr text they should already have in place - so if they are link buildint they dont know how.


It would be useful for the OP to understand seo spyglass - or samurai - seo elite or one of the other tools that can tell you how well the job is going. - however since they do not , then that is not the answer. .
and in the end the proof of the pudding is where they are at right now.

With respect admagic, I am sure the OP is smart enought that when they got the breakdown and Schedule they would look up meanings and terms and try a little more. Some clients just don't want to and have no interest. I've spoken to prospects and clients alike that just have no interest no matter how hard to try to explain what you are doing and why you are doing it. Trust is a HUGE factor with SEO - we all know that.

I disagree with you because it lets everyone know where they are . Yes some companies are dishonest and will tell you big porkies as to what they have done, as with anything communication is very important. If you are not speaking (not e-mail) with a contact at the company at least once a month it won't be long until it spirals out of control.

Only the OP on this thread knows what they have paid for and what level of SEO is being undertaken, so other than what the OP has given us that is what my answer was based on, not speculation.

Kind Regards

Emma

 

[Rusty]

One thing worth noting is that the seo company in question appear to have a solid guarantee that if you are not on page one after they have seo'd your site then they will seo it for free until you are. You can't say fairer than that.

The one thing you need to watch for is that this guarantee applies to the keywords/phrases that matter to your business and not just some that either the seo company or you simply plucked out of the ether.

As Admagic so eloquently points out, you really need to be targetting the keywords that are going to give you the ROI and not some half baked, non hopers. Hopefully you and your seo company did all the necessary research to ensure that the keywords you are targetting are the money makers.

Kerry

 

[sherry_d]

in this industry that is a passport to getting robbed - and the exact answer the SEO Company would like you to adopt.... because unless the OP understands how SEO works he/she cannot possibly gauge whether they are being told the truth - or how effective any of it is.

ONE thing they will say is ibuilding for example- but we already know that they cant build links - else where are the PR3/4/5 context based follow links with correct anchorr text they should already have in place - so if they are link buildint they dont know how.


It would be useful for the OP to understand seo spyglass - or samurai - seo elite or one of the other tools that can tell you how well the job is going. - however since they do not , then that is not the answer. .
and in the end the proof of the pudding is where they are at right now.

You nailed it exactly what I was trying to say in my other post that he need to understand and know the basics of seo and learn the bits for himself and then if he still feels so, hire an seo company. Big companies hire seo firms but they spend top dollars for it. Any half decent seo would cost a lot more than £50 for keywords that make you money,

As for guarantees of reaching top position, unless its some obscure term I would take that with a pinch of salt or they may be doing some blackhat stuff. Dont get me wrong they are some FEW great seo comapnies but they cost an absolute fortune for a beginner in business and I am still for the fact that learn the basics. I am not a tech person but I suffered the same frustrations at the hands of the so called seo companies and now I have some of my sites doing pretty good in the serps through my own efforts and just using freelancers for link building. Daunting at first, with BAGS of patience it can be done as SEO is not an overnight game.

Also one tips for getting keywords that convert I start with adwords and there is a conversion tool which is great at showing which keywords are converting. I then start working on SEO using the keywords giving me the highest conversion or ROI and the beauty is most of these are not generic keywords which tend to be much harder to go up in the serps

 

With respect admagic, I am sure the OP is smart enought that when they got the breakdown and Schedule they would look up meanings and terms and try a little more. Some clients just don't want to and have no interest. I've spoken to prospects and clients alike that just have no interest no matter how hard to try to explain what you are doing and why you are doing it. Trust is a HUGE factor with SEO - we all know that.

I disagree with you because it lets everyone know where they are . Yes some companies are dishonest and will tell you big porkies as to what they have done, as with anything communication is very important. If you are not speaking (not e-mail) with a contact at the company at least once a month it won't be long until it spirals out of control.

Only the OP on this thread knows what they have paid for and what level of SEO is being undertaken, so other than what the OP has given us that is what my answer was based on, not speculation.

Kind Regards

Emma

Emma.
Regular correspondence. sure - of course it is needed.
But in the end, all the documents in the world cant hide the fact for example that these people have built no useful links, and neither have they structured the pages correctly, so if they have been employed more than a month, then sack them.
I think - any serious website owner should get to understand one of the keyword/ link analysis / competition tools such as samurai and that combined with analytics reports is enough to know whether the job is being done - or as in this case not being done.
"More of the same" as a guarantee is worthless, because the opportunity cost of failing to do the job correctly or quickly enough is costing the OP dear.

 

[this charming manc]

You guys are being very nice.

From all of the evidence in these posts this company are scamsters and should not be doing professional SEO.

They have made a site drop 100 places, Come up with highly technical lies which are impossible to calaculate ( 82% of being on the fron page), and have global title tags (one of the firtst thing to sort out on a site).

Scamsters and liars, ditch them yesterday.

 

[Ali-v-8]

What evidence?
We have no Idea what he paid for.

You guys are being very nice.

From all of the evidence in these posts this company are scamsters and should not be doing professional SEO.

They have made a site drop 100 places, Come up with highly technical lies which are impossible to calaculate ( 82% of being on the fron page), and have global title tags (one of the firtst thing to sort out on a site).

Scamsters and liars, ditch them yesterday.

 

[this charming manc]

I am guessing he paid on the understanding his ranking would increase not decrease.

Anyone who claims to be able to calculate what % chance a site has of being on the front page is a lair. especially when they make a site drop to the 11th page.

Anyone who does SEO work on a site and leaves all the title tags the same on each page is an ameuteur.

What evidence?
We have no Idea what he paid for.

 

[Ilovecroatia]

In-house linking works very good because it says that one quality page links to another one where the website visitor could find valuable information. If it is made smart without spamming it improves the overall ranking and the visibility of any website.

 

[Horsesport]

As I mentioned before, I have worked with this company for a while and have always found them to be forward thinking and upfront.

My concerns were that, as some have so eloquently put, I have a minimal knowledge of SEO (which thanks to this thread is improving) and I am frustrated my site has dropped considerably despite paying for monthly SEO.

What I was after, and in a few posts have got, is information as to how to find out and what questions to ask.

What I also have received is a lot of negative comments about the site including one that suggests I start again. That isnt going to happen. I do not have an infinate amount of budget and that wasnt a very constructive answer.

I appreciate there are a lot of SEO's on here and have had some contact from a few via pm's with some very very valuable information. Strangely though, each one had different opinions of what is wrong with my site. And came up with different solutions..........go figure.

As I have previously mentioned, I am going to be dealing with my current SEO guy to work this out as we have had a good working relationship up until now and this is an important point for me. I am not saying the money isnt a problem, it is, but it is for me to discuss and resolve with the web builder.

Up to recently, the web company wasnt aware of this thread but thanks to one 'SEO' expert who emailed me via the website (rather than a PM through here like everyone else) and hence straight into my and the web builders inbox, they are fully aware of what the problems are.

If nothing, it will make my meeting later on today an interesting one. Luckily its snowing here so the frostiness of the meeting will not be too noticable.


Oh and by the way, stop calling me a 'he'.......


Regards

Nikki

 

[wood1e2]

Go girl...

It is interesting that you have had some different solutions, SEO should be straight forward and there are a number of issues in thoery, but in practice sometimes the issues are less.

This can be down to impractical advice like 'scrap the website'!! Whoever came up with that one is not doing themselves any favours!!!

There are a number of websites that can give you an outline of what is good/bad, what as a minimum you should be looking for.

This link Google Webmaster should give some general understanding of what Google look for/like and dislike.

It may bring some questions to the fore, which your guys will be able to answer in the meeting today.

At least they are communicating with you, therefore anything is possible...The trouble can come expecially with SEO is when 'SEO experts' suddenly go dear/dumb and blind!!

Best of luck