How to choose SEO company

[cornerstones]

We are looking for an SEO company but having had a poor result last time we need to know how to choose a reputable company. We don't know anyone that can recommend a company that they've used and are happy with so we are a bit lost. Advice please!

Where do we look?
Do we respond to companies that phone or email offering SEO?
What should we ask them?
How many companies should we consider before deciding?

 

[Aspect Investments]

Britecorp seem to be pretty good, and well established. http://www.britecorp.co.uk/

I have not used them but Brian is a member here, im sure he can advise you. http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/member.php?u=4012

 

[nitro23456]

Always ask for examples of their work and testimonials. Try searching this forum for SEO recommendations as there are many capable people on here, but again always see examples.

Also beware of anyone who spams your private message box on here as its against the rules.

 

[Big Pete]

Where do we look?
Do we respond to companies that phone or email offering SEO?
What should we ask them?
How many companies should we consider before deciding?

Where do we look?
google and check out first few pages .. seo and web design is a toughy to be tops in so those there must know something.

Do we respond to companies that phone or email offering SEO?
Never respond to them they are chancers paid sale teams paid pennies to pass your job to those rich people who employ cheap people to stick links in all and sundry forums all day and night .

What should we ask them?
Simply ask them "Can you do it "

How many companies should we consider before deciding?
2 or 3 tops most will spin you all kinds of crap about its a long thing and its hard work blah blah , so much so your head will bang and you will require a few paracetamols afterwards..
Go with the smaller operation who speaks in plain English who will do whats needed on the site and add only good quality backlinks , videos and whatever is needed , etc..

REMEMBER !!! Price is irrelevant just as one Company say its £23,000 a year , and the other says £ 1,000 a year . just means the £23,000 lot are greedy overpaid working from high overheads having loads of tea boys and secretaries around etc etc.. but its a one man job so why pay for all the bosses holidays and flash BMWs etc ...

 

[Big Pete]

Always ask for examples of their work and testimonials. Try searching this forum for SEO recommendations as there are many capable people on here, but again always see examples.

Also beware of anyone who spams your private message box on here as its against the rules.

You think this is the ONLY forum in the world ?? base your entire life on a forum who`s members obviously are so good and busy they spend there days and nights touting for work on a forum ???

google it ..

 

[Bumblebuzz]

You think this is the ONLY forum in the world ?? base your entire life on a forum who`s members obviously are so good and busy they spend there days and nights touting for work on a forum ???

google it ..

You live in Spain and "live on this forum" Pete lol.


Besides - Not everyone is here looking for business. I'm not on here "touting for work". This place is like a bible There's more than 3 wise men here.

But.. just in case anyone is interested. We have a free....

 

Where do we look?
google and check out first few pages .. seo and web design is a toughy to be tops in so those there must know something.

Yup they know how to get mass hits for the subject,and in most cases will charge a lot for very little.

Bigger the company bigger the overheads.e.t.c.

Most experienced SEO's will not be trying to get to the top in Google or the other engines as its a waste of time unless you have a large company with lots of sales orientated staff.

 

[Big Pete]

You live in Spain and "live on this forum" Pete lol.



Besides - Not everyone is here looking for business. I'm not on here "touting for work". This place is like a bible There's more than 3 wise men here.

But.. just in case anyone is interested. We have a free....

i know its August here all industry is stopped so its boredom time ..
boredom time means chatting time , chatting time means the forums cop it

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

Reviews and testimonials!

 

[Big Pete]

Reviews and testimonials!

they can be faked ,, ask my mate Jimmy he used me and he will tell you i am the greatest at everything in the whole world .. Sure gonna cost me a few beers and buy his fishing bait again next week but , a superb testimonial right

 

[Bumblebuzz]

Or - approach several different companies who are in a similar but now EXACT field to you (found by google). Ask who did their SEO work + ask for reviews etc

 

[Big Pete]

Or - approach several different companies who are in a similar but now EXACT field to you (found by google). Ask who did their SEO work + ask for reviews etc

Now thats better ,, use google as i said earlier in a past post .. find companies whos websites lead the pages .. who did the seo .. then you will know as the results will speak for themselves so to speak ..

 

[Scott-Copywriter]

they can be faked ,, ask my mate Jimmy he used me and he will tell you i am the greatest at everything in the whole world .. Sure gonna cost me a few beers and buy his fishing bait again next week but , a superb testimonial right

It's generally easy to spot which testimonials are real. For example, fake testimonials wouldn't include the name and business name of the client who wrote them for fear of one of them being contacted.

No methods of judging a business are foolproof though, unfortunately.

 

[Big Pete]

It's generally easy to spot which testimonials are real. For example, fake testimonials wouldn't include the name and business name of the client who wrote them for fear of one of them being contacted.

No methods of judging a business are foolproof though, unfortunately.

Not all are obvious look at this one ,, one i received after doing a website and seo for a business.

Dear Pete

Since doing the website you did for us we have grown the business massively , so much so that we are turning work away, i would never have believed that its possible to get page 1 slots 1 to 30 in only 20 minutes , but your Company proved that it can be done , your service was quick as well , and such a damn decent guy that , i thank the Lord i found you and spent my money with you . Any time you need a reference just let me know as i will be grateful all my life ..

Sincerely
Bob Haskooonsingay
ps, see you Sunday , your turn to buy the beers you skinflint..


Genuine nobody would guess otherwise

 

[I, Brian]

We are looking for an SEO company but having had a poor result last time we need to know how to choose a reputable company. We don't know anyone that can recommend a company that they've used and are happy with so we are a bit lost. Advice please!

Where do we look?
Do we respond to companies that phone or email offering SEO?
What should we ask them?
How many companies should we consider before deciding?

You really want personal recommendations from people whose SEO is working for them, preferably on a mix of strong generics and longtail keywords, rather than longtail only.

Emails and telephone calls are signs of a sales-focused company - as does ranking on Google for SEO keywords* - and often this can be argued to be at the expense of client performance and support.

* SEO companies busy with clients do not usually have time to SEO themselves competitively.

 

[victorm]

my 2c, if you can afford the overhead - get a second company/consultant/expert to provide audit on your website every 4-6 weeks (backlinks footprint, website audit, on-page optimization). costs almost nothing compared to what you save if you start chasing the main provider with proper audits and tracking their KPIs independently.

 

[Scotty71]

Discuss their strategy.

Our agency has their own offices in India, under their complete control . Yeah great, but the links are iirrelevant, unthemed and in cases verging on spammy. The articles in Bollywood English and spinned to lots of rubbishy article sites, many in far away lands. The agency worked on the premise of quantity quantity quantity - the quality being totally irrelevant.

Find out who does the work (here or abroad, will you have a dedicated account manager?); although they can't guarantee rankings what kind of service level can you expect ; what is their approach.

I'd also search for them on the internet to see what complaints have been made against them - just for a more balanced view.

 

[georgenaismith23]

Look for an seo company that has a proven track record.. If they have many successful portfolios and they know what they are doing as an seo company, then that is the right company for you.

 

[RedEvo]

Spend a little time understanding why pages appear high in Google's rankings. This is a good place to start. You don't need to spend much time on this but it will be time well spent when you start interviewing potential suppliers as you'll be able to ask them how they will approach the work on your site.

Armed with your background understanding you'll be able to weed out the out and out scammers. Ask some tough questions based on your research and if you don't understand the answer or if you smell 'waffle' consider moving on.

Treat any guarantees with suspicion but in particular run a mile when offered a set number of forum posts/directory submissions/links in general for a set fee.

Perhaps most important of all spend some time looking at the sites you believe you are competing with. Be really honest with yourself and ask if your site is on a par or preferably better then these sites. Ultimately Google is trying to position sites showing its users the best sites first (it's arguable they achieve this) so no matter what an SEO company does, if your site is poor in comparison to your competitors any gain could quickly be lost if Google's quality team have anything to do with it.

Very often people get ripped off in business, and other walks of life, because they choose to believe the unbelievable. They choose to believe the builder who quoted 50% less than the others, they choose to believe the advert for easy peasy slimming pills, they take the too good to be true option even when they know deep down it's dodgy.

The basic concepts of SEO are simple. In response to a search Google shows pages that are relevant (content) and authoritative (age, size, link profile, social profile etc). Good SEO companies tend to want to help you create a resource that deserves to rank. They will talk about content, they will look for ways to improve your website, they will want to ensure your site is relevant to the people you want to attract.

So in summary do some research using trusted resources, be realistic when comparing your site with the sites you want to out rank, avoid services based on packages of links, trust your gut and engage a company who talk to you in language you understand.

Hope this helps.

d

 

[TeeTick]

I think it is a better idea to hire and pay a professional staff to take care of it instead of using an SEO company.

 

[fisicx]

Or - approach several different companies who are in a similar but now EXACT field to you (found by google). Ask who did their SEO work + ask for reviews etc

O rly?

So the competition is going to help you find an SEO company who will work on your site and push them off the top spot!

'Hi sell widgets just like you. Can you tell me who did your SEO as I want to rank #1 for wodgets instead of you'

 

[zigojacko]

Do we respond to companies that phone or email offering SEO?

No. 9.9 times out of 10, they will be trying their luck with the hard sell of worthless/useless services. Even if you consider the services of a cold caller, say you'll think about it and then thoroughly research the company/freelancer online.

Note:-

If you can't find any visibility of them online, then this should ring alarm bells.
If you find negative reviews of them online, then this should ring alarm bells.
If they become 'pushy' and won't accept you'd like to think about it, then his too, should also ring alarm bells.

What should we ask them?

Simply asking them what they cover within their SEO plans should instantly give an idea of whether they have a clue about what they are talking about...

Note:-

If they discuss search engine submissions, web directory submissions, high PR backlinks and (I quote) "high quality one way contextual backlinks" - then this means they really aren't going to do anything that will help your business in the slightest.

If they discuss technical elements of your website structure, onsite quality, website code, link baiting and other means, ways or ideas to generate traffic to your website that doesn't involve low quality link spam (which they obviously wouldn't admit anyway), then this conversation would be worth probing further to learn more.

How many companies should we consider before deciding?

I would suggest around 5 would give you a could basis to compare what each company has verbally provided to you along with quotes, what you get from the quote and what you can realistically expect from the plan.


There are literally hundreds of factors to consider but the extend of anything you'll receive will all boil down to budget. Being open about what you can realistically afford to outlay for an SEO campaign will allow you to make an easier decision on who to go with when you hear what can be done for your investment.

 

[Bumblebuzz]

O rly?

So the competition is going to help you find an SEO company who will work on your site and push them off the top spot!

'Hi sell widgets just like you. Can you tell me who did your SEO as I want to rank #1 for wodgets instead of you'

Yes "Oh realy*". I didn't say competitors did I? I said similar field but not exactly the same.

e.g: we do leather repair.
we might look at "wooden furniture repair"... which - we have no connection with, yet it's still in a similar field.

 

[cornerstones]

I want to thank you all for your replies, I'm going to read them carefully and pass them on the boss.

 

[4little1s]

First hand experience and recommendation is always a good place to start in terms of finding someone to help.

 

[seoleads]

First test any SEO company has to pass is check whether their website ( seo company ) is ranking on the search engines or not on important keywords.

If they can do with their website. They will definitely rank your site too.

 

[zigojacko]

First test any SEO company has to pass is check whether their website ( seo company ) is ranking on the search engines or not on important keywords.

If they can do with their website. They will definitely rank your site too.

That methodology and logic is flawed from the outset and is exactly why so many businesses get burnt when choosing these providers...

The issue is here is the definition of "important keywords", what you might perceive as an important keyword for an seo company may not necessarily be the same as what said company feel or are targeting...

Many of the larger seo companies that do rank for all these big target keywords have many horror stories about how they took £thousands and did exactly nothing for the client - they are clever in ensuring they rank top for their own website just to overcharge and do nothing - and it will continue working for them because so many businesses feel this is how they should be selecting a provider.

 

[Tin]

I had a long phone call last night with a lady who has used one of the companies who rank for "seo" on page 1 of Google. The company concerned took her monthly payments for 12 months, they didn't mention to her that her urls were rubbish, that she had no on-site work whatsoever, titles, etc were almost identical across urls, that she had internal pages with no content on them - in other words, the site structure was not in a fit state to have been pushed by a link company in the first place.

End result, she got absolutely nothing at all in the way of rankings for the investment she had given. That sort of practice is a disgrace and it's the worst case that I've heard of in a long time.

It's no wonder there's plenty of horror stories about and also no wonder that the people who have been burned by these sort of companies are so skeptical of the industry.

Being highly positioned on the search engines is clearly not an indication of the standard of service or the ethics of some of these seo companies and what they'll do for their own commercial keywords doesn't mean that's what they'll do for yours.

 

[webgeek]

A word of mouth referral from someone who has had a team deliver results for them is the best way to feel good about your odds of success.

I don't think you need to find someone who SEO's "leather chairs" if you are in the business of "leather beds". Unless you're going for ultracompetitive niche sectors and trying to attack the high volume phrases (like insurance, loans, weight loss, mesothelioma - or 'adult' products), then it's a non-factor.

Effective on-page optimisation, quality content creation and backlink building work in much the same way, regardless of your industry, product or service (with the above caveat in mind).

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Where do we look?
google and check out first few pages .. seo and web design is a toughy to be tops in so those there must know something.

Do we respond to companies that phone or email offering SEO?
Never respond to them they are chancers paid sale teams paid pennies to pass your job to those rich people who employ cheap people to stick links in all and sundry forums all day and night .

What should we ask them?
Simply ask them "Can you do it "

How many companies should we consider before deciding?
2 or 3 tops most will spin you all kinds of crap about its a long thing and its hard work blah blah , so much so your head will bang and you will require a few paracetamols afterwards..
Go with the smaller operation who speaks in plain English who will do whats needed on the site and add only good quality backlinks , videos and whatever is needed , etc..

REMEMBER !!! Price is irrelevant just as one Company say its £23,000 a year , and the other says £ 1,000 a year . just means the £23,000 lot are greedy overpaid working from high overheads having loads of tea boys and secretaries around etc etc.. but its a one man job so why pay for all the bosses holidays and flash BMWs etc ...

Sorry but I'm a bit shocked by some of these statements. So SEO companies that email and phone prospects just spam forum links?

Don't pay £23k per year for SEO? What if the competition have full-time internet marketing departments? So SEO for any search term in any market can be done for a grand per year? I think not. These are usually statements from so called SEOs of only target low hanging fruit and can't take a project that stage further. I doubt the £23k per year SEO is equivalent to £1000 a year. Larger SEO companies aren't 23 times more expensive and I'd say if someone is that cheap to only charge £1k per year the chances are that they don't have the reputation to work for more, nor the results or expertise. Just over £83 per month would be cheap even for low competition local results and a drop in the ocean.

Pay cheap, pay twice.

 

[bdw]

Here's another suggestion.

Have a look at the Google PR on the websites of the companies you are considering. Established, reputable companies who know what they are talking about will have lots of good backlinks so their sites should have reasonable PR.

This does not necessarily mean that they will be at the top of the results but if they have zero PR then they have probably not been around for long.

 

[zigojacko]

Here's another suggestion.

Have a look at the Google PR on the websites of the companies you are considering. Established, reputable companies who know what they are talking about will have lots of good backlinks so their sites should have reasonable PR.

This does not necessarily mean that they will be at the top of the results but if they have zero PR then they have probably not been around for long.

Don't necessarily agree with this as many of the large seo companies chasing the likes of 'seo' and 'seo company' targets were purely purchasing backlinks from PR pages to manipulate PageRank, subsequently, this still works to an extent (whilst Google gets through the entire web devaluing all the sitewide links and high PR paid link signaled pages).

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Don't necessarily agree with this as many of the large seo companies chasing the likes of 'seo' and 'seo company' targets were purely purchasing backlinks from PR pages to manipulate PageRank, subsequently, this still works to an extent (whilst Google gets through the entire web devaluing all the sitewide links and high PR paid link signaled pages).

Yeah it's only one metric but the larger SEO companies are also getting back-links from their clients who are also likely to pass some good PR to their site.

 

[webgeek]

While it's quite common for companies to put the designer in a footer mention, it's extremely rare for companies to give public kudos to their SEO firm.

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

While it's quite common for companies to put the designer in a footer mention, it's extremely rare for companies to give public kudos to their SEO firm.

Assuming the SEO firm are also the designers. But you'll find that this is a trend which is on the incline. More web design anchor text in the footer but more and more marketing and internet marketing-esque anchor text now than before, still an underrepresentation of "SEO" anchor text. I put a range of high ranking internet marketing and SEO companies through Ahrefs and checked it 6 months later. The findings were interesting.

 

[UKSBD]

Yeah it's only one metric but the larger SEO companies are also getting back-links from their clients who are also likely to pass some good PR to their site.

Yes, and some do it without their clients knowing and point the links to websites belonging to the SEO company that are in direct competition with their clients.

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

Yes, and some do it without their clients knowing and point the links to websites belonging to the SEO company that are in direct competition with their clients.

Mmm that's unethical. I also remember a few instances when I've changed hosting from web developers / SEOs because the client wanted to leave (downtime, poor customer care, etc) and the developers have wanted to keep their links on the websites because their code or design is "their" intellectual property. Clients needs to tighten up their agreements before work commences because I'm tired of hearing this kind of rubbish from web designers and SEOs who are afraid of losing part of their portfolio. There should be a requirement for them to seek permission to add a link when the project is handed over but many clients don't know or don't mind it appears.

 

[webgeek]

Assuming the SEO firm are also the designers.

The SME's can't afford High Street digital agencies which the biggest brands can afford.

The trend, for SME's, is not to go with all-in-ones. I've spoken to a number of agencies and smaller firms and the trend is clearly toward specialisation. Some are going ecommerce only, some going responsive brochure-type sites, other going mega content portals.

The same is true with the SEO firms with more and more focusing on one aspect of online marketing, so they can differentiate. It's much easier to be the best, or better than most, at one core competency.

Digital agencies put their links in footers because they're design agencies trying to move into SEO (and not many do it well). Very few true marketing / SEO agencies put their links in footers.

From a client perspective, it's not a great tactic to get great online marketing results and go around passing out business cards for the company that got you there (or putting them in your footer), just making it simple for the competition to hire the team out from under you.

 

[InternetMarketingPlatinum]

The SME's can't afford High Street digital agencies which the biggest brands can afford.

The trend, for SME's, is not to go with all-in-ones. I've spoken to a number of agencies and smaller firms and the trend is clearly toward specialisation. Some are going ecommerce only, some going responsive brochure-type sites, other going mega content portals.

The same is true with the SEO firms with more and more focusing on one aspect of online marketing, so they can differentiate. It's much easier to be the best, or better than most, at one core competency.

Digital agencies put their links in footers because they're design agencies trying to move into SEO (and not many do it well). Very few true marketing / SEO agencies put their links in footers.

From a client perspective, it's not a great tactic to get great online marketing results and go around passing out business cards for the company that got you there (or putting them in your footer), just making it simple for the competition to hire the team out from under you.

You make some good points especially about specialisation but some of the SEO companies do have anti conflict of interest clauses and exclusivity agreements. Adds to the expense of the contract. I've heard some guys that they will get one company ranked to number 1 then their competitor to number 2 for less money but this is rubbish and obviously flawed. If you date two women even if they know about each other, sooner or later one will want to be your number one or dump you for someone else to take them to number one. The bigger corporates are particular about who they jump into bed with anyway.

 

[Annoying Donkey]

From a client perspective, it's not a great tactic to get great online marketing results and go around passing out business cards for the company that got you there (or putting them in your footer), just making it simple for the competition to hire the team out from under you.

No different from those who plaster their website with testimonials from past/present customers...

If you date two women even if they know about each other, sooner or later one will want to be your number one or dump you for someone else to take them to number one.

Depends on what you're offering...

The bigger corporates are particular about who they jump into bed with anyway.

No they're not. They're whores for anyone who can give them a good ROI...