Rocketfish for SEO, anyone used them?

[cornerstones]

I'm looking into using Rocketfish for SEO work, has anyone got any experience with them?

 

[Fresco_Creative]

Hi there

I can't say I've actually heard of them though they do seem to look a big company full of resource which may be a good thing. Plus they do have a couple of big clients there.

Ask them if they have any clients similar to what it is you and if so, what they have achieved for them,

I would imagine you'll be fine,

All the best for now

 

[realitybytes]

Hi there

I can't say I've actually heard of them though they do seem to look a big company full of resource which may be a good thing. Plus they do have a couple of big clients there.

Ask them if they have any clients similar to what it is you and if so, what they have achieved for them,

I would imagine you'll be fine,

All the best for now

Not heard of them myself but... this always screams expensive SEO to me, large company, big clients, big overheads, big commission.... get a quote from them and becareful of potential pitfalls in their terms and conditions.

Ask them for example of their work and another good sign of a large SEO company, is if they are ranking high on their own industry terms, like "website optimisation" or "SEO company" etc...

 

[RadiusBPO]

I like their website.

To be honest I haven't heard much about them, I do know about them because they rank for 'Digital Marketing' & 'Search Engine Marketing' but I think that was mainly from clients footer links form memory.

From their own SEO work, it looks like they get results and their Envirofone case study said they charged £9k pa so maybe they are a cheap big agency.

 

[Giggleberries]

I agree, it does seem as though they get results. However, it depends how quickly those results have occured as if links appear to quickly then the results can be short lived.

Also, the results they achieve are not for particularly difficult keywords and the majority of them are for longtail keywords, which can easily be achieved for far less than they charge.

Checkout the the keyword 'mens underwear' in google as I achieved this result for free (except the time it took me)

 

[eventdomain]

From their own SEO work, it looks like they get results

they do seem to look a big company - Plus they do have a couple of big clients there.

So what, dont we all get decent results with our services? Big clients, again, I have one of the top companies in Europe as a client, and other blue-chips, and all very nice, but do they have any testimonials - couldn't find any.

Personally, I dont want to know what their favourite food or film is - who cares. Why are they massaging their own egos so much, shouldnt they like be more concerned with what they can do for clients.

£13k to rank for 'Sell Mobile' - yep, large fees...

 

[RadiusBPO]

So what, dont we all get decent results with our services? Big clients, again, I have one of the top companies in Europe as a client, and other blue-chips, and all very nice, but do they have any testimonials - couldn't find any.

Personally, I dont want to know what their favourite food or film is - who cares. Why are they massaging their own egos so much, shouldnt they like be more concerned with what they can do for clients.

£13k to rank for 'Sell Mobile' - yep, large fees...

You're so bitter.

 

[sigurog]

They seem OK. Just be careful with big companies as they can really nail the fees up on you. Also you normally have to deal with sales people and not the actual seo - which again can cause issues with book passing etc.

My advice is to shop about - get some quote from seo companies and seo consultants. Ask for a seo report so and what they are going to do for the budget you have given them i.e. x amount of link building etc

I would imagine they will be asking for a 12 month term which is standard but make sure you have done your research before you get yourself tied up with an expensive seo company for a year. Good Luck!!

 

[eventdomain]

You're so bitter.

Na, its just so many companies trying to be 'smart' with their 'cool' websites and it adds nothing to the value and is also waste of unproductive website space.

Its almost like some competition to see who can invent the craziest website or something. Know what I mean.....

 

[RadiusBPO]

Na, its just so many companies trying to be 'smart' with their 'cool' websites and it adds nothing to the value and is also waste of unproductive website space.

Its almost like some competition to see who can invent the craziest website or something. Know what I mean.....

Yeah lol. Can't believe it but yeah I agree.

May help their click through rate with the Google Instant preview though..?? Probably not though.

 

[cornerstones]

Thank you all for your help with this, your points have been noted

 

[PIngels]

So, does anyone know a small SEO company with reasonable fees that are really good at what they do?

 

[Ali-v-8]

Yeah .. But I dont plan on staying that way lol

 

[quikshop]

just so many companies trying to be 'smart' with their 'cool' websites

You sound like my Grandad

 

[Ali-v-8]

I like their cool websites

 

traffic generated 70 million / 650 clients = 100,000 per client.

If thats in 10 years.

Am I missing something.?

Earl

 

[HappyHNE]

I used Rocketfish and signed up for a 12 month contract... within the first four months they had not even started any link building - they are absolutely rubbish and have no customer service skills. They treat you as a number not an individual. It is the worst experience I have ever had with a company and cannot understand how they are still going .... Avoid at all costs and they will take your money and do nothing in return...

 

[RadiusBPO]

I used Rocketfish and signed up for a 12 month contract... within the first four months they had not even started any link building - they are absolutely rubbish and have no customer service skills. They treat you as a number not an individual. It is the worst experience I have ever had with a company and cannot understand how they are still going .... Avoid at all costs and they will take your money and do nothing in return...

HOw did you find them and why did you decide to use them out of interest??

 

[SEO Lady]

I used Rocketfish and signed up for a 12 month contract... within the first four months they had not even started any link building - they are absolutely rubbish and have no customer service skills. They treat you as a number not an individual. It is the worst experience I have ever had with a company and cannot understand how they are still going .... Avoid at all costs and they will take your money and do nothing in return...

Welcome to the forum and what a scathing first post - how did you find this thread?

 

[JohnnyCash]

I used Rocketfish and signed up for a 12 month contract... within the first four months they had not even started any link building - they are absolutely rubbish and have no customer service skills. They treat you as a number not an individual. It is the worst experience I have ever had with a company and cannot understand how they are still going .... Avoid at all costs and they will take your money and do nothing in return...

Like all scam seo companies, they'll still be running because people don't do their research and sign up for legally binding 12 month contracts for nothing in return...

 

[HappyHNE]

Avoid at all costs... I used them and it is the worst experience I have ever had with a company. Staff are rude, they don't do as they promise and did not start my link building for site for 3 months plus. I wish I'd asked for references before I signed a year's contract. In my opinion, if they are good, why have clients sign a contract as they would not want to leave... now use a company (not signed to a contract) who are absolutely fantastic.

 

[HappyHNE]

Welcome to the forum and what a scathing first post - how did you find this thread?

Hi, I actually spoke to someone the other who had used rocketfish and had exactly the same experience (I thought i'd been the only one) so out of interest I googled rocketfish and feedback and found this thread. So before anyone else signs their contract, I decided to make others aware of their absolute inabilities with SEO.

 

[Ali-v-8]

Lets get one thing straight, Link building is done to requirement. Sometimes you can SEO a website and 1 link will get the job done, but you would wait until the website is cached and read before you start a full blown out link campaign.
They may have had a reason for not starting it immediately.
Day 1 You sign, then they must have devised a strategy (keyword analysis), Change of content where required, Plan an internal linking structure i no in place. then let your website get cached and see what happens. Possibly a few links to help get site cached quicker, may be an article.
After you site is cached and ranking is established then you make changes to help boost the terms you want.
When the website is stable that is when you use links.
3 months may have been a long time, but without seeing what work they carried out it is very hard to judge.
Also If they told you when you were expected to see improvement and they failed then that is where they have done something wrong.
You employed them as your SEO, however they did it its the results that you should write about.

Dont get me wrong I am not sticking up for them, its just that your not very clear.

 

[HappyHNE]

Ali-V-8 - they did not get any results and if I were to write what they got wrong/didn't do I would be here all day which I do not have time for... I am simply trying to save people falling for the same mistake as I did. I am now using a different company and in comparison, this is what qualifies me to know that Rocketfish did not do what they should have done and what they said they would do. Amongst other things they chose low searched keywords to get quick easy useless results, failed to carry out any link building, article writing, changed no content on site, meta tags etc and basically took my money (over £3k) with no results...

 

[rocketfishltd]

Hi Mr Anonymous
We have been providing Search Engine Marketing Services for well over 11 years now and have hundreds of customers. We accept criticism where justified and whilst in the vast majority of cases we get things absolutely write for our clients very occasionally things do go wrong or get missed – sometimes as a result of our team missing something and sometimes as a result of the client not providing the correct access or information - like most businesses we are not perfect (although we strive for this every day!!). One thing we can guarantee is that if we have made a mistake we will rectify it as quickly as we possibly can and ensure a happy and positive outcome for our customers. If you contact us at the office rather than posting anonymous posts then I guarantee one of our Directors will deal with you and ensure any issues are resolved. With regards to the comments on contracts this is pretty standard within our industry and there is a fee for what we do which we allow clients to pay monthly hence the need for a contract – if the project was paid for upfront then no need for contracts.
One thing we will never accept is that our staff are rude, we have an exceptional team all talented in their own field and all dedicated to delivering the best possible service for our clients – we are incredibly proud of them and the effort they put in.
With Search Engine Optimisation it is very rare that you achieve instant results and so work you do today can impact and benefit many months down the line and so if you are enjoy good results now it could be as a result of stuff we did or indeed stuff the new guys you are involved with are doing – all that matters is that you are now enjoying the benefits of online marketing and we wish you well with that. We will have definitely provided you with full on page analysis, keyword map, code and content restructuring, site map creation and verification etc. whilst link building would have taken the form of blog creation and posts, article submission, social media, social bookmarking, quality relevant directory submissions, competitor link analysis and replication and so on.
As you know and every other client that joins us knows we do not just do SEO and you don’t seem to mention in your post all the other work that would have been done for you i.e. Social Media, Data Capture, Lead Management Software, Email Marketing etc. and so as a reminder of our philosophy and what it is that we try and achieve for our clients I would direct you to this video on our youtube titled seo manchester-small business seo . However I say again please get in touch direct and I am sure we can resolve any issues you may have.

 

[Ali-v-8]

I dont think you can get any fairer than that.

 

[Shinjetsu]

Hello Mr. Rocketfish. I work for a very reputable SEO company and have just been speaking to one of your customers. Oh dear. They were not very happy.

I was advised you charge £3k+ as a setup fee and from there you sign them up for 12 month contracts. So after 2 months, they've paid £3k and you're optimising keyphrases that recieve little/no traffic (don't worry - you're position 1!!!!11!!one!!) and they decide that there wasn't the return on investment they expected, they're then contracted for a further 10 months, paying £300+?

This may be standard in the industry, but its something we're pioneering change for. You have to be performance led.

The customer I've been speaking to has been trying to get an answer from you guys to a very simple question, and was advised to email in. He gets a different customer service agent every time, and although he didn't say that your staff were rude, surely you understand that you should be treating your customers with a little more respect. He then got so angry he cancelled his standing order, prompting a very immediate response from your accounts team with varying threats of litigation.

So tell me, is this SEO service you claim to provide really worth all this money? Can you provide a monthly analysis of exactly what your SEO team has done? Because as yet - the person I spoke to has had very generalised reports - the likes of which must take minutes to prepare. You seem very cloak and dagger. I'm glad agencies like you exist so that agencies like mine can pick up the pieces and have long fruitful relationships under rolling monthly contracts - driving us to perform or we'd lose the custom (have a guess at how often that occurs)

 

[JohnnyCash]

Hello Mr. Rocketfish. I work for a very reputable SEO company and have just been speaking to one of your customers. Oh dear. They were not very happy.

I was advised you charge £3k+ as a setup fee and from there you sign them up for 12 month contracts. So after 2 months, they've paid £3k and you're optimising keyphrases that recieve little/no traffic (don't worry - you're position 1!!!!11!!one!!) and they decide that there wasn't the return on investment they expected, they're then contracted for a further 10 months, paying £300+?

This may be standard in the industry, but its something we're pioneering change for. You have to be performance led.

The customer I've been speaking to has been trying to get an answer from you guys to a very simple question, and was advised to email in. He gets a different customer service agent every time, and although he didn't say that your staff were rude, surely you understand that you should be treating your customers with a little more respect. He then got so angry he cancelled his standing order, prompting a very immediate response from your accounts team with varying threats of litigation.

So tell me, is this SEO service you claim to provide really worth all this money? Can you provide a monthly analysis of exactly what your SEO team has done? Because as yet - the person I spoke to has had very generalised reports - the likes of which must take minutes to prepare. You seem very cloak and dagger. I'm glad agencies like you exist so that agencies like mine can pick up the pieces and have long fruitful relationships under rolling monthly contracts - driving us to perform or we'd lose the custom (have a guess at how often that occurs)

If you want to post something bashing someone elses company, then perhaps you should have the courtesy to list your own company and the client...

As otherwise it just looks like a hatchet job and shouldn't be taken seriously.

 

[Ali-v-8]

I am one of the worst on this forum for bashing companies - Yet I am still at a loss to have seen any tangible evidence to suggest the work is bad.
I think you could at least have the courtesy to show a website or evidence that proves what you are saying.
We would gladly evaluate you claims totally unbiased.

£3000 set-up - For what?
£300 monthly - For what?

I have charged set ups of £10,000 - £20,000 all dependent on work needed.

Your not giving all the facts and until you do this just sounds wrong.

 

[HappyHNE]

Hi Mr Anonymous
We have been providing Search Engine Marketing Services for well over 11 years now and have hundreds of customers. We accept criticism where justified and whilst in the vast majority of cases we get things absolutely write for our clients very occasionally things do go wrong or get missed – sometimes as a result of our team missing something and sometimes as a result of the client not providing the correct access or information - like most businesses we are not perfect (although we strive for this every day!!). One thing we can guarantee is that if we have made a mistake we will rectify it as quickly as we possibly can and ensure a happy and positive outcome for our customers. If you contact us at the office rather than posting anonymous posts then I guarantee one of our Directors will deal with you and ensure any issues are resolved. With regards to the comments on contracts this is pretty standard within our industry and there is a fee for what we do which we allow clients to pay monthly hence the need for a contract – if the project was paid for upfront then no need for contracts.
One thing we will never accept is that our staff are rude, we have an exceptional team all talented in their own field and all dedicated to delivering the best possible service for our clients – we are incredibly proud of them and the effort they put in.
With Search Engine Optimisation it is very rare that you achieve instant results and so work you do today can impact and benefit many months down the line and so if you are enjoy good results now it could be as a result of stuff we did or indeed stuff the new guys you are involved with are doing – all that matters is that you are now enjoying the benefits of online marketing and we wish you well with that. We will have definitely provided you with full on page analysis, keyword map, code and content restructuring, site map creation and verification etc. whilst link building would have taken the form of blog creation and posts, article submission, social media, social bookmarking, quality relevant directory submissions, competitor link analysis and replication and so on.
As you know and every other client that joins us knows we do not just do SEO and you don’t seem to mention in your post all the other work that would have been done for you i.e. Social Media, Data Capture, Lead Management Software, Email Marketing etc. and so as a reminder of our philosophy and what it is that we try and achieve for our clients I would direct you to this video on our youtube titled seo manchester-small business seo . However I say again please get in touch direct and I am sure we can resolve any issues you may have.

If it is as easy as calling to discuss do you not think I have tried??? Also my solicitor has been sending you letters since February with no response at all... wonder how many other people are out there. Can you honestly say that most of your customers are happy and do not complain/leave and dispute monies paid? I find this very hard to believe.... so if you would kindly reply to my letters or the subsequent ones sent by my solicitor i'd be most grateful...

 

[HappyHNE]

Hi out if interest did you use Rocketfish and what were your thoughts and experiences so far?

 

[afishcallededdie]

I used Rocketfish and signed up for a 12 month contract... within the first four months they had not even started any link building - they are absolutely rubbish and have no customer service skills. They treat you as a number not an individual. It is the worst experience I have ever had with a company and cannot understand how they are still going .... Avoid at all costs and they will take your money and do nothing in return...

I could almost have typed that myself. I am still trying hard to give them a chance because their 'what we do' videos are very compelling and I think they must have had some internal staffing issues or something. We've only been with them 2 months so far but they haven't done any of the stuff they were supposed to do in that time and there have been huge communication issues. One of their directors is visiting me today to discuss my concerns but at the moment they are trying hard to make me feel like I am being unreasonable for expecting them to do what they've promised. These things take time you know and I should be patient.

 

[HappyHNE]

I could almost have typed that myself. I am still trying hard to give them a chance because their 'what we do' videos are very compelling and I think they must have had some internal staffing issues or something. We've only been with them 2 months so far but they haven't done any of the stuff they were supposed to do in that time and there have been huge communication issues. One of their directors is visiting me today to discuss my concerns but at the moment they are trying hard to make me feel like I am being unreasonable for expecting them to do what they've promised. These things take time you know and I should be patient.

That is exactly how they made me feel! I have since started using a different company who actually have shown me how bad they are... They had staffing issues when I used them, the person you were dealing with leaving and no one picking up their work or even when calling telling me they were off sick (for two months) - they'd clearly had left. If you check their company out there is actually a proposal to close the company down. (Creditfocus). Their director was supposed to call me to meet to discuss my problems but never did. I sent numerous emails since but not one reply and they have the cheek to have sent me to a debt collectors (for works they have not done and a contract they did not keep to). See what he has to say when you meet but I am more than sure people complain on a daily basis.... I would check your keywords in google analytics to see whether they have chosen low searching key words to try and achieve top level search results - however in reality if not many people search for these they're pretty useful. Then as their director why they have chosen such low searched key words.

 

[HappyHNE]

That is exactly how they made me feel! I have since started using a different company who actually have shown me how bad they are... They had staffing issues when I used them, the person you were dealing with leaving and no one picking up their work or even when calling telling me they were off sick (for two months) - they'd clearly had left. If you check their company out there is actually a proposal to close the company down. (Creditfocus). Their director was supposed to call me to meet to discuss my problems but never did. I sent numerous emails since but not one reply and they have the cheek to have sent me to a debt collectors (for works they have not done and a contract they did not keep to). See what he has to say when you meet but I am more than sure people complain on a daily basis.... I would check your keywords in google analytics to see whether they have chosen low searching key words to try and achieve top level search results - however in reality if not many people search for these they're pretty useful. Then as their director why they have chosen such low searched key words.

Sorry I meant Useless!

 

[zigojacko]

I've had clients that have switched from Rocketfish to us as they weren't happy with their services. Didn't deliver, didn't appear to carry out any work, charging client £thousands. An ever-occurring scenario that keeps cropping up, I would say over 60% of our clients switch from a large SEO agency who have basically charged the client thousands and done practically no work.

 

[afishcallededdie]

I have reached the end of the road with Rocketfish. They give you a long list of things they are going to do including

website analysis, restructuring & optimisation
site map creation
quality directory submissions
article writing
product-specific mini websites
wordpress & blogger setup & custom design
facebook & twitter setup, promotion, management, updates & custom landing pages
social bookmarking (digg, delicioius, technorati, stumbled upon) profile creation
data capture points on website with web response form
lead management/crm software
email marketing software & email template design
automated weekly updates & position reports
google analytics setup / implementation
quarterly reviews

sounds fantastic doesn't it?

In the 3+ months we've been with them, the only thing they've done is to come up with a keyword list and change the title & meta keywords on top level pages in the website. And that is it. Nothing else at all. They've withdrawn their weekly position report update in favour of google analytics so now I don't get anything from them at all.

I had a meeting with one of their Directors who told me that everything was on schedule and I was being unreasonable. He promised to investigate certain specific issues which I'd raised but he never came back to me. I referred him to their videos which specifically tell you what to expect in month 1, 2, 3 and so on. He told me they were 'just a guide'. They continue to tell me that they are carrying out work on our behalf but avoid telling me what work they've done. And they took all of the direct debit payments earlier than specified in the agreement.

I don't know what's gone wrong with this company but I would certainly never work with them again. I would however like to read some feedback from someone who has had good experience with them though, in the interests of balance.

 

[RadiusBPO]

I have reached the end of the road with Rocketfish. They give you a long list of things they are going to do including

website analysis, restructuring & optimisation
site map creation
quality directory submissions
article writing
product-specific mini websites
wordpress & blogger setup & custom design
facebook & twitter setup, promotion, management, updates & custom landing pages
social bookmarking (digg, delicioius, technorati, stumbled upon) profile creation
data capture points on website with web response form
lead management/crm software
email marketing software & email template design
automated weekly updates & position reports
google analytics setup / implementation
quarterly reviews

sounds fantastic doesn't it?

In the 3+ months we've been with them, the only thing they've done is to come up with a keyword list and change the title & meta keywords on top level pages in the website. And that is it. Nothing else at all. They've withdrawn their weekly position report update in favour of google analytics so now I don't get anything from them at all.

I had a meeting with one of their Directors who told me that everything was on schedule and I was being unreasonable. He promised to investigate certain specific issues which I'd raised but he never came back to me. I referred him to their videos which specifically tell you what to expect in month 1, 2, 3 and so on. He told me they were 'just a guide'. They continue to tell me that they are carrying out work on our behalf but avoid telling me what work they've done. And they took all of the direct debit payments earlier than specified in the agreement.

I don't know what's gone wrong with this company but I would certainly never work with them again. I would however like to read some feedback from someone who has had good experience with them though, in the interests of balance.

With a new site in a competitive market targeting the short tail keywords then in 3 months you'd be unlikely to see much.

Is this the case?

 

[afishcallededdie]

No - we are a long-established business and already had quite a good page ranking on many phrases. Our rankings have largely gone down since they took over our SEO. But I've not really judged them on page rank as I wasn't expecting miracles in 3 months; I was expecting them to do what they said they were going to do, which they have not.

 

[HappyHNE]

We had exactly the same experience! I too would love to hear from a satisfied customer... I haver spoken to several people who used them for over 12 months and experienced pretty much the same experience - i.e. didn't do a lot for 12 months... Wonder what their client retention figures are?

 

[quikshop]

No - we are a long-established business and already had quite a good page ranking on many phrases. Our rankings have largely gone down since they took over our SEO. But I've not really judged them on page rank as I wasn't expecting miracles in 3 months; I was expecting them to do what they said they were going to do, which they have not.

The only issue that would concern me is the lack of transparency in what they are doing in return for your money.

Surely they are obliged to disclose to you as their client what actions they are taking, and in a reasonable amount of detail :|