SEO - What you get is what you pay for

You may think SEO is a relatively simple process. However, as soon as you begin to research the processes involved you soon become overwhelmed by the knowledge that is required to implement a successful search engine marketing campaign.

Search engine optimisation can significantly improve revenue quickly if the right strategy is implemented. Not only that but SEO can also improve your company market share as well as give your brand online presence. Online shopping has become a daily activity for many users who go online and this has become more evident in the last ten years. Anything and everything can be bought online and for this reason many people prefer to go online to shop at their own leisure.

Search Optimisation is a complicated process and those who think DIY SEO is fine to do may actually cause more harm than good to their site. It may be DIY SEO is approached with the best intentions but when it comes down to the many processes involved it is simply easier and more cost effective for companies to outsource their SEO to professionals. When you hire SEO professionals you are not only paying for their time but also their expertise to effectively work on your SEO services and guarantee results.

Search engine optimisation is a complicated process and when looking for professionals to manage these services, you will most definitely come across many companies offering different levels of SEO services, many of which are just money making opportunities.  Whatever amount you spend on an SEO campaign, it should really pay for itself. You will come across many firms who promise to give you the earth in terms of position 1 on Google and every other search engine.

You will never find two SEO companies that are alike. Each company differs as they all have their own specific methods of carrying out SEO. However, one thing they will all have in common is that they will want to achieve the best results possible.

Just like other industries who offer discounted services and products – retailers discounting products, SEO industries are the same.  Retailers will offer discounts on products as they are discontinued or end of line and want to get rid of them. The same principle is also applied by many SEO companies who will promise guaranteed results knowing they are unable to fulfil the promise. They do this because they only see pound signs in front of them. Companies like these will offer a poor service where deadlines are not met, results are not achieved and communication will be poor. SEO companies such as these will do more harm to your rankings than good.

Make sure you are comparing like for like when you hire an SEO company.

More often than not when a reputable SEO company issues a quote to a potential client, you will always get the response ‘Joe Bloggs SEO is offering the same package at a much lesser price”. This has nothing to do with the fact that your services are too pricy, it all depends on the level of service and results that you are offering the client.

When going to a legitimate SEO company, you are not just paying for the best results. You are also paying for:

• Professional and experienced people
• Regular communication, if not weekly then fortnightly.
• Evidence of performance.
• Reports based on keywords, analytics and  leads to your website
• Courteous and professional service
• An SEO and how to in online marketing education and explanation

Any SEO company that doesn’t offer the above services to back up their SEO work are not worth investing money in.

What questions should I be asking an SEO company before hiring them?

1. How long has your SEO company been established? (must be over 12 months)
2. Do you have some testimonials and success stories for me to view? (if unable to provide then try another company)
3. How many SEO client accounts does your company currently manage? (needs to be realistic)
4. What are your link building methods, can you provide examples? (make sure they have ample examples)
5. How often will you provide us with updates and reports? (make sure this is fortnightly at least)
6. Can I contact my SEO account handler at any time? (if they make excuses then question them)
7. Here is my budget; please can you provide me with a sample for keywords? (ensure the keywords they provide will drive traffic)
8. Make sure realistic benchmarks and goals are in place before the campaign (has to be some KPIs)

Don’t let your SEO company delude you about SEO

Just so you understand no SEO company has inside contacts that can influence your rankings at the search engine companies – Yahoo, Bing or Google. Here are a few common impressions:

Although links are important, don’t allow yourself to be led to believe that you have to submit a huge quantity. No SEO company can guarantee a set number of monthly links. Each time the number of links will vary.

Any SEO company that tells you they can give an exact date when results will appear are telling you porky’s. There is no way to determine when results will appear. However, your SEO company should be able to give a rough timescale.

It is always difficult when searching around for a reputable SEO company as only a majority will actually deliver on what they promise.  Find an SEO company who are experienced in search engine optimisation. Look at their list of clients to see how effective their SEO campaigns have been. Remember a reputable SEO company will think outside the box when it comes to marketing your business.

As long as your SEO campaign is well-constructed and implemented using the latest proven SEO tactics, you should find that your business will shoot right to the top of the search engine rankings, leap-frogging your most prominent competitors in no time at all. However, it’s important to be realistic and set yourself achievable goals. Alarm bells should start ringing if your search engine marketing consultant promises fast, miracle-like results. When it comes to SEO services, you don’t want to be paying for a quick fix and ruining the reputation of your site, nor do you want to be paying out huge sums of money on a monthly basis only to find that you’re not seeing the results you were promised.