Is hiring an SEO Service really worth the money?

I'm writing several sales letters and blog posts for one of my clients. However, he just asked me today if I know a good SEO company that can get him to the 1st page on Google for his keywords . . .

Can an SEO service do more than I can, as a good SEO content writer?

I think that if we keep putting great SEO content on his blog, that's the best thing to possibly get him toward the top on Google.

What do you think? Will an SEO company do other things that will work better and faster? As far as I know, they would have to do bl*ck hat type stuff to get a better result, and I don't think my client wants to risk getting 'slapped' off.

 

What is SEO? Most of us gives definition "Process to bring traffic towards site", I am not agree with this definition to me is, "Process to bring organic traffic towards site" , Organic traffic can only be obtained from first page appearance on search engine specially Google. Most of time its happens that good content is not getting that worth as it has to be, just because of wrong timing or not paying attention on SEO, sites with ill content get on top just because of SEO, where as site with good content not obtained even a single visitor.

 

I could get him on the 1st page of google just by blog title, meta descriptions. Every site I've had has been on page 1 for keywords. It's not difficult

 

Content is NOT enough unless you are going after very non-competitive keywords. If you are looking for competitive keywords, run from anyone who guarantees a #1 google ranking. The best SEO comes what you do yourself. The top SEO's charge a lot of money because they can deliver. If you don't have a $5K budget per month, learn and do it yourself. Any SEO who is good at ranking competitive keywords can make a lot more money running their own sites that charging a few hundreds dollars. Bargain SEO = CRAP unless you are talking about very basic on-page SEO (which isn't enough for competitive keywords).

 

Yes. A good SEO company could help your client out by getting him more backlinks from related sites, this giving him more authority in his niche and aiding him in moving up the rankings.

Both are important.

 

you must have some kickass title writing skills, but that's great, i have some work for you then, I have a new site I want ranked for "debt consolidation" and another for "buy viagra"

let me know long it will take for your magic titles & descriptions to do the trick

 

I think if you don't have any great idea about seo it is the best to hire a seo service and concentrate your self on your work. Usually they make progress.

 

I guess that's a good point, Harry. Many sites can have good content, but still not be on 1st / 2nd pge of Google.

Then again, is "good content" the same as having "SEO content that's good"?

 

Thanks, Cutsizzle6. I'll be sure to visit your site for more about your SEO services.

 

Thanks, mjewel - good advice. I'll be doing some keyword research for this client beginning tomorrow, so I can write his sales copy. However, I already know that his best keywords need to be pretty competitive . . .
--> one sales letter needs to draw "weight loss" type traffic
--> another sales letter needs to draw "make money" type traffic
--> neither of the above are for a certain city only; he needs prospects from the entire U.S. (so a 'long tail' keyphrase mentioning a certain city won't work)

Guess I'll be doing lots of digging through Google AdWords for keywords that aren't the MOST competitive, yet have enough people searching those terms.

 

@ joshvelco: Glad you mentioned backlinks. Seems there may be 2 schools of thought about this . . .
--> on 1 hand, I'm reading that comments on top-ranked / related sites are "it," giving you good SEO juice
--> on the other hand, I'm reading that "no follow" sites are taking over and so you can't get backlink juice the way you once could

What school of thought are you hearing is "the latest" as a best practice?

Also, how can you tell if a site you want to comment on is "no follow" vs. "do follow"?

 

@ nicholashun: I'd say I know a lot more about SEO than most people online, and definitely more than my client does.

Maybe not more than you, and definitely not as much as an SEO expert who charges $5,000. But I know more than the average bear. Which, really, may be all my client needs. I say this because:

--> If an SEO expert is going to charge us to put lots of backlinks on "no follow" sites that don't boost client's Google rank, then the client is wasting his money.

--> Once I know if his tags / descriptions are tight, if I write him 50 or 100 great SEO blog posts, articles, & hyperlinks with his keywords optimized, he may not need an SEO expert.

Let me know. Again, I have a good clue about SEO. Only thing I personally won't/can't do is push 1 button and have his sites instantly linked to 1,000 other websites . . . Does he really still need these 1,000 backlinks, if "no follow" is the trend these days and they're blocking the SEO back link juice anyway?

 

Yes content is king but seo companies do other activities like keywords research (Which plays important role in seo), competitor analysis, Social media activities, On-Page Optimization, Link-building (getting links from the related websites can increase raking for any keywords) & many more.

Every one who is doing SEO doesn't mean then know every thing about SEO. SO i suggest better hiring SEO company for long term business.

Sachin

 

Only Good Content is not everything if your content and site is not optimized well.

 

hi,
yes for getting your website in Rank Seo work is Very Necessary.

 

There are many companies who overcharge. Those who seem cheap may provide you spammy services which will give negative results. It is very tough job to select the best seo services. Of course, good content is main thing but it will only get value once it is exposed to people and to get exposed SEO and SMM are must. Good SEO service will definitely cost you high. You can learn SEO stuffs yourself and work on it if you have time.

 

kudos for trying to find out more information for you client but SEO has nothing to do with pushing a button for 1,000 backlinks. SEO is a complicated process and when done right is very powerful, there is a reason SEO guru's like rand fishkin get $1,000 an hour in consulting fees.

 

I would be wary of hiring someone simply because I would worry that the person is using black hat techniques and would get me banned from google. Do you think it's fair to ask about an SEO expert's techniques before hiring? Or is the HOW of SEO a secret no professional would want to hand out?

 

@ mrdigydigy -- That's an excellent perspective you gave. Thanks!

I'm not interested in personally doing everything that you listed. The competitor analysis, if done right, should be an in-depth report showing a lot of angles I'm just not interested in doing. You're right: I'll have to bring in an SEO person that likes doing all these types of things.

 

Thanks, Animesh. I'll check your site . . . I could use your services myself, I'm sure.