Is it worth it to pay somebody for SEO?

I recently got a SEO quote for my website of $6000 and these guys are saying they are so good at it that they think they can get me to first overall in 35-60 days. They do have top clients like monster.ca, but is this risky, and more importantly, is it worth the investment?

 

Why don't you give us your URL and the keyword phrases you think you need to rank for and we'll have a better idea of how to advise you.

First and foremost... GET REFERENCES... Secondly... CHECK THEM!

 

Yes it is risky. Avoid anyone who guarantees 1st place like the plague.

First off you need to optimise your website once that’s done it will simply be a case of obtaining high quality one way links containing your keywords as the anchor text. Your barrier to success will depend on the number of quality links your competitors have and how long those links have been in place (amongst other things). It will also depend on your current position in serps and the age of your website. Perhaps if you give us more information we can make a more detailed assessment. Feel free to PM your website details and I will run a free analysis for you.

 

My website is www.rapidwebreviews.com Basically it's a website with educational topics and reviews. The SEO company is really good at what they do. They come up first on google.ca for the keyword seo. http://www.searchengineoptimizationcompany.ca/. Their BBB rating says that they are satisfactory, but I still cannot justify paying six grand without knowing whether or not this campaign will be successful for sure. Also, if they go on a link buying binge, can't that get me blacklisted?

 

It is quite risky hiring an SEO company. Don't just hire anyone, do almost all research that you think of before hiring one. You should also read this Guidelines from Google regarding SEO firms.

http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35291

Hire one at your own risk, it is simply you reap benefits or you weep at your loss.

 

Yep, and You pretty much have to check on what methods they are using to do it. Listen to the big names in this industry and you hear them saying any SEO firm promising you #1 in a few weeks is someone to stay away from. The thing to remember is that USUALLY shortcuts involve risks.

If they are handling monster.ca they could have some stellar network/contacts in queue and that may be why they can produce quick results.. from what I have seen, the top SEO firms do charge a lot BUT they don't often guarantee you top rankings in under two-three months.

So, I spent a little time looking at their back links for their site. They have a lot of designer-type links (and icon links) on the footer of many main site URLs which could be their clients sites. Paying $6,000 is a lot of money and I would want to speak with references. From the looks of it, they have should have a lot of them!

 

Oh and I've just checked monster.ca and how they're optimising it, I'd say they're doing a not-so-good-job on it. It always pays to learn SEO as well, and try to check on how they do SEO themselves.

 

Depends on the person remember that there are plenty of scams online. Try to check their background, their work, etc...

 

hmm 6 grand is a HUGE investment - will it pay off heres a quick way to tell

If you get ranked 1st for your given keyword then 60% * search volume * conversion rate * payout

so lets say your keyword gets ~10000 queries per month , and you can convert them 1/60 , and your payout is 30 bucks then

.6*10000*(1/60)*30 = $3000 a month

**these numbers are not realistic at all, and where quickly pulled from my butt, enjoy

 

If you are eager to pay more, this does not mean that you will get more. Just because a firm costs more DOES NOT make them better SEO's. There are many reasons for high prices and high quality is only one of them. For instance, the company might work inefficiently and this is the reason for their ridiculously high costs, not the quality of their work.

 

Don't go for it, Instead try doing SEO yourself IMO

 

Yes it is work to hire an SEO to do for you as long as you hired a reliable one. It's important to check first their profile and know the sites they've worked with before you deal with them.

 

Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to SEO.

 

Right buddy, I didn't check the back link profile of monster.ca, but I did check their own site, and their services are not enhancing or adding to the sites.. Although, I will say that I have seen much worse the highest PR links on their sites was from some decent-yet-cheesy SEO blog links.

 

Why wouldn't it be? Is $6,000 too much? Yes and no.

How about I charge you $60. Is that too much, or too little? Yes and no.

You have a website and want to rank for some keywords? Send me all the details and I will take a look at it...

 

6k$ is too much, what type of services they are providing to you??

 

Honestly, unless you really don't have the time to learn and apply techniques yourself, it's not worth it.
In my opinion, all an SEO "professional" or company is going to do, it take your links, spread it across hundreds of irrelevant domains and subdomains, and call it a day.
Talk about just taking your money.

Just learn it yourself.
It really isn't that hard, it just takes some patience.

 

Depend on your budget.
If you have money, you can outsource this job, so you can focus on other thing

 

6K is too much websites in general seem to charge extra for services. I'd recommend that you check out any freelancer sites and post your job on there, you will get a better rate due to bids and you will also see reviews for every single person bidding which should help you get both a good price and someone who has some reputation in the field. You can also check out the BUY/SELL section in the DP forum.