I'm new to SEO, and im not really a techy person. This, combined with the fact that i've read that effective SEO is no simple job has lead to look for a good SEO company. Do you guys have any suggestions? Any advice is appreciated.
I do though currently I don't have any spare time for additional clients. I know mad4 does but he's always pretty busy too. Make sure you ask for examples of what people have done before and ask what they'll do and how they plan do do things. There seem to be quite a lot of people these days saying they do SEO and then ask some pretty basic questions on the forums.
Thanks for the quick reply. Just wondering, what sort of prices should I be looking at. The keywords I would like to target are not popular/competitive, so I assume slightly less work will have to go into getting my site near the top. Also, can SEO guarentee to get your site at the top of search results? I say this, as although my knowledge is limited, I understand that lots of variables affect the serps, therefore would I be required to get good backlinks etc in order to get that top spot?
It depends on the work and which company you choose. The company I work for do corporate SEO for clients in London and charge anywhere between $600 pcm and $5000 pcm, I obviously charge a lot less when I work on my own. You could probably get a guy in India to do it for peanuts but then communication is more difficult, so it depends what your priorities are. Any SEO that offers you a guarantee should probably be avoided, I don't know of any legitimate ones that do, as you say it depends on many variables. The best thing to do is to ask to see completed work by them just to see that they are capable of achieving results.
I could help you let me know your url and key words and I'll let you know how much I'll charge you can pay a little bit up front and then you can pay the rest when you get listed. I just got a new domain listed # 5 for SEO book just 8 days after registering. seobook.org.uk PM me and I'll give you a good deal. or you can use email address on seobook.org.uk http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=SEO+book&btnG=Google+Search
What I don't understand is, how do I know that you actually achieved that? I mean, couldn't anybody claim that they got certain keywords to number one on google and yahoo?
if you go to http://seobook.org.uk/ .. there's an e-mail on the page .. send a PM here and an e-mail there and see if they are the same person. I would recommend first trying to do it yourself .. but if you do not have the time and has the cash to spend then go ahead and look for an SEO Company .. but its gonna cost you.
A lot of SEO pro's are governed by non disclosure agreements so they are unable to reveal some or all of their clients. The best option is to show your site or your idea to a few people and ask what they would suggest. Its best to involve an SEO before your web designer even starts work on the site as a lot of designers will make mistakes that are costly to rectify later on. Ideally you will be able to speak on the phone and even meet your SEO in person. Any good SEO is aware that the client knows the business better than them. You will probably have contact details of your industry magazines and your offline competitors and customers. At the end of the day it all comes down to your budget. If you are looking to pay less than $500 and have a new site to optimise then don't expect results if you are targetting even moderately competitive keywords. For less than $500 you will be best employing somebody from India or Eastern Europe. $500 will get you a days work from a UK SEO if you just want some consultancy work. Patrick
When you say not competitive how many results are coming back from SE's? If your target keywords/phrases are not very competitive you may want to take a try yourself. You can find plenty of info in the forums that should guide you on the way. Start off be trying to optimise your on-site variables and then try to build good qulaity links to your site. You can also check out the directory foums here for somewhere to build links. If you have a small budget you could also purchase a couple of links (also a forum here for that). As mentioned, guarantees in SEO work should be viewed with great suspicion. The only comapnies/peolple who can gaurantee anything are the SE's themselves. I work doing SEO for comapnies in Ireland and an average project comes to c. $2.5k all in and results may take some months to filter through. This might give you an idication of the costs involved. Competitive keyphrases could cost a whole lot more though. You should consider whether your website is likely to generate a return on such an investment. Many of my clients are professional service firms and often one or two addtional sales can earn a return on my costs. Not offering my services (too busy to even get my own site up! ).
Mad4, you exactly addressed the point. Lot of SEO companies under NDA. Everybody wants to honor their NDA sacrificing Independent career. It is really frustrating sometime.
I don't understand why it's important for some companies to work under NDA. Most companies don't keep their 'normal' marketing agencies secret, but I guess Internet Marketing is a bit of a sensitive topic for some companies...
Once a new client finds out that all your other clients are on NDA's then they will think "Hang on, maybe we need an NDA as well". Its a viscious circle.
I don't see why it's such a big issue. It's preety obvious to most people which keywords a site is targeting. As long as the methods that got them there aren't disclosed nobody is any better or worse off. Some of our clients are happy for us to advertise their work, others want NDAs. We don't bring it up unless it's requested, though we always check with a client before quoting their positions anywhere.
I would suggest that you try out the Professional SEO Analysis service on offer here : : http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=1721513