Now, anybody who has been following my websites over the years should know by now that I like to go down the, do it yourself route most of the time. However, if you are a company with a budget to spare, hiring a search engine optimization expert or firm might be a worthy investment.
However, before you sign on the dotted line and hand them over your hard earned cash, I would suggest you go over these seven important factors when it comes to the search engine optimization business.
- Don’t Fall for Getting Listed
If a company simply says they will get you listed in X number of search engines, run away. You can simply do that yourself for free at each search engine’s website. - Know What You Are Paying For
Be sure they you get it in writing, each service that they are doing to be doing for you, and get details on each as far as how exactly it will be helping you become more optimized for the search engines out there. - Beware Link Exchanges
Stay away from any company that says they will do link exchanges for you. Most of the time you will just become a part of a large network of websites that link to other websites, and the search engines don’t like the whole link farming idea. - Stay Within Your Budget
Do not get talked into spending more money than you have put aside for search engine optimization. Stick to your budget, and find an SEO firm that will work with you and you financial status. - Ask for References and Results
Always be sure to ask for a list of clients websites they have done work for in the past, and where they were able to help. This is another way they can prove to you they are a legitimate operation. - Stay Away from Guarantees
Do not do business with people who guarantee things that sound too good to be true. Nobody can promise the number one spot in Google for your favorite keyword. If they do offer a guarantee, ask for proof and examples. - Read Customer Reviews
Make sure you read all the reviews you can from the company and from other resources around the Web about the company to see if they have ever had any complaints about them. Now you have to take each review with a grain of salt, but overall you should be able to get a good idea of if they are a good or bad SEO company.
Last but not least, expect to pay a hefty price when it comes to hiring an SEO expert or buying into a SEO business’s services. They don’t come cheap, and that is why most of the time I personally like to go down the “do it yourself” route when it comes to optimizing my own websites for the search engines out there.
Want More? – Check out the rest of the SEO conversation in Podcast 209!
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