What's been you're experience with SEO companies?

Hi Gus, this is a great question... As we do websites ourselves, and offer some SEO, we always depend on the experts for the meaty stuff!

But what I am finding, as in so many fields, such as Social Media, SEO and WordPress, the experts are coming out of the woodwork. So I think anyone in these fields need to really build up that reputation and word-of-mouth referrals.

And as most people in SEO know, don't promise a one-time fix. Not everyone knows good SEO is an ongoing effort, so make that clear to prospects in the initial phase.

Thanks for bring this subject to the table and will be interested to see where it goes...

~bob

As a copywriter, what I see too much of in website content is a sole attention to keywords and phrases without much thought to the balance of good copy that is needed. If you write with too little focus on the search engines, you won't see good rankings. BUT if you put too much focus on the search engines, you will lose your visitors because the copy won't engage them and click, they're gone.

Of course, there is much, much more to what you do in the SEO field, but as a writer, I guess that's my pet peeve.

Good comments, Judy. My question is: what SEO expert can do that we cannot do by ourselves?

Maybe you can host a simply event, Gus?

Thanks Jack

I've been in the hunt for REAL SEO expertise for 4 months. I've interviewed a number of consultants and have been generally disappointed in the result. Most of them have been full of hot air but not information.

What I want to know is "How do folks in the Puget Sound Area search for architects online?" Then I want an analysis of my current site with a prescription for how to improve it.

It's amazing how easy it is to find consultants long on talk and short on skills. The problem isn't deciding you want to go to the restaurant, the problem is finding one where you're confident the food will be worth the cost.

Hi Gus,

A simple event will be welcome! There are other similar events here, but if it is simple and focus on a few key things unique or important, I think people will like it!

Best, Jack

Hi Gus,

I am answering from an SEO point of view. In day to day business we get two type of clients who needs seo. The one who knows what they want and the other who don't know what they want to achieve. Of course, it is traffic that everyone need but when the client have a single page site selling an ebook, SEO will not work for him.

SEO works for clients who are willing to do the white hat strategies and wait for the results. Here again it is industry specific, A seo company which does well for Entertainment Industry may not be that successful in promoting a real estate website or B2b portal.

So the bottom line is before hiring someone to do the SEO, do a home work and find out what is needed for your website and then ask the SEO company to do the specific jobs.

Hi Gus,

I am answering from an SEO point of view. In day to day business we get two type of clients who needs seo. The one who knows what they want and the other who don't know what they want to achieve. Of course, it is traffic that everyone need but when the client have a single page site selling an ebook, SEO will not work for him.

SEO works for clients who are willing to do the white hat strategies and wait for the results. Here again it is industry specific, A seo company which does well for Entertainment Industry may not be that successful in promoting a real estate website or B2b portal.

So the bottom line is before hiring someone to do the SEO, do a home work and find out what is needed for your website and then ask the SEO company to do the specific jobs.

I haven't used an SEO person perse, though I've done some of my own seo work, since I do a lot of social media work and feel fairly comfortable making tweeks. As others have mentioned, it's an ongoing process, and I think it needs to be treated as such right from the beginning. I had one client who got ripped by an seo person for a lot of money. Needless to say that client hasn't done business with another seo person to this day because of that bad experience.

Taylor Ellwood http://www.imagineyourreality.com

I haven't used an SEO person perse, though I've done some of my own seo work, since I do a lot of social media work and feel fairly comfortable making tweeks. As others have mentioned, it's an ongoing process, and I think it needs to be treated as such right from the beginning. I had one client who got ripped by an seo person for a lot of money. Needless to say that client hasn't done business with another seo person to this day because of that bad experience.

I haven't used an SEO person perse, though I've done some of my own seo work, since I do a lot of social media work and feel fairly comfortable making tweeks. As others have mentioned, it's an ongoing process, and I think it needs to be treated as such right from the beginning. I had one client who got ripped by an seo person for a lot of money. Needless to say that client hasn't done business with another seo person to this day because of that bad experience.

Taylor Ellwood http://www.imagineyourreality.com

As a web developer and having worked with several SEO's I would reiterate Gunaseelan point in that there is no magic strategy for moving your companies rankings and you need to have specific goals in mind for your business.

That being said I would recommended:

Getting educated.

There are many free SEO resources out there that you can use refine your goals and keyword strategies for your company.

A few to check out:

1. www.seomoz.org They offer a large community and free guides

2. Google's keyword research tool:

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

1. Go to www.delicious.com and search for SEO, this will give you a wealth of resources to explore.

When searching for an SEO to hire be sure to:

• Ask for references and success stories.
• If they are promising you a guaranteed #1 ranking be very skeptical.
• Ask for specifics. A good SEO will be able to tell you some details/tactics on how they were able to help past clients.
• Get a written contract for services

Sample contract found here: http://www.seomoz.org/ugc/seo-contract-template-a-verbal-contract-isnt-worth-the-paper-its-written-on

Hope this helps some of you with your search.

-T