Post: #1

Hey guys,

Was looking for a recommendation on an SEO company that somebody has used and could speak to their quality, whether they do what they say,pricing, etc.

Have about a $1k/month budget and would need them to help with an existing CPG start up. Everything else is in place, marketing, design, manufacturing, etc but I don't have time to try to learn the ins and outs.

Did a search here on the forum but mostly all the results were for tips on learning, starting an SEO business, etc rather than a trusted company people have used.

Seems like it would be real easy for these companies to take your money and not do much and string you along by telling you to give it another month, and another, another...

Any recommendations would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Carmo

Post: #2

Read the site by SEO Moz. And his book.

They have a web tool for 99/month that may let you do a lot of stuff on your own.

Post: #3

(04-19-2013 06:18 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  Read the site by SEO Moz. And his book.

They have a web tool for 99/month that may let you do a lot of stuff on your own.

Thanks man, I will take a look. Mainly need a lot of quality back links atm as we already have a ton of original content. Just dont have the time to be managing everything else and working out deals with retailers while I try to build back links up.

Carmo

Post: #4

Take some time to learn the basics of SEO so you know what the people you hire are talking about.

A lot of SEO agencies don't know what they are doing. The best SEO'ers out there aren't gonna work for someone else for a day job when they could be making shittons more on their own, or by starting their own agency. Most SEO agencies end up outsourcing their work to Warrior Forum or Wicked Fire. I know because I've sold SEO services, a big chunk of my clients are SEO agencies that outsource the work to me and my partner. IMO smaller agencies are better since the founders will be heavily involved in helping you rank. Larger SEO agencies seem to outsource all the work to interns or employees.

Hiring the wrong SEO agency can be disastrous. Some of them will end up spamming your site which may lead to short term rankings, but eventually long term failure.

I'd also avoid agencies that promise "Pure white SEO". Either they are lying or you're going to end up having a much lower ROI than going with someone who's mostly white hat but effectively buys and builds links in a manner that won't get you caught. Yeah, paid link-building will mess up your site if you get caught(spamming the shit out of your site with crap links).

However Google won't penalize your site(if its a legit site) for having links from a renowned newspaper site in editorial content because there's no way they can find out unless somebody rats the editor out. The smart SEO'er will be able to get you those sort of links. The smart SEO'er will be able to help you build links that won't compromise you in the long term.

Post: #5

Just because someone works at a firm doesn't mean they're not good. Most people aren't ambitious and/or capable of running an SEO agency. I've been doing it for a long time and I can tell you, it's a lot of work if you want to rank with the real players and do great work for your clients. Plenty of decent people who work at firms and don't run their own businesses, especially since you can make 80K easily if you're a legit SEO Manager.

We don't take anyone for less than 2K/month, usually 2.5K. The smallest pig squeals the loudest and I'm not interested in anyone who is going to blow my shit up 1 week after I take their money.

If you're evaluating a firm, ask them for a list of links they've built for a few clients. Make sure they're recent links. If they get fussy, offer to sign an NDA.

When you look at the links, evaluate 3-5 posts per website. Do any of the posts/pages link to other interior pages? A blog that doesn't liberally link to itself (other interior pages or home page) is likely to get nailed sooner or later as spam. It's incredibly easy to target that algorithmically. Look for any visible pages that make any mention of accepting cash/compensation to post content/engage in paid advertising. Again, incredibly simple to target. Avoid that stuff. If you're a publisher selling ads according to Google's Webmaster Guidelines, you don't need a disclaimer page.

Don't get into any contracts/service agreements that tie you in for any amount of time. Someone telling you it'll take X months to rank isn't the same as making you sign a contract for a 6 month agreement.

Ask how long it'll take them to get you results. Be specific. Ask for case studies and check the results yourself. If their client ranks for "New York Dentist" be sure you're search settings are from New York City. Use Google Chrome's incognito window to check this. New York Dentist from LA may not be the same as New York Dentist from New York City.

What general category are you in? Depending on your space, you can build quality, white-hat links fairly easily without much effort, once you learn the process.

That was a bit much, but I have to deal with people who've been burned by shit firms all day.

Post: #6

Alpha Mind -

Are you taking new clients?

I may be able to forward you one.

Post: #7

I could help you. I do SEO and you can find out a little bit more about me here: http://izoomwebdesign.com/. Make sure to check out the video on the second slide. VERY relevant.

I would like to hear more about the size and scope of your project to see if it within my capabilities. My experience has been with ranking websites for local search terms and keywords that get under 20,000 searches a month. More than that and you might want to go with a more professional/experienced company. (Although, that said, many will just outsource the SEO to companies in India.)

Also I work based on results, so until your website gets ranked you will not have to pay me for my services - you will only have to pay whatever costs I incur building links or social signals. (Normally I like to start anywhere with a $50-$100/mo budget for this - we will discuss this upfront so you know what the costs will be). I fully document all of my onsite and offsite SEO work so that you will see exactly where the money goes. Only when your site ranks on the front page, will I then charge anywhere from $100-$400 a month (we will discuss this before work starts based on the size of your project).

If this sounds like something you are looking for then message me.

Thanks,
John

Post: #8

^

Those are some low as fuck prices and you must be charging that for incredibly easy keywords.

My biz partner just got his first SEO client(he's been doing reputation managment before as his main source of income, but now he's venturing into SEO). He's charging over 1k, I don't know the exact amount though due to a NDA(probably near 1.5-2k). The company is a well known company in its niche though. When I get back to TO we're going to be working together to acquire some clients and I'd charge 400 a month for low end SEO in the local niche for smaller towns, and 1.5-3k for larger businesses in more competitive niches. I"m pretty excited. My biz partner has the sales and client managment expertise, while I'm great at backend systems and I have more knowledge of SEO.

Post: #9

(04-22-2013 06:35 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  Alpha Mind -

Are you taking new clients?

I may be able to forward you one.

Yes, as long as it's a good match for both parties.

Shoot me a PM and we can discuss further.

Post: #10

I have a friend who has an SEO company...and ranks for nuts shit. I mean competitive keywords in popular niches currently. His main business is not SEO, and he gained his chops on his own sites. Started doing SEO after having super success with his own stuff.

Look for guys who can rank their own or customers sites CURRENTLY, so you know they are up to speed on all the updates google is killing sites with (Panda, Penguin etc). Old methods can get you in de-indexed or shit rankings in the serps.

PM if you want his info