The real title for this article is jazzed up to be, "6 Sure-fire signs that your SEO sucks". The article, though, is really about the challenge that most marketing professionals have when reviewing and hiring firms that claim to be SEO Experts.
Please check it out here.
A question to ponder - how would you assess a potential vendor to handle your company's SEO efforts?
A key risk with outsourcing these efforts is mentioned in the article; the firm may use blackhat strategies which may backfire and have google blocking your site.
Well in evaluating anything every you need to find out as much about the subject as possible. In the case of SEO I would do my own research prior to soliciting bids for my work. I would get the maximum amount of information possible without actually knowing how to do it. That way when I enter into negotiations and ask questions I will be able to evaluate their knowledge and skills. Blackhat SEO is always a concern because people want results, but you have to be aware what those practices are and understand how to avoid them.
ReplyDeleteLast semester I took Operations & GSC and for our group project we had to offer up some process improvements to a local company. Our group went with a startup called Textivia. Oddly enough the company was an SEO agency (and other digital media offerings) but their company name didn't even show up on first page organic Google searches.
ReplyDeleteNow we only offered them solutions to better their business practices and we steered cleared on trying to help them develop their online marketing strategy (since it was out of scope for our project objectives), I will say that the experience taught me that if you are looking for an SEO agent you do need to do a lot of research because SEO seems to be the next home grown business bubble and the reality is a lot of these companies aren’t even doing what they preach! Research is truly key here.
On a positive note, Textivia has really improved over the past few months and they now have a strong organic Google search. They also have a nice local business portfolio. Check them out; they may be the right fit for someone's company in class textivia.com
-Pam Burr
@ Pam - that's interesting that you helped a local start-up that happened to also offer SEO services.
ReplyDeleteI agree too with Aaron that this situation is truly a "buyer beware" and to ask for references to verify their claims.