5 Things You Need To Know Before Hiring an SEO Company & the Number 1 Reason SEO Fails
In my almost 10 years of online entrepreneurship and 7 years of providing SEO services to different types of businesses, it is easy to say I have heard all the horror stories. New clients, prospective clients and fellow business owner all have these stories but what if there was a simple protocol to hiring the right seo provider which if applied would protect you from losing time and of course money.
See most business owners only know their trade, but don’t know how to use the web to make their business more money (online marketing), web design is one of the most important things when it comes to online success. Let’s step back a minute, just think about the years it took you to prefect your craft, so what if someone said they read a couple articles about your business trade and thought it was easy. Would you think they’re crazy and tell them they don’t know how much they don’t know? If no, isn’t it fair to say you might think it? Like the craft you spent years to perfect, SEO has many levels of understanding and like all specialty skills, there is a ton of published disinformation.
SEO scammers know most business owners realize SEO is slow to produce an ROI and willing to wait. These crooks also know how to do “things”, put those things on a report and present to the unknowing business owner. Let me ask you, would you know the difference between a spam link profile and one that will help your website ranking at the top of Google? Of course not, so I created a protocol which will not only tell you how to qualify an SEO company, but the very simple logic behind each tip.
1) If they can’t rank their own website on Google, how can you expect them to rank yours!
Search keywords like:
SEO (town)
SEO Company (town)
SEO companies (town)
If their company website, Google listing and a 3rd party review site like Yelp is not on page one, how do you expect them to get you on page one?
Arguably, SEO related keywords are the most competitive. It would be safe to assume since they’re the best “proof is in the pudding” when it comes to seo skills.
2.) Check SEO companies reviews online
Yes this seems obvious but you would be amazed at how many have completely failed to do their due diligence after finding an SEO company online.
Just think about it, if an SEO company doesn’t have 3rd party reviews online most likely the company:
A: has failed to market themselves online correctly.
B: doesn’t have clients who are excited enough to write a review.
C: is a fly-by-night company.
3) References tell the story
Every SEO Expert should have a few go-to clients which are okay with being used as a referral but a name and a number doesn’t really prove they’re an SEO expert. Here are a few steps you should take with a prospective SEO provider.
- Ask if they have an referrals
- Ask what keywords their client can be found under (if they give you a company name to search, you should thank them for their time and hang-up)
- Assuming the SEO gave you a two or three word keyword phrase to Google search and you found their client on the TOP of the first page, Ask who their contact at that company and if you can call that person. ( If they give any reason for you not to call the company, thank them for their time and hang-up)
- Call the company, ask how long it took the SEO to get them on page one, how available they seo expert is and how would they rate their overall experience with the SEO.
4) They offer a package you can afford
Don’t take me wrong, I understand there is a budget you have to keep but effective seo shouldn’t have bounties. It is real simple, to get an ROI for your business will take unique work at a level of skill most in the SEO community just don’t have. Therefore, SEO is not a commodity, and shouldn’t be treated like one.
MOST PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY CAN DO SEO CAN NOT!
Here is the second part to why packages fail.
How do you the prospective client know how many links built to your website will get it to rank on Google? You don’t, so how can you make that determination, because the SALES person told you so?
Also, how do you know if they are…
A: not cheap spam links with no relevance to your industry (Google hates that)
B: are enough to push your site up in rankings (Some pages require more links than others)
C: are the type of links Google rewards websites
I can’t tell you how many times a new client came to us with a backlink profile full of spam links which were placed by a convincing person who had the right package price.
Remember, there are few things you can buy cheap which are quality, and SEO isn’t one of them.
5) No contract so you can quit at any time
Well conventional wisdom might say, hey I can’t lose because I have no risk, well neither does the SEO company you’re considering on giving your hard earned money to.
Let me go a little deeper for my savvy business owners. Not having a contract is a way to fail without risking a bad review. Just think about it, after some time the business owner will throw in the towel and chalk it up as a loss while the seo company goes on to their next victim.
Remember tip number 1, no reviews! Hmmmm
An experience seo company knows there needs to be a contract in place. They know the importance of keeping the client in the game when the there is doubt. Why would the professional seo experts want to keep the weary client onboard unless the seo expert knows they will deliver?
1) As promised, I am going to share with you how SEO fails, leaving the business owner discouraged about seo.
The number one reason seo fails is that the person tasked with finding an seo expert didn’t know the correct interview protocol.
In conclusion, the tips I provided you are from my own experiences as an SEO expert and from the past failures of my clients. I hope you been enlightened in the protocol of hiring an SEO expert and please follow each tip as I laid out or you might find yourself a victim.
In your corner,
Jack Lombardi
CEO- Chicago Website Design SEO Company