Beware of pseudo SEO companies!

SEO is more or less the hot trend in online marketing right now. Businesses are now realizing that any money spent on a website is wasted if you don't get traffic and business from it. Of course, the greatest sources of web traffic are the major search engines, and you need to be ranked high enough to be able to grab some of that traffic. This is the basic concept behind SEO (short for Search Engine Optimization).

There are two serious issues with SEO that are resulting in a lot of companies being burned on poor or fake SEO services. Considering these issues will enable you to understand how to evaluate an SEO company.

Issue #1: "Umm, yeah, sure, we do SEO!"

Businesses often first turn to the agencies or people that designed & developed their website, asking about SEO. Rather than referring them to a specialized SEO company, the agencies see a potentially lucrative up-sell opportunity, and make the claim that they can indeed offer SEO on the site they've built, quoting some arbitrary cost figure.

Many times the SEO knowledge of a web design agency is minimal at best. Perhaps they've heard of directory submissions and keyword research. But how knowledgeable are they regarding all factors of on-page & on-site optimization? Do they understand the relative values of different inbound links, or do they simply see Google PageRank as the sole indication of link value?

Unless the design agency has a dedicated SEO specialist, chances are you'll be receiving a less-than-optimal service, that may even result in search engine penalties in time. To illustrate: would you use your interior decorator to install your hardwood floors? No! Even if they recommend a color/style of hardwood as part of the overall project, you would still use a specialist (e.g. a hardwood installation expert) to do a specialized job. It is the only way to ensure that you'll get the best results for your money.

Issue #2: The Trust Factor

Search engines do not work overnight. It can take several months for content optimization and link promotion to really affect your ranking, even up to six months to obtain first-page results for mildly competitive search queries. Because of this, you can't really tell if your SEO company is truly doing good work for the first few months! I'd like to relate an experience:

Yesterday I met with a potential new SEO client. They had just dumped their previous SEO company, because they didn't seem to be delivering results. Without wanting to pry too much, I asked a few questions about the service that was provided. The results were shocking!

The SEO company had not analyzed the client's website or provided even one recommendation for optimization. Instead, they had added seven pages of ostensibly keyword optimized (read: stuffed) content, and created an HTML sitemap. Their link building efforts were nothing short of pathetic: they appear to have used some automated service to place links on a number of completely unrelated pages! The links were far from optimal, just stuffed with keywords. Google did not index even one of the links!

Rather than focus on a narrower list of high yield keyword phrases, the SEO company had agreed to increase their search engine ranking for 20 different phrases. This obviously resulted in a spreading thin of link efforts, and they couldn't deliver even one first-page result - not even for localized terms!

This SEO company charged a large upfront fee, and a small maintenance fee. They also charged a monthly fee to manage the PPC campaign, for which they logged in only once to check on it in several months.

Anyhow, this is both good and bad. It's good because now I can easily explain the difference between fake and real SEO services. However, this is horrible for me, because now the business owner is somewhat jaded towards SEO and its value.

How to choose an SEO company

So, if you're in the position of sourcing a Search Engine Optimization company, here are a few pointers to ensure that you're going to get high quality SEO:

• Find out what they offer for on-site SEO. A quality SEO provider realizes that most sites need modifications to be well optimized - it's equally as important as link building.
• Ask them what their link building entails. They should be very forthcoming, and it should be obvious that they understand the need to regularly gather high-quality, relevant links to produce any lasting value.
• Ask for references. Perform the searches for the sites they've optimized, and check the inbound links. You may even want to contact the site owner to ask their opinion of the SEO services provided.
• How do they charge? This is not a black-and-white rule, but a real SEO company should be willing to charge on a monthly basis. If they require full payment upfront and make no guarantees for ranking improvements, you have reason to question their service.
• What sorts of reporting can you expect? They should be able to provide you with regular updates on your link building, your search ranking, and website traffic changes. If they don't offer those reports, run away!
• What do they guarantee? No SEO provider should be able to guarantee top position. However, given your keywords, they should be able to estimate their competitiveness, and what you can expect for increases in SERPs and traffic gains.
• Do your research. Obviously you're outsourcing so that you yourself don't have to become an SEO expert for your own site. However, the more information you can arm yourself with will enable to spot SEO companies that are fake or possibly use blackhat services.

Anyhow, this is by no means an exhaustive list of things to cover off. You should also be free to ask any question you may have regarding their services.

Within a couple of years, SEO will be more of a mainstream service, and business owners will be far more informed. People will no longer be able to label themselves as SEO experts and go unquestioned. Until then, you'll need to perform your due diligence and research in order to protect your business from these 'pseudo SEOs'!