How to Pick an SEO Firm

SEO News Tip of the Day!

Well it’s coming to that time of the year again, where we say good bye to the old and welcome the new. Lots of us will be looking at what was achieved in 2005 and looking at what can be achieved in 2006. The New Year is always exciting in the search industry, with people rounding up the year and predicting what’s going to be hot, where things are heading etc.

Anyone who visits SEO Forum Watch regularly would of noticed it has been put on the back burner but I refuse to end the blog there and know it will come into its own come 2006. When I get time and the opportunity is right, the SEO Forum Watch will be moving to a WordPress blog and most probably be changing its focus slightly.

2005 was an interesting year for the SEO community, with the new MSN search probably being one of the biggest stories. And then towards the end of the year Google’s Jagger update hit us in three parts but rumours of Google engineers not being happy with the update is probably the bigger story there.

It looks like the Jagger update has tried to rebalance the importance of natural linking by devaluing reciprocal links and adding more emphasis to TrustRank (authority sites). However looking at Google’s results does leave one feeling like they have taken a bit of nose dive, even if the sites I’m conducting SEO on have benefited from the update!

As I said above the new MSN search in my opinion is the biggest story of 2005. MSN was previously using Yahoo as their search provider and is still using Yahoo Search Marketing (formerly Overture) to provide their sponsored results. MSN will be launching their own pay per click advertising service in 2006, replacing Yahoo’s and giving them an all important foothold on the SEM market. No doubt an advertising network will quickly follow for web publishers to be paid for displaying their ads (think Google adsense but with a MSN logo).

Well this has been my first round up post but no doubt I will post at least one more (time permitting). If you do for some reason forget not to come back, have a great Christmas and all the best for the New Year. Have a drink for me and raise your glass to getting even more traffic in 2006.

James Anderson

If you're looking for an SEO firm, we recommend that you weigh 10 factors that can save you trouble down the road.

You shouldn't have to try hard to find samples of their clients or their SEO performance on individual websites. How competitive are their search terms that are ranking well on Google? Are the search terms that are ranking well difficult terms to position--one, two and three word phrases, or are they easy terms to position because no one else is using them at all--six, seven and eight word terms?

Insist on letterheads from the clients that feature real names, not Fred from Cleveland or J.T. from New York. Call these references and ask them questions about the SEO performance of the company you are considering.

What policies and procedures do they follow? Are they consistent? Do they stay away from unethical procedures that could put your site in jeopardy with the search engines?

Find out who is doing the work. You really need a team of people - no one person can be proficient in every area of server administration, programming, marketing, writing, link building and more. Get to know the team a bit.

Unless it's super-clear, you have to wonder about the details of the guarantee. If a firm offers one, including Top 10 placement, ask them to elaborate. Which key words are included? Just one Top 10? Do they plan to achieve Top 10 rankings among natural results or pay-per-click? Are the Top 10 listings associated with your web site or a supplemental web site the SEO firm controls?

Is the SEO contract for hourly, monthly or annual services? Get prices from a few other firms as well, but be aware that the scope of services may vary greatly from firm to firm. Insist that the firm you're interested in explain why it charges more for services, if that's the case.

Find out whether you'll be able to access the latest data about your project. How often is it provided? What's included? Some firms just send a ranking report. What other details can you expect in terms of the overall strategy, next steps, web site traffic and conversions?

What are the firm's practices when it comes to ethical standards and practices? How far will they go? How do they view doorway pages, cloaking and keyword stuffing?

You need to have some idea of what you want to accomplish when selecting an SEO firm. Do you simply want to promote your brand? Do you want to increase visitors and push traffic to retailers? Do you want to improve online sales? Which categories of products will matter the most in your campaign?

You can submit your web site pages (not optimized) for free or through services that cost well below $100. Optimizing is another matter--It's going to cost money. Have some flexibility--the level of service and the firm's expertise will determine whether you pay hundreds of dollars or well over a $1,000 a month.

Michael Murray is vice president of Fathom SEO, a Cleveland, Ohio-based search engine marketing (SEM) firm. A member of Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), he also authored the white paper, "Search Engine Marketing: Get in the Game."