Things to consider before buying SEO services?

[harrygreen90]

I'm looking for some solid and reliable SEO services, at least it must help my blogs improve rankings and without getting penalized by Google or other search engines. After reading Google's SEO guidelines on unnatural links, I'm starting to get confused. So, what things do I need to consider before buying SEO services? thoughts?

 

[jitendrasurve]

First you need to check the traffic of the website who is providing SEO services. You can check any website traffic online by SimilarWeb dot com

If they are not getting good traffic how come they will increase client website traffic..?

 

[Nytshade]

So, what things do I need to consider before buying SEO services? thoughts?

I wouldn't look at their website's traffic, PA/DA etc. all that stuff can be faked easily. All you need is an seo company that will tell you: "if your rankings don't improve you get your money back".

Make sure there's a money back guarantee, you need someone who believes in their service not someone who's not sure.

Also learn some SEO yourself, no need to be an seo ninja, just know enough to spot a bad seo company a mile away and understand the seo lingo.

Hope that helps.

 

[khassani]

It would be good to ask the SEO company you choose to provide you with some references (previous clients) so you can ask them if they were satisfied with their services. A money back guarantee or a pay-by-performance plan would also be good so that you will only pay what you were promised.

In addition, you should have a contact point within the SEO agency so you can conduct weekly meetings so as to assess the progress that has been made for your project. Often times, clients just pay an SEO company and forget to check the progress of the work only to be disapointed at the end.

And as Nythshade pointed out, you should also begin to educate yourself about the best practices of SEO in order to be sure of the quality of the services you're paying for.

All the best!

 

[Lee06]

I think you should advice seo packages which promise you a ranking, and you should use seo services from company which will give you personalized services according your website. And if you have time, you can also learn how to create quality backlinks and on page optimization.

 

[Hawker]

You need to consider whether you truly need and will benefit from the SEO service they are offering to provide you and if that particular service is good value for money.

Sure, go with a reputable SEO service, but do know that you will often pay more for the privilege when you can usually get the exact same thing cheaper from a lesser well known SEO provider.

Like all things, research is your best friend, shopping around for the best deal, and finding an SEO provider that is right for your needs.

Sometimes the SEO they do is overkill and can end up hurting your rankings in the long run.

And you could end up paying through the nose for that.

Whatever you do, you will need to make sure you know exactly what you're getting and be able to verify all of it.

Sometimes you may even be able to pay half now upfront and then the rest again once the work is completed.

Sometimes you may be able to wangle a deal for reoccurring SEO that's paid for monthly or annually.

SEO is an ever ongoing thing and for tough, competitive niches, isn't hardly ever something you buy once and that's it.

SEO is constantly evolving and shifting with the times and is much more than just buying some links, slapping them on and that's it.

And SEO isn't always just something you can outsource to someone else.

Not only can this prove to be very expensive in the long run deeply cutting into your profit margin.

There are no guarantees that it will work and any SEO provider that does guarantee top rankings is lying plain and simple.

For that reason, you should learn SEO yourself and do your own SEO which isn't and doesn't need to be impossible but does guarantee the work, and it's cheaper.

Just some food for thought for you.

 

[ulterios]

You got some good replies from the members above. One thing that can't be stressed enough is to do a bit of research before choosing any SEO or SEO company to make sure that they have a good reputation.

There are tons of people/companies/services out there that are selling/providing SEO service, yet they really don't know much about it. You might be surprised at how many times I have seen people who were selling SEO services that were asking basic SEO questions on this forum or others places around the web.

Some people read a few SEO articles and think they are an expert, that's not how it works.

Just do some good research before you buy and also, you might want to do some reading on SEO yourself as well.

Good Luck.

 

[TellMeAboutIt]

I would look for a company that has measurable marketing metrics of SOME KIND. You aren't Coca Cola... don't let some company tell you that it pays to throw money at 'branding'... You need to be able to assign a dollar value to your marketing assets. If your SEO company is shying away from reports - or feeding you over complicated metrics without any context - they're probably hiding something.

 

[Charliedavid]

Questions to Ask When Hiring an SEO Consultant-

1. May I have a list of current and past clients?
2. How will you improve my search engine rankings?
3. Do you adhere to search engines' webmaster guidelines?
4. Can you guarantee my website will achieve a number-one ranking on Google, Bing and Yahoo?
5. Are you experienced at improving local search results?
6. Will you share with me all changes you make to my site?
7. How do you measure the success of your SEO campaigns?
8. How will we communicate and how often?
9. What happens when we part ways?
10. What are your fees and payment terms?


Set your goals, ask the right questions and then do your numbers: it has to be profitable for you, but remember that SEO in the post penguin age is not cheap. Some providers will over-promise but always ask them to probe their expertise.

 

[selenexo]

I think you need to consider what you really want and how much you want to spend.

Budget is everything. SEO for dumping prices wont bring you more than a few improved rankings and nothing that stays forever. Be sure you know that SEO is something you should be doing all the time, whenever you release new content it should be content google and usbaility approves. A good SEO Agency will help you with this.

The more you can spend, the more a decent agency can do for you.

Look for Referals, what agency gained a bunch of positive feedbacks from customer, then ask them to write you a concept. Let them tell you what they gonna do with your site, for your site. Are they good with OnPage or only OffPage. You probably want a good mix of both because thats what is working best at the moment.

Also ask them if they are able to help you with your Social Media and AdWords Campaigns.
How do they commmunicate with you?


In the end its your money and you should find a place that can answer your questions while also give you new ideas.