What You Need to Know About SEO, Pt. 4

Previous Sections:

Part 1:  What is SEO and Why Should I Care?

Part 2: Does SEO Really Matter?

Part 3: What should I expect from SEO?

Now:  How do I know if someone pitching SEO services knows what they are talking about?

It seems as though every one is talking about SEO and pitching their services right now and as with any “hot topic” not all service providers are created equal. Whether you are being approached by an SEO service provider or are actively looking for one there are a few key things which can help you sort out many of the fly by night operations. If I were going to hire someone for SEO, here are the things I would look for:

1. Web Experience: In general, how long have they been in the game, even prior to the onset of SEO (as we know it now). Individuals with years of experience building sites, managing content, etc… should have a better undertanding of the big picture and how SEO fits into it.
2. Metrics: This breaks down into two parts. a) They should be offering you measurable metrics on which you can judge their performance such as an improved page rank, increased traffic, the number of individual pages on your site generating search traffic, the ratio of visitors to keywords and b) the should not be guaranting you the #1 page rank on Google. We all want the #1 page on Google for some keyword but SEO is an ever changing game and I would be skeptical of anyone making such promises.
3. Understanding the Evolution: SEO is an on going process, not something you do once and walk away from so if someone is talking to you about managing SEO on a month to month basis they aren’t (necessairly) trying to just pull money out of you over a long period of time, again, you should be measuring their success. However, they should be helping to train you or the people that write for your site how to handle their part of SEO (keyword rich writing, good titles, appropriate use of header tags) while they are managing the technical side.
4. Understanding Keywords: The SEO consultant should also understand how to target appropriate keywords and phrases to your business. This includes understanding the keywords and phrases that you don’t want to focus on. Keywords to avoid are more important in pay-per-click advertising where you are paying everytime a keyword drives someone to your site but if they aren’t targeting keyword/phrases then you still aren’t getting your money’s worth.
5. SEO takes time: As I said before, it is evolutionary, it doesn’t have to take a long time but don’t expect your SEO consultant to come in and drive traffic up by the time you get back from grabbing your morning latte’. If they tell you then can do it that fast be wary. There are ways to goose traffic for a short burst, get you excited, they take the check and head out the door as you watch your traffic dwindle back to its previous level. You are paying the consultant, learn from them while they are there.

These 5 things might not keep all of your enimes outside the gate but it should help filter out many of them. Not long ago my father was approached by someone pitching SEO and they dropped a long list of keywords in front of him  that his site was not optimized for. Obviously they didn’t know what his one and only son does and fortunately he called me. At the top of the list they caught a few that might have helped but it wasn’t long before the list off 200 or so keyword/phrases was for things like “home healthcare california,” the problem being my father is in New Jersey and operates locally. The point is, if someone cold calls you and drops a list like that on your desk, take a look and see if all of them really apply. There may be some keword/phrases you wouldn’t have thought of that might help but if they clearly don’t apply (like California to someone who only does business in New Jersey) then it’s an instant disqualifer for that consultant.

Coming Up: Part 4: How to find a trustworthy SEO service provider?