You have made the decision; you made all your calculations and budgeting and you now realize that it’s best for your business to outsource SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and Internet Marketing. So what’s the next step? Here are some answers to questions to assist you in the decision making process:
1- Where do I begin?
Ask your friends and associates first. A company with a known to people you know and trust is always a good start. Do not only rely solely on this reference but make sure that everything they say makes sense to you from a business and profitability perspective.
If there’s nobody around you who has done this or who knows any SEO company, start your research. Identify what you want, set your goals, search on Google and call SEO companies to ask specific questions. Ask them if they can deliver and how they will achieve it. Remember, there are NO SECRETS in SEO and everything should be transparent.
2- How do you confirm the truth?
This is very simple. Ask for previous successes and confirm that the case studies provided to you were actually serviced by that specific company. (Footer information will usually reveal this)
Ask for live references! Make sure that they can give you legitimate references and ask very specific questions to these references. What was their experience? What was their ROI over a year? What are the visible results and increase in business?
3- What about price?
This is a delicate issue for many prospects as well as legitimate SEO Companies. A good SEO project will cost anywhere from 18k to 100K for the first year depending on the complexity of the project, expectations and the competition level.
Here’s an example. If you came to Optimum7 and you asked to be #1 on Google for the term “Mortgage” in 12 months, we would first tell you that this is very difficult and that you should at least have a budget of 250k for the first year. Then, we would say we cannot promise that you will be #1 in 12 months. However, we can promise increased visibility and business. The fact is that for the most competitive terms, it can take literally years to reach the top of the mountain for terms that have hundreds of millions of competitive web pages.
Many people confuse ranking high with profits and earnings. You can be #1 for many terms and you can get tons of traffic, but if you cannot convert that traffic to sales / revenue, it will not mean much. So make sure that you choose a company who understands this concept and who will pursue profitability and ROI, not just ranks.
4- Should I get into a long-term contract with an SEO Company?
That really depends on the company policy. However, SEO does not happen overnight and it takes time. It’s a tedious manual process, there are no shortcuts and it requires a lot of diligence. Very few companies possess the skills, the processes and the will to achieve this level of professionalism. If you believe that you have found the right company, do not fear a 12-month contract, it will probably benefit you more. Of course, this goes hand-in-hand with Transparency.
There are many other questions you can ask. However, the most important elements you need to confirm are expectations, ROI, Professionalism, Experience and Expertise. Again, make sure everything makes sense to you from a business standpoint. If the offer is too good to be true, it surely is.
Click here to contact us for a no obligation consultation on how to find the right SEO Company for you.
August 28, 2009
