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Has anyone used an SEM or SEO marketing company?
I'm considering using an SEO marketing company and would like some feedback on service, results, and pricing.
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6 Answers
Although it doesn't seem intuitive, usually those SEO companies that tout 'instant guarantees for #1 results' are the ones that are illegitimate.
A good SEO knows that promising #1 results to a client is a false promise, given the number of variable factors that goes into Google's organic rankings. A good SEO will tell you that they will make sure they do everything they can to put your website on the right path towards higher rankings for various target keywords. A good SEO will do diligent research to get to know your industry & competitors while determining which keywords are high value. Most of all, a good SEO will be transparent with the work they are doing for you - they should show you exactly what they are doing and why it's important for your website's ranking.
Just like with web development, you pay for what you get in the SEO field. Better SEOs will demand higher prices, for the most part, because they are better and have yielded results for their past clients. That being said, there is a reasonable price range you should aim for: Anything over $100/hr is somewhat ludicrous, unless the firm is providing deeper development services in sync with standard keyword based optimization. Anything under $20/hr would make me question the experience of the firm, as well as question if they are overseas or using blackhat / illicit practices.
PPC Associates is a good one. David@ppcassociates.com
I would go with T3 SEM. They are an SEO Marketing firm based out of the Central Valley. T3 SEM has a few different SEM packages depending on the extent of SEO marketing you want done. All of my dealings with them have been pretty easy and they got me up to #4 on google for about 4 months. Here's the website, if you want more specifics:
http://www.t3sem.com/
I would use us. lol
Every client we have EVER had , has a first page ranking (most top 3) We do ,mostly local SEO, but have the same success with national programs. You can see our blog in the first position on Google if you search "local ranking factors 2012"
See all of our testimonials at http://www.salesjumpstart.net
Now... to answer your question without all the self promotion. ;) Talk to 3 companies. Ask about current ( With in the last 3 months) customers who are similar to your business. Ask how they report (communication is very important, and we think full transparency is essential). And ask what they will guarantee. No one can guarantee a certain position, but we all can guarantee and document rankings improvement, traffic to the site, and conversion improvements.
The decision to hire an outside consultant isn't easy. To me, it comes down to availability of resources. If you don't have competency in these areas, hire some experts.
I can't speak to SEO but on the PPC side, quantifying results is much easier. You want to look for a company that's committed to your business's success - not their own. Agencies are incentivized to spend more of your money to get a bigger fee but when it comes down to it, your profitability should be priority 1.
Before you hire an outside consultant, set expectations internally around performance and the level of service you are looking for. Once you do that, align those expectations against what each agency offers. Avoid committing to long term contracts so you can get in and out of the relationship quickly of the agency doesn't deliver.
And as Meagen wrote - PPC Associates is a good place to start :)
We have not gone this route, but continually consider the possibility, and I appreciate everyone's comments here. One thing I'm learning is that SEO is not a once and done proposition. It's something you have to continually work on, adding more content, refining your keyword selection, evaluating the traffic to your site. If your business is anything like ours, traffic is not the goal. Targeted traffic that converts into qualified leads is the goal. When we've interviewed SEO firms (some of whom I have great respect for), they don't seem to be able to guide us very well on keywords. So unless I have them talk to our clients (unlikely), then we need to do our own keyword research, because in my opinion, clients are the best resource to figure out what terms to use.
I also think it's important to find a firm that will teach you what they're doing, as David mentioned. At the end of the day, your internal people will probably be able to take on the work if they understand the process, and they'll probably be better at it because they understand your business better. But I do think the SEO specialists can provide value if they teach as they do.
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