What To Look For In An SEO

It's been about two years now that I have wanted to write this article. Why haven't I until now?

Conflict of interest. Until recently I'd have been motivated by that necessary evil … getting business. Each time I started writing this article I subconsciously asked myself, "How can I spin this towards Beanstalk?" You can't really begrudge me this. Such is the "curse" of living in a capitalist society. Recently however we have put a hold on taking in new SEO clients. The result: consistent questions regarding who people should choose and what they should look for. And so to kill two birds with one stone, I write this now. The first bird killed is my frustration at not being able to properly write a useful article on what to look for in an SEO without bias. The second bird killed is my wasted time outlining over-and-over what people should seek out. Now I can simply point them to this article.

You've read this far so you're obviously interested in finding out what you should look for in an SEO and what you might want to avoid. So let's get right to it shall we?

Can They Rank Their Own Site?

The first thing you should look for when hiring an SEO is whether or not they can rank their own website. This may seem obvious enough but I can't count the number of times I have heard from people attracted to Beanstalk's guarantee because they wasted both time and money on an SEO firm that couldn't (or didn't) get the job done. Too often when I take a look at the SEO's website and research their targeted phrases (usually pretty obvious when you look at the title and heading tags) I find that they don't even rank for their own phrases.

This is clearly a big strike three (in this case I wouldn't even give the SEO firm a strike one or two). The only exception to this rule is if they are running a new company or website and have a proven track record from the past which can be used as their reference. In this case any consideration would require research into the individual, company, and circumstances. A good example would be Andy Beal of
What Are Some Major Warning Signs That You're On The Wrong Track?

This term "warning signs" might be better put "red flags" as the tactics noted here are ones that should send you immediately looking for a new SEO. Prepare to say, "Thank you but no." if you hear any of the following among their list of recommendations (and note: there are more than those listed – but these are some of the more common that I've seen and heard lately):

Say goodbye if you hear an SEO recommend that you build multiple website either as a linking tool by linking them together, or because it's easier to optimize a different site for a different engine. Unless you have two-or-more incompatible topics (a work site and a personal blog for example) you have no need for more than one site. And as a link building tactic it hasn't worked in a good number of years.

If your SEO is using any kind of tool to automatically generate content of any kind it's time to shake hands and be done.

If your SEO is not doing link building of some type and yet is telling you they can get you rankings for anything but the lowest competition phrases you might not need to run but you definitely need them to justify what they're saying. If you have a 6 year old site with a lot of good links already but there are some onsite issues that keep it from ranking then they may be telling the truth. If you have a new site and/or low link counts then they are not.

It seems obvious but I have to mention it anyways, if they're recommending the use of any black-hat tactics then you're in trouble. I can't possibly list off everything that fits this category but a quick read of
The Conclusion

I've tried to Coles-notes above some of the main issues that I see and hear complaints about and/or get questions on regularly. Of course there are many more. The best advice I can give is don't rush into a decision when you're choosing your SEO firm. Listen to what they're saying, ask questions and if you don't know what questions to ask take a few hours to find out on one of the many great SEO forums out there. As I don't want to leave anyone out by listing off some of the ones I visit (and I couldn't possibly include them all) I'll just recommend to search for "seo forum" and "seo blog" and visit some of the sites and ask what you should be asking. A company called Medium Blue, who's owner I had the pleasure of chatting with on Webmaster Radio a couple weeks prior to this article's publication, wrote a 3-part series of questions to ask your potential SEO firm. You can find the first part here (and find the others from there).

And one final note, it isn't always about the fees they charge. We've had a number of clients come back to us after first opting to sign with a cheaper SEO firm. In the end it cost them the lower fees and lost sales due to not ranking sooner. This is not to say that the most expensive firm will necessarily do the best job – just that you need to be aware that sometimes things can be "too good to be true". An SEO firm charging $500 will almost always be putting in different efforts than one charging $5,000. Find out what the differences are and do what's right for your business. And if you're really in doubt and don't know what to do, contact us. Even when we're not taking on clients I try to answer questions about choosing an SEO firm though it might take a couple days. Please specify in the title, "Need help choosing an SEO firm".

And good luck with your online promotions.

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