SEO - Who can I trust?
This is probably the most asked question. But how do you separate the effective operators from the BS artists?
All you need to do is take time out to do some research.
You will get those that use language that is almost gobbledygook and endless acronyms, but avoid the real meat of the matter. They rarely are able to define realistic time lines and/or milestones of achievement.
The there are the "big guns" who use their own techniques to promote their own sites, but have so many minions working for them, they have little or no real commitment to you as an individual client. The more employees they have, the higher their overhead usually is and that means less of the money you are paying, actually ends up being used for the work you are paying for. Many of these can also be categorized as scam artists as they are very quick to take your money, but come up with all sorts of excuses when the deliverables are not forthcoming.
Showing their prowess by asking you to use a very narrow key phrase and their "client" is at #1 is pretty meaningless. Anyone can put up a simple page and title it "yellow sheep shearing tools" and your page will almost be guaranteed a No 1 spot. Using obscure search terms to show off their achievements does not cut it. Let them show you some really competitive search terms and the sites they have worked on, then look at the results.
Essentially an SEO should be able to do the following:
- Communicate in language you can understand. Content, Linking, Visitor Retention. If they say much more than, it may be an idea to walk away from them.
- Even though there is no such thing as being able to "guarantee a top 10 result" there are those SEO's out there that will do their utmost to "make a plan" with some form of assurance that your site will do well. We all realize that the postal service cannot "guarantee" that your mail will be delivered, but boy do they try hard to make sure you do get it. An SEO that provides this type of assurance, is someone to take note of.
- Negotiate. Make sure that the SEO you do select, is prepared to negotiate a suitable package that meets your needs. There is no "out the box" package that can be used for all clients and it is preferable to have some form of performance measurement linked to the payments you make. That way you will only pay when they achieve pre determined results. When you do pay stick to using a credit card, as it is possible to reverse payments in the event you feel you have been duped.
The reality is that there is no way of knowing who is going to be the best for you, some SEO's work better with selected search engines and others with different ones.