Six Choices on Who Does Your SEO (Search Engine Optimzation) - Internet Marketing Advice by Gervais Group LLC

Once the decision is made to outsource your search engine optimization, the next move is to decide on who does it. Here are six of the choices you’re likely to come across:

1) The whiz kid - There is always someone in your life who knows “someone” or “has a guy”. While their intentions are most likely honorable, the suggestion to hire their son who is home for summer and can do amazing things with a computer isn’t going to do you any favors. Taking on an “intern” who may or may not be familiar with search engine optimization may save you some money but will be about all the good that comes from it.   

2) The moonlighter – Like the whiz kid referral, people start coming out of the woodwork as soon as you start talking about designing a site or hiring an SEO company. The moonlighter usually has a job that takes up most of the work day already but has some experience in doing what you need to get done. More often than not, the moonlighter will be a friend or someone in your social circle and with that comes a degree of trust but there’s also the risk that the relationship becomes a problem if things don’t go to plan. Maybe the question to ask is, “If this person can deliver the SEO results I need, why isn’t search engine optimization this person’s day job?”

3) Two guys and a dog in their garage – The first sign that your prospective SEO company is structured along these lines is that your meetings are held at Starbucks which, hopefully, is big enough that you don’t have to sit next to the frappacino machine. There can be a lot of talent in these types of companies and many of them can run successful SEO campaigns. It’s all good unless a bigger fish arrives at their doorstep. With a finite amount of hours in the day and a couple people to work them, making time for a bigger project could cut into the time they’re able to spend on your website. The other possibility is that your site gets outsourced with all the risks that go along with that option.

4) Guys in black hats – Black hat SEO will not only cost you money, it could cost you your online business. Reminiscent of the old “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature” commercials, replace the words Mother Nature with Google and wait for the lightening to strike your website if your SEO company is using practices that the search engines don’t agree with. Not getting results is one thing, but getting your site blacklisted will be a much bigger problem.

5) Big promises, low cost, no results – These SEO companies tend to use words like “guarantee”, “first page”, and “SEO secrets unknown to anyone else”. Whether they’re guys in black hats or just guys trying to separate you from your money, run away fast and far if you hear those words in the sales pitch. The low cost part doesn’t work either. With the time and labor required of successful SEO campaigns, the only way this kind of company can make money is simply by doing nothing or something close to it.

6) Companies that deliver – Successful search engine optimization requires time and labor, both of which require money. There is no way around it and reputable SEO companies won’t hesitate to tell you that. Optimizing for competitive industries and associated keywords can take hundreds of hours just to get things moving. Nonetheless, the return on the investment made for successful search engine optimization is much greater than any other form of advertising, bringing with it branding, awareness, and consumers looking to buy what you have to offer.

It’s human nature to look for shortcuts and the best deal out there. In hiring the right SEO company, taking shortcuts is counterproductive and the best deal is likely to be much more expensive than others on the table. It’s said all the time, and it couldn’t be more true than in search engine optimization, “You get what you pay for”.