I need to outsource some of my SEO marketing. I’m NOT looking for references, but rather how I should evaluate references I’ve received. How do I pick a firm or individual? What are the qualities I should look for and/or metrics that I should use to measure them?
Michael Cyger
[ Admin ]
In no particular order:
- References. Get at least 3 and call all three. Not calling references won’t help you. Tell the references that anything they say to you will be held in strictest confidence, so they should feel free to speak openly.
- ROI. Do they provide a Return on Investment (ROI) analysis on a regular basis? This does not mean that you’ll achieve X00% ROI, but if they’re not measuring it regularly on your behalf, then they’re probably not thinking about it regularly either.
- Results. Ask them for a list of sites they’ve optimized in the past few years. They may have a case study written up. Ask how your industry/market/segment compares to those (more or less competitive). Ask for specifics on the improvements in SEO, how visitors increased, how conversations and sales increased, etc. And make sure you ask them over what time period you can expect to see these results. There’s no 100% correct answer, so just make sure you feel comfortable with the answer.
- Reporting. Ask for a sample report they provide to other clients (they can black out the name/URLs or other identifiable information). How often do they provide the report? What should you glean from this report? Does it help you see what they focus on and why?
- Client cross links. I don’t like it when SEO firms cross link client sites (put hidden or not hidden links on all their customer sites cross promoting other sites that are not related). This is a type of black hat SEO. I’m sure no reputable firms do this, but I’ve seen it done in the past.
- No ransom. There should be no reason (besides a contract) that you could not walk away from the SEO firm and have a penalty applied. For example, if they claim that leaving the firm early will result in lower PageRank due to links being pulled down from other sites, they’re not doing white hat SEO. Look for any signs (written into the contract, things they say, etc.) that would make you feel like leaving early might be at your detriment — there should be no reason for this.
Signs you should turn tail and run:
- Money back guarantee. Or any guarantee. SEO cannot be guaranteed, as there are too many factors. Now, unless they were creating a one to two year plan for you, and measured your rankings today (#34,232) and a year from now they said you would be higher (#34,231) — which any newbie SEO'er could probably achieve — I wouldn’t value it.
- $99 special. There are no magic bullets to SEO. It’s like building a website with well written content — it takes time to do it right. Hiring a professional to help with SEO is no different. Beware the snake oil salespeople and Adwords that try to convince you otherwise.
What else am I missing, everyone?
Updated 9/22/10: Dean at Compass SEO just posted this useful article entitled "10 Questions to Ask an SEO Consultant Before you Hire."