<< Back to Index How to Hire a Search Engine Specialist [continued]
12 Questions to Ask Prospective Vendors
To learn about the services and integrity of a company, you need to ask hard questions.
1. What methods do you employ to achieve top rankings? Listen for the terms doorway pages, cloaking, bait-and-switch redirect pages, and link farms - any of which will land your site in trouble if used.
2. How can you help me get links to my site? You do not want incoming links from unrelated businesses. Beware of fancy explanations of what are really link farms or cross-linking.
3. Do you subscribe to any Code of Ethics? If so which? What do you think of Bruce Clay's Code of Ethics? [ http://www.bruceclay.com/web_ethics.htm ]. What elements do you agree with?
4. How many hours do you spend on a typical webpage? Over what period of time will you be working on my account? Be aware that results may take 3 to 6 months to show up.
5. What kind of guarantee do you offer? Be suspicious of guarantees of performance. NO ONE can guarantee you a top ranking for good keywords. But do ask, will you refund my money if my site is penalized because of your SEO work on my site?
6. How does your pricing work? It should be straightforward and reasonable.
7. What keywords and keyphrases have you optimized that you are proud of? Look up some of these and see what methods have been used to achieve these rankings. How competitive are the keywords?
8. Are you associated with any trusted industry organization? Do they belong to the BBBOnline or nationally known SEO professional organization?
9. Do you speak at SEO Conferences? This shouldn't be a requirement - everyone isn't a good speaker, but if they are, then that means their peers trust them.
10. How is your site ranked for SEO keywords? The best test of an SEO is how well they market their own site. This is important when you want to target competitive keywords.
11. Can you give me the names and phone numbers of several clients you have worked with? Be sure to check these references. Ask how easy the company was to work with; if they felt they got their moneys' worth. Ask about the company's work ethics and follow-through on promises. Ask if they would recommend the SEO company without reservations and unconditionally.
12. Finally, as for the SEO vendor to send you a detailed proposal in writing. This proposal should spell out exactly what they propose to do, the time period, payments and a legal recourse for you if they don't do what they promise.
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