Outsourcing SEO

[PMC-312087]

I have decided to give my website a boost by outsourcing some of my SEO.

Especially looking for building quality backlinks and help with Google Places. Any good recommendations?

[KeriMorgret]

I'd also say read the Beginner's Guide to SEO (from SEOmoz). This will help you be able to judge if the people you are looking to hire know what they are talking about or are just telling you whatever they think you want to hear.

[ericpratum]

Look for a local SEO if possible...at least to get started with. Later, when you know more about working without outside SEOs, it might be easier to go with someone remote. Also, I'd probably question hiring an SEO that just says, "Yeah," "We can totally do that," etc, etc, etc to everything and never pushes back on what's realistic, the benefits and drawbacks of certains approaches, and so on. If I'm working with an outside SEO, I want someone that will educate me a bit, be as open as possible, and help me understand when I'm being too conservative (avoiding all risks) or too daring/questionable/etc.

It sounds to me like you might be looking for 2 SEOs as well...depending on how much your budget is. Some people only specialize in local, while others only specialize in LB. Certainly, you can find someone to do both though. It just depends on how much of each, and how much specialty, you want.

[RobertFisher]

Wait, there are sooo many SEO experts out there, it should be easy! OK, just kidding about one of my pet peeves.

I would first take a step back and ask some questions of myself, just like I would do if I were going to hire someone into my company: What do I want to accomplish by this hire? How will I know when it is accomplished (what metrics will be used)? What measures will I use to know this is the right hire? What are things I cannot accept in this position? Etc.

Anyone who has been in business even a short amount of time has made a poor hiring decision. Do all the things you would do to avoid making a poor hiring decision. Then, begin looking for companies/people who fit the initial picture of what you want: quality backlink strategist and Google Places expertise.

If they are a quality link strategist, they will be able to point to sites they have handled and explain how they got the links that are there now. If they are knowledgeable in Places, they will be able to show you that knowledge in sites that are clients. I would not tell anyone what your site is until you interview them if there is a way to avoid it. (Maybe you just keep it general and say you are looking for a marketing company, not sure what you need, etc and don't stress SEO). The reason is I don't want them to go get the knowledge from someone/somewhere else and come back to me with it. I want experience.

I would set up to interview a minimum of 3 companies. I would pick those three from at least ten or twelve. I do not necessarily agree that those who are ranking high in SEO are the best providers of SEO services, but I do not think they are excluded from being the best either.

I would then have a specific set of questions around, How would you......? Get backlinks onto my site? Improve my ranking? (This would be loaded in that if they say we would..... before they say which pages, what key words or phrases...then, oops)

I would give them 15 minutes alone with the site a piece of paper and a pen and ask them to come up with a plan that would improve the site/rankings, etc. Then, I would ask them when that would be accomplished. At what cost?

Lastly, I would ask for a slew of references of clients. The real issue is if they are truly experts at SEO, there will be a string of clients ready to recommend them even if 75% of their clients require confidentiality. I would then CHECK the references with specific questions about what they did for you, how they did it, how long it took, what they did not like, etc. Just like a job hire.

Now, I realize the answer is long and the task list is longer. But, I have hired large marketing firms and 6 months and a lot of dollars later had to kick myself for not asking more questions and interviewing more companies and checking more references. So, fool me twice, shame on me.

Good Luck,

Oh, yeah, If they make more statements about how good they are than they ask questions about you, your company, your needs, and what you are doing now, they are probably not a good fit.

[zealmedia]

If their site looks dodgy, they probably are! And reject anyone that claims 'guaranteed' rankings. Speak to a couple of agencies and make a decision on how well they explain what processes they would use to improve your site, not just generic examples. As Ryan says, somebody with experience working with clients in your industry would be a good start.

[AdoptionHelp]

I'm guessing you'll get some good responses from this forum. If not, try doing a search for SEO and your city, or SEO and your industry (ex "SEO retail"). Those at the top of the results have already proven they can rank for their target keywords, so they should probably be able to help you as well.

Good luck!