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Articles Index >> Marketing
Should You Pay for SEO Services?
by Michael Cheney
There are thousands of companies on the Internet offering search engine optimization,
SEO, services. There are some that are better than others, but the question
is whether or not any of them are worth paying for.
I used to be in the search engine optimization game myself. I ran a consultancy
and charged companies thousands of dollars every year for me to optimize their
websites. Now, I offered a value for money service but the fact of the matter
is that not all companies do that.
What you need to look out for if you’re thinking of paying for search
engine optimization is the level of customer service, testimonials and case
history. You need to go through the company’s case history with a fine
tooth comb. Look at the clients they’ve worked for and, if possible, get
in contact with their SEO clients. See what rankings and search engine positions
they’ve been able to obtain for their clients.
Also spend some time trolling the search engines, like Google and MSN, to see
where the company themselves are ranked in the search engine ranking positions.
If they’re not highly ranked or if they don’t have a decent position,
the chances are that they don’t know as much as they say they do.
Some companies who provide search engine ranking services say that they don’t
have time to promote their own website. You may believe this or you may choose
to think that this is just an excuse.
There are some companies out there which are worth paying to provide SEO services,
but you need to be very careful. Make sure you understand exactly what it is
that they are offering you. Are they going to include any paid online advertising?
Are there any elements that you could do yourself and save money?
Ultimately it comes down to a question of time and money, just like everything
else. Obviously search engine optimization is not a black art. It’s just
a case of investing enough time to learn the ins and outs of how the search
engines work.
One of the biggest things that search engines look at is the amount of content
on your site. The more pages of content you have on your website, the more phrases
there will be connected to your site and, therefore, the more chances you have
to appear in the rankings. So why not ask the search engine optimization services
provider if they actually offer you a content creation service.
At all costs you should avoid the emails and services that claim to get you
to the top of all the search engine rankings for 99 dollars or whatever. There
are so many of these scams out there that it really does annoy me and I have
pity on website owners and webmasters faced with this constant barrage of spam
and dodgy offerings.
The easiest way to choose a search engine optimization expert for your business
is to look at what they’ve done for their own site and what they’ve
done for their customers. Also try and buy one or two books or courses about
search engine optimization so that you have a basic knowledge and can communicate
with the service provider to ensure they are doing a good job.
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