The Google Webmaster Central blog announced that they recently rewrote an article about whether Google recommends SEOs. To summarize, the article says that there are benefits, but there are also things you should look out for in an SEO and in your selection of one. For example, when choosing an SEO, you might want to ask some questions:

• Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories?
• Do you follow the Google Webmaster Guidelines?
• Do you offer any online marketing services to complement your organic search business?
• What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe?
• What's your experience in my industry?
• How long have you been in business?

They also added a piece of advice that WebmasterWorld administrator tedster appreciated:

If you're thinking about hiring an SEO, the earlier the better. A great time to hire is when you're considering a site redesign, or planning to launch a new site.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld and Google Groups

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