How Much Can an SEO Company Really Help You?

There is an excellent topic at a WebmasterWorld thread (required paid access). The topic is named, "Am I asking for too much from SEO companies?"

In short, the thread has one person who has several sites and has, over the years, had to hand over the SEO work to SEO companies. He has been through "all the 'SEO' firms in town" and is really never happy with the outcome. He asks, is he asking too much from these SEO companies? Is he expecting too much? Can an SEO company help him at this point?

We have discussed in the past the pros and cons of bring SEO in house. Clearly, an SEO who focuses for a long time in a specific industry may have some advantages. But at what point are your sites too big for an external SEO company?

The thread doesn't really go off on the size issue. The discussion there is more about what to expect from SEO companies and how to utilize them for a network of site in your situation. Some recommend that for his situation, he should just ask a few trusted SEO companies for SEO audits and then compare those audits. Maybe hiring an SEO on a month to month basis, doesn't pay for him - or maybe it does.

Like I said, lots of good questions and discussion around the top of the value of an SEO company in the thread.

Forum discussion in the WebmasterWorld Supporters Forum.

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posted rustybrick in SEM / SEO Companies at September 7, 2009 8:48 AM Comments (5)

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The client, in this case, clearly hasn't chosen the right SEO agency! A good company can be few and far between, and a company with any real "fight" will want to prove their worth before demanding huge contracts.

My advice - choose a decent company!

Posted by Daniel at September 7, 2009 09:41

This is why it's a good idea to start small. If you tell one agency that they're going to be in charge of your whole SEO operation, you're betting the farm on them. It might be better to give different SEO agencies different sites to work with, and see how you like the results -- not just the change in traffic, but also their responsiveness, adaptability, etc. The risk of this strategy is that you'll end up with a good salesman who uses high-risk blackhat techniques: high rankings in the short run, massive penalties thereafter.

Posted by Byrne at September 7, 2009 10:11

A good tip is to try a small site with an new SEO company first. Let them work on it for 6-12 months. If the site tanks in the SERPs, due to too many links, or does not rise far enough due to lack of links or the wrong type of links...then not so much harm is done.

Once you find a reliable company to work with, you can try to repeat the success with another site.

Posted by sem4u at September 8, 2009 05:48

My tip is that the person should have to do a good analysis of his websites and then note down the points where his websites are lacking then he have a clear perspective about his requirements then he can choose a good SEO Agency then check the result i can assure if company is decent then you will see improvement in results of your website over internet as you are attached to these websites for a long time then you can explain the points where your website is lacking.

Posted by No Name at September 8, 2009 06:27

It can also come down to budget even the best seo agency cant get results for $100/month. I would assume that their expectations are too high and maybe their industry is far more competitive than they think.

What is the feedback they are getting from the seo agencies, if it is consistent between them there might be something more to the issue that they have picked bad seo firms.

Posted by David at September 10, 2009 17:23

How Much Can an SEO Company Really Help You?

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