By Mark Jackson , May 5, 2009
Buying into SEO is a difficult process. Without at least a basic understanding of SEO, it's really tough to tell the difference between someone who knows their stuff and someone who talks a great game without backing it up with results.
Many companies looking for SEO help -- even those with a decent understanding of SEO -- try their best to shop around, but they always end up with two simple questions:
When you're hiring for a particular position in any business, you're looking at that individual's background. You aren't just hiring them based on how much they cost, or what they say that they will (or can) do. You're hiring them based on their resume, their references, and their history of performance.
For some reason, these basic principles get lost for people when they search for an SEO company (or hire an in-house optimizer). By selecting an agency or employee purely on cost, you could be setting yourself up for trouble ahead.
The "What" of SEO
You need to know what the scope of work is when proposals are put together for SEO efforts. That is one reason why creating a SEO request for proposal (RFP) is important.
If you were designing a Web site, or even building a house, wouldn't you determine the scope of work? So, too, should you determine the scope of work for SEO efforts.
What needs to be done? What is the competitive landscape? What will the SEO firm do, and what internal resources will you put against the effort? Do you have a blog? Can you create one? Can you add copy to existing Web pages? Can you create new pages of content? Who writes the content? Can structural changes be made to your Web site? Will the SEO firm provide link building? Will social media marketing be part of the project?
The "How" of SEO
So, now that you've developed a scope of work, let's assume that two different firms send proposals that look very similar. It's safe to assume that different SEO firms have a different approach/process to how they work.
Does the SEO firm have a process that they follow? Is their methodology for link building ethical? Does the SEO firm work to help you enhance your Web presence, or are they vague in telling you how they will go about their business?
Transparency in SEO is very important. If an unethical individual does something to your site that's against search engine guidelines, you are still the one responsible for your site's content, and it will be your site that's penalized.
The "Who" of SEO
Let's assume that you're still looking at two similar proposals. It's the individuals working on your SEO who will determine the success of this effort.
This is a major reason why some SEO companies charge $300 per month and others charge $10,000 per month. A recent graduate is going to cost a lot less than a 10-year SEO veteran. That's just a fact.
If you were hiring for any other position in your company, this would make perfect sense to you. For some reason, this is lost when people are "comparison shopping" SEO companies.
Even after considering the "who," it also boils down to how much of that individual's time you can afford. SEO companies are a service-based business. They're selling their time.
Certainly, they will have tools that they pay for (and these costs are shared among the clients), but time is money. And some people's time costs more than other people's time. You should also consider all the time that these seasoned professionals have put into research, reading, studying, attending conferences, and otherwise honing their craft.
The "Who" and "How" are Every Bit as Important as the "What"
If you were to hire a company that was less than ethical (their approach to link building was buying as many links from whatever cheap sources that they could find), or put individuals on your project that had perhaps a handful of SEO efforts under their belt, or work was outsourced to individuals that don't even work for the company that you've hired, that is arguably more important to know than the "what." Keep this in mind as you're going through the challenge of hiring an SEO company or an individual.
Check references, see rankings for yourself (against keywords that "matter"), get information on the individuals that would be working on the efforts, and talk to the company about their process. Think of this in the same manner that you might if you were interviewing an individual for any other position with your company.
You want someone with high integrity, energy, enthusiasm, a likeable personality, and a good approach to business. They should have a solid understanding of the job that you're hiring them for, and a plan for success.