Help with SEO company.

Seo

[LostJames]

Hello,
First post here, so i there's anything goes against this board, please kindly inform me. Thanks!

Question;
I have this website that I do updates with minor SEOs.
But, by far I am no experts on SEO.
I have been getting more than enough phone calls & e-mails from other SEO companies promissing a lot of things at various cost.
Recently this new comapany got a hold of me and I find them interesting... but my feeling is in bad way.
So, I need some expert help.
The site is listed in Google 17th and 19th position on 2 of the keywords - almost only keywords that I consider of.
This SEO company is offering top 20, top 10, top 5 or top 2 position guarantee on 6 or more of majoy search engines.
No, I am interested in their top 5 or top 2 position guarantee. - they are saying I can be in top 5 or top 2 on Google on the 2 key words I want.
They even went on and showed me some of their clients results. One of them were listed 1st on Google on certain keyword. But interesting thing I found was the client's site's PageRank & Backwards Links. PageRank of 2 & Backwards links of 0. Yet, number 1 on Google.
This goes against everything I ever learned on this forum and others.
Their fees for these top5 or top2 service is high, but my site owner is still willing to pay as long as it will bring the site to top5 or top2.
The SEO company is calling me like everyday to sign this thing up. The site owner is leaving the decision to me, but I know he wants to go ahead with this (as long as it will bring the site to top5 or top2). But, my head is keep saying NO.
I NEED your expert opinion on this matter. Thank you!

[Chicago]

Common story.

IMHO:

If a SEO company is pushy, something is wrong. Most SEO companies that are successful and play by the rules are VERY busy. They don't have to convince prospects. (this is a general rule of thumb).

Ask the client how they optimize. What tactics do they use. Make sure the are not saying they will create pages for you. And make sure they are not buying CPCs.

Lastly, keywords choices can fool a lot of people. With the right Title tag, and a couple of content occurences, many people can get to the top of Google for specific keywords. Make sure are targeting valuable keywords for your business.

Talk with there clients. Shop around. Talk to several other companies, not just one.

[edited by: Chicago at 5:21 am (utc) on Mar. 4, 2003]

[hakre]

hi LostJames, welcome to webmasterworld [webmasterworld.com]!

trust your feelings, like you did and get some more infos for your decision.

a company which contacts you that often tries to force you for the deal - if a deal would be good to you, they wouldn't need that.

for keyword ranking it depens on what kind of keyword it is. say that guy you want to be listed on top2 guaranteed with the keyword 'mp3' and 'sex'. can he guarantee this ;)? guess what.

if your client wants to have a search engine optimisation of his pages which are reliable, then you should look forward to a better, much more targeted optimizer then only on: you'll get rank## for 1,2,3 keywords guaranteed. which keywords are good for example? which are used? is there an analysis about it yet? etc. pp.

<added>this can be mentioned twice i think ;)</added>

[edited by: hakre at 5:22 am (utc) on Mar. 4, 2003]

[Beachboy]

There are invariably terms and conditions to SEO guarantees, serious caution is advised. It does you no good to get a guaranteed rank on, say, the sixth most popular search engine. Whichever it is, it hasn't any significant market share.

Insofar as your instincts are concerned, particularly as they apply to what you have learned at Webmasterworld ... trust Webmasterworld.

Yes, a PR2 site with no more than one or two inbound links can rank first, but obviously the keyword(s) involved will not be competitive at all.

Good luck.

[grifter]

I NEED your expert opinion on this matter. Thank you!

I'm curious, would you post the number of stickies you get as a result of this post? ;)

[LostJames]

"I'm curious, would you post the number of stickies you get as a result of this post? ;)"

I just got a sticky (yes, one) stating there're reply to my post by who, who, who, who.

Thank you for such a quick replies.
I think I will send them e-mail asking a couple more questions.

[LostJames]

"at least 30 Directory Information Pages (D.I.P.'s)"

This is same as Bridgepages, gateway pages, whatever pages, isn't it?

[allanp73]

This reminds me of a common SEO scam where they promise top20 guaranteed. What happens the client pays for the ranking and the "SEO" scammer just pays for adwords or ranking on Overture. Sure they got you top20, but at 10 times the cost and with no lasting effect. Another trick I've seen is promising top20, but on terms that no one uses and that are not competitive.
I have worked for two years as a SEO and never promised top 20. I create a plan with the client and determine what keywords to target and set realistic goals for them. They won't get top position day one for competitive terms; however, I show them how to generate targeted traffic and build up to top positioning for many terms and eventually the competitive terms.
This is what you should look for in a SEO and it is what a SEO should provide for you. Don't look for the quick fix or false promise. Web marketing is a long term strategy because you want your web business to be long term.

[LostJames]

This sounds like what I learned from WebmasterWorld.
Thank you!

[bokesch]

There is a really pushy company in NYC but I won't say there name. All i can say is they screwed my site and promised me lies and linking on a bunch of FFA sites that did no good for my site. <snip>

[edited by: ciml at 11:53 am (utc) on Mar. 4, 2003]
[edit reason] No specifics please. [/edit]

[decaff]

LostJames,

If I understand your opening statement to this thread and you say that "your?" site is listed in Google in the 17th and 19th position on 2 of the keywords, and these two keywords are the ones you are focusing on...then you are very close to being able to bring your site up into the top 10 and very likely the top 5...the the way to do this is to continue to build out content that deepens and broadens the authority of your site and its particular subject matter...

Also, take a close look at the search engine results listing in the top 10 for the 2 keywords you want to compete for and compare those to your title and description for you listings at 17th and 19th...

You should be able to make some adjustments to your copy that will bump you up...and in the meantime you will be building out a more interesting and helpful site to your targeted audience AND over time more quality sites will link into your resource....THUS....improving your PR and authority...

Don't be pressured into a decision by some fast talking sales person who is your "friend"....