Can you show me proof of your methods working?

This is usually the first question that a client wants to ask. And it is perfectly understandable. SEO can be a very expensive service, and a lot of your business rides on it’s success. Unfortunately this is a tricky one. With website design, it’s easy to show a portfolio. In this business, many clients don’t want anyone to know who they used, especially if it worked. The idea is to dissect every method that a company or person is going to apply. Ask as many questions as you can. Make good use of the following questions and you should have enough information to make an educated decision.

Tell me what methods you plan on applying when trying to rank my site.

This is important because you really should know what’s going on. There are methods that can not only not help your ranking, but get your site into a lot of trouble with the search engines. Try to get at least a basic rundown on what a specialist is going to do to optimize your site. It’s easy enough to find Google’s webmaster guidelines on the Internet. Match them up and see if everything they plan on doing is OK.

What do you mean by “optimize” my page?

Even if you can’t quite grasp everything that we as specialists do in this respect. Try to understand the difference between making good use of your target terms on your page, and spamming. Take note that a person or company is not applying illegitimate methods like hiding text or making it so small you can’t see it.

How many links will you promise my site? And where will they come from?

There are many services out there that promise a large amount of links in a short amount of time. One of two things will likely happen. Either these are automated, providing you with a piece of code to put on your site so as to easily add and trade links with others in the same program. Or, you will be getting a large amount of links from places that are not relevant, in turn not helping. Link popularity, when done correctly, is time consuming and tedious. Thus creating a price that seems almost unfair. But the rewards are more than worth it. Link popularity will not only get traffic from other relevant sites, but also help in the search engines. There are a few posts about link popularity on the SEO Blog and FAQ’s page, so check them out when deciding on a service.

How long will it take for my site to gain ranking?

This is, at the same time, my favorite and most hated question. SEO takes some time. But the time it can take for a site to rank can be even longer. If you are promised that you will gain ranking within days, or even months depending on your desired search terms, really do some homework. Some terms are very competitive and it will take a great deal of time to rank. Usually, there aren’t too many terms that can not be handled in under a year. Methods that rank a site quickly, are sometimes a little on the gray side of acceptable practices. There is a saying in this field. “Fast. Quality. Cheap. You can pick any two, but you can’t have all three.” There are cases that a site can rank quickly, most often involving scarce competition or local services. Be sure to ask how the time line you are given was decided upon.

Hopefully, with these questions in your arsenal, you will be able to choose a service that will meet the needs of your business. If you have any questions regarding a service, feel free to email us. Note that I will not be able to give opinions on the validity of a specific company offering a service. I have honestly not ever used another service other than my own. But if there is anything that you need help in figuring out, we will be happy to assist.