Selecting a good SEO provider

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process for increasing the accuracy of a search engine's analysis of a website so that it will show up higher in the relevancy rankings in search results. For companies who do not have the capability to do this for themselves, finding a good SEO provider can be important. Finding the right one, however, can be tricky.

SEO is a fairly new discipline, and there is little to no formal training available for would-be practitioners. Many in the industry learn from gleaning what information the search providers make available, exchanging ideas with peers, and through sheer trial and error. While many can get very good at SEO this way, it provides little hard certification a company can look to as evidence of expertise.

I spoke to George Seybold, president of Seybold Scientific, about what to look for in an SEO provider. He listed four key components that should be included in any SEO effort; content, framework, links, and traffic. "There’s so much slight-of-hand out there in the marketplace," says Seybold. "There are website developers that say 'Yes, we do search engine optimization.' Maybe they put in the framework for search engine optimization, but they don’t do all the other stuff. So really ask the questions."

One of the key questions he recommends is to ask them what their approach is. If they only list one or two of the components they will likely not be as effective as they should be. Another is to look at their reputation. While the fact that an SEO provider works out of his house is not necessarily an automatic mark against them, the more a provider focuses on their business image and standing in the community the more reliable they are likely to be. Ask for references; former clients you can talk to who can verify the provider delivered what was promised. Check with the Better Business Bureau.

Seybold also suggested in might be worthwhile to hire a second consultant to verify the work of the first. "A certain interior design company called me up the day before yesterday and said, 'Hey George, they said they did SEO. We’re not seeing ourselves pushed up in the search engines at all. Can you see that they did?' It was so blatantly apparent that they didn’t even do anything in the website framework for SEO... So they paid $1200 for SEO and they got zero out of it."

Verification, whether you do it yourself or hire a third party, can be critical for another reason. Some less reputable SEO providers will try to "game" the system by using tricks to dupe the search engines into ranking a site higher than it should be. While this may provide a short-term gain, your site could be de-listed by the search engine if caught. Your site will not be included in any search unless you can convince the search engine to give you another chance. Ask questions. Make sure your provider can explain to you what they did. If anything sounds fishy you may want to get a second opinion. Also check to see if your ranking does indeed improve.

As with most industries, the more mature SEO becomes as a discipline the more likely the industry will implement its own form of certification to ensure you are dealing with a reputable provider. Until then, a company seeking help with SEO needs to do their homework to make sure they will get quality work from a reputable provider. Getting the right provider can mean a significant jump in your site's ranking, resulting in a measurable increase to your bottom line.

This article is part of a series based on an inteview with George Seybold of Seybold Scientific. Click below for additional articles in the series:
- What is SEO, and why should you care?
- Search engine optimization and gaming the system
- Full transcript of my interview with George Seybold

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