How to Pick an SEO Professional - SEO Companies
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There are various companies with various competitive advantages. Some guarantee results, some are pay per performance, others may take your money and take forever. You should be warned that a certain level of professionalism is expected of you if you are working with a big company, and there will be a great deal more paper work. Apart from that, some companies have a really bad reputation on the Internet (and in case you don't know yet, in service industries reputation is everything) so if you want to pick an SEO company, come over and start a discussion on it at the forums.
In the past few months some SEO companies have had a microscope directed at them in the forums. Internet Advancement, etraffic jams and several others have had prospective clients start a discussion about them. Watch for current or past clients and what they have to say, and disregard hearsay as much as possible (even the forums are not infallible).
"You get what you pay for." Unknown
Cost Considerations
Unless you want SEO from an unverified source or from a total novice in the profession, do not expect bargain prices. If you get cheap SEO, I think Christmas either came early or you are being taken for a ride. Now this is totally my opinion because maybe, just maybe, some professional is charging low to undercut his competition; it's a classic disruptive technique. But it's a pretty big market, so anyone who is any good gets a whole lot of work one way or the other.
The best thing is to get some sort of pay for performance model, so that you only pay when certain benchmarks are achieved. Most that would agree to these model are solo professionals or SEO companies that practice "disruptive" marketing models; they have an edge over their competition when it comes to marketing. I will be talking more about charges and marketing techniques in a follow up article talking about how to become an SEO professional.
Quick summary: ask for references, and if it's a company, seek previous clients on forums and discussion boards. There is a discussion board under this article and a forum around here somewhere; just watch out for scammers and "shady" characters (you may have to use your judgment on that one, but the moderators will help) and you should be on a roll.
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