Is This Seo Expert Trying To Fool Me With Google?

pianist718 · #1 (**permalink**) 08-16-2005, 09:21 AM

I am very close to hiring an SEO Company where a guy tells me that the reason they charge $2,200 every month for as long as we work with them is because they do the same kind of job every month.

He is saying that others who charge $4,000 at a start and then just $200 are just looking to grab a nice amount at the beginning and not care for those extra $200 a month coming in. (Though ... he is not insulting others).

When I ask him what will happen after we work for 8 month for example and get to Top 5 in a fairly competitive market and then decide to end the SEO service ...he is saying that we will drop pretty fast if we don't keep on giving $2,200 a month for doing the same job as they are going to be doing in the first 3 months. As they say, their tactic is Link Building.

Can I believe these things? What is your take on it>? Is it true that in a market where there are 3.5 mill sites competing for a keyword after reaching Top 5 you can drop very fast in a month if you don't go on building links...?

greeneagle · #2 (**permalink**) 08-16-2005, 09:26 AM

Has he presented you with a preliminary competitive analysis or real & reasonable plan going forward yet?

You keep coming back with these strange SEO posts with your Site URL shrouded in mystery...

I don't understand.

Ken

KeithO · #3 (**permalink**) 08-16-2005, 09:28 AM

He's fooling you. $2000 a month? For link building? Thats goofy. The process I follow is that onsite is done up front then link building. Then, unless they control the sites they build the links on, they have zero control over them. So if the links were generated, they are yours. They stay.

greeneagle · #4 (**permalink**) 08-16-2005, 09:31 AM

Pianist,

Why won't you either take from some of the free advice here or post your URL and let us take "pot shots"!

We have engaged in several similar threads with you here on this issue without enough information to get any further than we already have in this thread now!

If you are really looking to engage an SEO or SEM company at that kind of expense, like you indicate... Why wouldn't you engage the free and valuable information you can gain here as a communication reference with such an agency?

This is not a "pie in the sky" or some hypothetical issue here!

What happened to this thread?:
http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic...hlight=#237705

We have been trying to help and offer advice.

Help us help you!

Ken

pianist718 · #5 (**permalink**) 08-16-2005, 09:52 AM

Ken,

Thanks for you reply. The reason I don't post our URL now is because our home page is waiting for a Web Copy being written right now by a web copywriter. So the look, keywords and design will change a bit.

These forums are great and I will surely post our Link in hopes of getting feedback on our efforts, but to post a link now would be a waste of your time and the time of others here.

We can spend $$ on SEO but since I know a bit about it also my plan was to start of with a SEO company for 2-3 months and then take over.

I do look forward to seing what other's think about such proposals from this SEO company.

Thank you

greeneagle · #6 (**permalink**) 08-16-2005, 10:06 AM

Pianist,

Surely you understand that without viewing the Site, code or even having the understanding that this a brand new unreleased site of unknow nature, topic and competition that not much advice can be handed down besides basic SEO/SEM info.

Anywhere between 4 and 10 manually submitted links can be done per hour, depending on the amount of relevancy research that has to occur.

Submission specialist should already have nice databases of high ranking directories to submit to.

This is more or less an administrative SEO function now and shouldn't cost more than $20-$30/hr. working those numbers over @$2000/month you should be submitted to between 400 and 1000 directories/month on the lower end....

Unless you are in a highly competitive arena, I don't see the need to submit to tens of thousands of directories, even if that kind of relevancy can be found.

Do they also inlude other SEM?

By the way...Why is it taking so long to build and launch the Site? Is it huge? Surely you can convey a Site type and topic!

Again, I must ask; Has he presented you with a preliminary competitive analysis?

Does it merrit that expenditure?

If, so why?

Share something, anything...

Is the design company associated with the SEO/SEM company?

Is the design company building in the appropriate SEO from the start?

Did the design company do the appropriate Competitive Analysis to know where they should take you?

Is the ad-copy being supplied by the owner, design company or an outside source?

Where is it coming from?

Why are they the chosen to supply it?

Does the ad-copy source have SEO, industry and competitor knowledge?

That's just the beginning of a long list!

Just the basics, at least..

Ken

pianist718 · #7 (**permalink**) 08-16-2005, 10:31 AM

Ken,

Our industry is Medical Alert systems. Our most competitive 4 keywords are

Medical Alarm
Medical ALarms
Medical Alert System
Medical Alert Systems

Site being designed by freelancers in India. (Will never do it again ... too frustrating)

Web copy writer is a pro with years of experience writing for the web keeping SEO in mind.

The SEO Expert ... never got any papers from them, no competitive analysis though they did check the competition.

Iam the one who is doing PPC, affiliate programs... as I am the Marketing manager here, bus SEO is time consuming.

SEO Expert suggests around 100 links a month not to raise any red flags in google.

Design company has no knowledge of SEO. I am having them use CSS coding, no flash and everything is static.

greeneagle · #8 (**permalink**) 08-16-2005, 10:39 AM

Pianist,

I personally don't think I would go with them (or any SEO/SEM)without:

a cursory competitive analysis
a preliminary report
a difinitive set of monthly goals
client references

You may even include a bonus if they exceed specified goals.

It's just not good practice to not have goals and roles defined.

You may also want to read through this thread and/or become involved:
http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=50388

Another important link is GOOGLE's own SEO Guide on their Webmaster's Information Website:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/seo.html

Hope this helps,

Ken

s_clay · #9 (**permalink**) 08-16-2005, 01:48 PM

Pianist;

Your terms are fairly competitive (on Google): over a million for Medical Alarms to over 12 million for Medical Alert Systems.

This type of site will also almost certainly encounter the "sandbox", making it nearly impossible to acheive decent organic rankings within a year.

A good seo campaign will help your rankings once you clear the sandbox hurdle, but you need to be smart about this.

"he is saying that we will drop pretty fast if we don't keep on giving $2,200 a month for doing the same job as they are going to be doing in the first 3 months. As they say, their tactic is Link Building."

This statement raises all kinds of red flags for me. Any project you engage in should retain value, or you may as well just stick with PPC.