Does SEO need access to site to give a quote??

michstar01 · #1 (**permalink**) 01-29-2008, 05:47 PM

I am considering changing from my current SEO to a new one. I have contacted one firm and they say that they need my password from my hosting company so that they can access my website and review it. They say that they cannot give me a quote without this.

Is this reasonable?

Thank you for any help!

bobitza · #2 (**permalink**) 01-29-2008, 07:07 PM

Care to share the link to your website?

If your site is not "static" (.htm files) the content is generated dynamically either from database or with the help of templates. Internal SEO (as part of the overall SEO) deals with web pages content (pages titles, text, etc.) they will need to see how the web pages are built. This can be the reason why they need access to the "raw" files ... or maybe they just wanna hijack your site, lol!

Just by visiting your website and looking at the web page source doesn't help as it displays the "finished product" ... they need to see how the page was constructed.

michstar01 · #3 (**permalink**) 01-29-2008, 08:27 PM

Thanks very much for the reply.

Can't they just look at the page source to see those things?

bobitza · #4 (**permalink**) 01-29-2008, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michstar01

Can't they just look at the page source to see those things?

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobitza

Just by visiting your website and looking at the web page source doesn't help as it displays the "finished product" ... they need to see how the page was constructed.

Example: A page can be "constructed" from multiple pages; page.php calls header.php, then template.php and then footer.php. In header.php you call a header.tpl.html which gives the page's title ... and so on.

If you look at the page source you won't see those things. You will see a complete page from <html> to </html>

kruser · #5 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 10:05 AM

I can certainly understand the need to see the server side script.

As with personal and business relationships I think trust is one of the most important qualities.

I would not give my account information to someone unless I have qualified them as trustful.

Best Regards,
Randy
www.FreeAdvertiser.com

Zombie Master · #6 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 11:14 AM

I can certainly understand your reluctance and would object also. Most SEO quotes can be determined by the source code, imo.

To underscore my opinion, send me the url and your email and I'll send you a pdf file of what would need to be done to improve SERP's.

I normally charge upwards of $500 for this initial report and take on very few clients because of time restraints.

mawells · #7 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 11:59 AM

As an SEO firm, we've been fooled more than once by HTML extensions only to find that a site was done completely in PHP and draws from a database.

If you want an accurate quote, the person needs to see what they're going to have to work with. A database driven site may need much more work than one would think to create dynamically generated title tags and meta tags.

With that said, they should be able to give you a "ball park" quote based on whether the site is considered to be static HTML or drawing from a database and they should be able to reserve the right to turn down the job if they are hit with a surprise and a database that they can't work with or get access to.

Source code, as stated earlier, only shows the completed HTML code after the browser compiles it. The SEO firm needs to work on the raw coding.

arbpen · #8 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 12:44 PM

This is what I do:
A. I look that site's source first. I validate it, see what's going on with the CSS, etc. All I need to know is in the source. Even if the content is generated server side, the client has no knowledge of that fact, whether the client is a browser, bot, phone of fridge.

B. If the source needs a lot of help, then I go back to the client and ask how the content is generated. I also tell the client WHAT I found that needs to be fixed. At this point, we know what needs to be fixed, and just need to know how to fix it. Now, if the client does not know how the content is generated, then I ask for the developer's contact information, and talk to the developer. See, I still have had no need to access the client's site.

At this point, once I know what's wrong, and how to go about fixing it, I can give a quote - but I never needed to have access to the client's site.

My suggestion to you is to Google for the company who is offering you services (NOT by using their company name). If they do not appear quickly, then I would wonder what kind of services they are REALLY offering.

sph001 · #9 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 02:38 PM

Perhaps offer to take the homepage or another page of their choosing - and send them code (ie in a text file for instance). then they can see what is up without having to access your site.

it is better than giving someone access to your host - which I would not do until there was trust.

alhefner · #10 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 02:42 PM

I would not give my root access info to any contractor. It would be much safer to setup an account that would allow that contractor access to the website files. Check with your hosting company if you are not familiar with doing this.

If you have problems with the contractor, you can delete thier account as well as gather any evidence of wrongdoing if you need to take legal action.

ash · #11 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 03:58 PM

I have to agree partly with the original poster's SEO. You do need to see the code, like others have said, but you don't need to see it in-situ, that is, on the very website. I would ask the prospect to zip up a few relevant files, e.g. header, footer, index, sidebar, anything that makes up product pages and other distinctive page layouts.

Now most website owners wouldn't know where to begin, so they could be asked to zip up the whole collection of php/asp files. But most people wouldn't know where to find them, or how to zip them up, so the thought of giving the original site's login is looking like the best option.

The quoting SEO also needs to protect themselves, so I would recommend that a simple contract be drawn up just for the quote. It should state that the SEO will not damage or change anything on the site and that the owner will immediately change the password after the SEO has taken a copy. The SEO will treat this knowledge as commercial-in-confidence and destroy the code if the SEO contract does not eventuate.

hemumlbx · #12 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 05:21 PM

YES THEY HAVE TO SEE TO GIVE YOU CORRECT QUOTE

THERE IS NO QUESTION IF THEY ASK YOU.

THEY CAN START GIVING YOU $100 AND THEN THEY CAN END UP LOSING $1000 WITH THE CRAPPY BUILT BY UR X.DEVELOPER

BUT AS MENTIONED ON TOP YOU HAVE TO TRUST THEM

DONT GO TO SINGLE GUYS WHO DOES NOT HAVE INC. OR RUN OF INDIVIDUALS IN THIS CASE

DOES NOT MEAN THEY CANT, DOES NOT HAVE ANY SECURITY

TRY FINDING SOMEONE IN UR OFFICE

OR U CAN ARRANGE A VNC OR DESKTOP SHARING AND GIVE THEM DEMO AND NOT LET THEM EDIT THE SITE SO ITS EASY THAT WAY

IF YOU NEED SOME HELP I CAN HELP FOR NO MONEY BUT NOT MORE THAN 1 HOUR OF TIME

CALL ME IF YOU WANT 15195842700

Cool Site Creator - Free web hosting and design for select sites, cheap hosting and design for others
Ontario Registry For Online Business Directory - Ontario Registry

bobitza · #13 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 10:01 PM

@hemumlbx
wrong keyboard mate, go back to the store and change it.

@OP
If you decide to give the SEO company access, I reckon a FTP read-only access is enough for them to give a quote. The worse it can happen is they get a copy of your files and do what? Clone it? They would have to create the database anyway ...

If you hire them, there's another story, they might need full access. But once again, not much damage they can do.

**incrediblehelp** · #14 (**permalink**) 01-31-2008, 11:33 PM

I must say I have never needed to the FTP info before signing a client. I simply ask them the questions that I need answers to. Why do I have to log into the server myself first, when i can simply ask the client what I need to know.

bobitza · #15 (**permalink**) 02-01-2008, 09:19 AM

True, but if the client is not familiar with the web technologies used, he/she might not know the answer or give you a wrong one. Anyways, yes, first ask and then shoot, lol !

blitzen · #16 (**permalink**) 02-02-2008, 03:34 PM

Don't do it. If they know what they're doing, they can give a quote without getting into the code. AlHefner and IncredibleHelp are right on the dime.

The SEO company should be knowledgeable enough to figure out how much work is needed if they know the software brand that generates your pages (name of third party software) and they can research it from there.

If they don't know the software, then they should be able to come up to speed right away with learning how to optimize your pages. If it's custom software, you don't want it jeopardized.

Besides, as I understand it from reading this forum, what the user sees is what's important. And that is usually a simple interface that's used.

As a last resort, make another server account - read only - for them. And monitor their activities.
Accidental deletes do happen.

CONTACT MORE SEO specialists, then make your decision. This company can't be the only one that can do the job.

danlefree · #17 (**permalink**) 02-02-2008, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michstar01

... they say that they need my password from my hosting company so that they can access my website and review it. They say that they cannot give me a quote without this.

. . .

Is this reasonable?

It is not reasonable.

Would you give a painter your house key so he can give you a quote on painting the exterior of your house?

Server response codes, files being served, and page content are the realm of SEO - all easily accessible without specialized access.

Insofar as your SEO should be concerned, the inner workings of the site are irrelevant (that's why you have a developer, right?). If Google can't see it, your SEO doesn't need to, either.

It sounds like the people you are dealing with are unaware of the scope of what they need to be doing: providing the site is serving content correctly and the content and navigation are well-crafted, the most important SEO work will be taking place off-site.

bobitza · #18 (**permalink**) 02-02-2008, 09:17 PM

While I do agree that is a little bit odd to ask for hosting account details to give a seo quote (a FTP account will suffice), I do NOT agree with the people saying it's unreasonable or if they are pros they can give a quote without knowing how the website is constructed.

Come on guys, there's no way of telling how a page is put together just by visiting it.

davidweb · #19 (**permalink**) 02-03-2008, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michstar01

I am considering changing from my current SEO to a new one. I have contacted one firm and they say that they need my password from my hosting company so that they can access my website and review it. They say that they cannot give me a quote without this.

Is this reasonable?

Thank you for any help!

David web to the rescue

It is quite strange that seo company is demanding to access hosting password. It probably shows something is wrong.

As far as any SEO project is concerned, an SEO company might ask for following things like

a) Url of your website which you wish to promote on search engines.
b) Your targeted search engines ( Google, Yahoo), further (regional or global)
c) Your targeted geo location, and some sample list of keywords.

Other than these details, I do not see any plausible reason why they are hunting for your web hosting password