Comments on: What to Know Before Hiring an SEO Agency

By: Jamie

Jamie — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 22:26:57 +0000

I think it is very important to keep the client updated throughout asit can be a timely process

By: Thos003

Thos003 — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:50:58 +0000

It’s a short game business strategy. Not one I’d recommend.

I don’t want to sound too Sensei-ish, but I really like the sand in your hand analogy. Imagine the sand is your commodity. People get so tied up into trying to keep what they have that they close their fist around the sand to keep it safe. In doing so they can only carry a small amount of sand. But if you were to open your hands up and leave them open you’d be able to carry a lot more sand.

By: Dawn Wentzell

Dawn Wentzell — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:26:11 +0000

You’re absolutely correct on that. It really is a complex relationship between agencies and their clients, and even the slightest misstep can doom the relationship and the project.

I only scratched the surface of what the client needs to do to prepare. Perhaps my next post will be about what the agency’s responsibilities are ;)

By: Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire

Joshua Black | The Underdog Millionaire — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:36:35 +0000

It’s critical to make sure that you have a consultant that understands your SEO objectives as well. You really need to know what search terms and keywords that you want to target. If the consultant steers you into a high-ranking term that your target cutomers are not using, then you could miss out on a lot of business. You have to know YOUR market before you seek out the help of others, or at least have a good idea of where you are headed.

-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire

By: Dawn Wentzell

Dawn Wentzell — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:03:11 +0000

Right? I’m not sure what people think they’re going to get out of screwing small businesses over like that. It doesn’t prevent clients from leaving them, and likely makes more trouble for them in the long run.

By: Shawn McConnell

Shawn McConnell — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:42:19 +0000

I think those are great questions to know about from either side of the equation, either to ask or to be ready to answer, I think all to often it’s about educating your client on what you expect,

Shawn

By: Thos003

Thos003 — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:54:48 +0000

Thank you for posting this. I constantly don’t know where to begin when people ask me for advice… I wish there was a SEO grade level they could give me… “So are you a 1st grade SEO?… Oh.. What’s SEO? Got it. Let’s start with, your domain name… You do have a website, don’t you?”

BTW, For first time I am dealing with the “Do you have ownership of your website?” – Really don’t do work on the side, but its my father-in-law, and the guy that built it registered the website to himself, Eeerkkk. So glad you included that, serious problems there.

By: Hugo from Zeta

Hugo from Zeta — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 22:42:52 +0000

Thanks for the mention, Dawn! And great article. Something that most companies (even the big ones) fail to do (not just for SEO, but for a variety of marketing channels).

P.S. I also dig the real estate analogy. I may have to “borrow” that.

By: Dawn Wentzell

Dawn Wentzell — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:50:02 +0000

That’s a good point too, Gil. Although not a surefire way to ensure you won’t get screwed over, it definitely diminishes the risk.

By: Dawn Wentzell

Dawn Wentzell — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:40:15 +0000

Exactly. I’m not a real estate expert, but before buying my place I made sure I had pre-qualified for a mortgage so I knew my budget, I knew the neighbourhoods I was interested in, and I knew I wanted a 1 bedroom condo. It made my realtor’s job easier to find place I would like, and in the end we were both happy.

Do your research, everybody wins.