Find the Right SEO Firm for You
Over the many years working in the SEO industry I have vetted thousands of potential SEO clients. Everything from local roofers to mid-sized B2B businesses to international software companies and in that time one of the biggest lessons I have learned that not every client is right for every SEO firm, and not every SEO firm is right for every client. I decided a long time ago that Brick Marketing would only work with clients that I felt we could actually help, even if that meant we would never be the biggest SEO firm in the United States. And most business owners and marketing folks are fine when I say I don’t think we are a good fit for each other, but every now and then I get a potential SEO client that tries to badger me into taking them on as a full service SEO client. The conversation inevitably goes something like this;
Me: “I just don’t think that we can help your site right now.”
Potential SEO Client: “Aren’t you in the business to make money? Why don’t you want my money?”
Me: “Of course I want my business to succeed, but I also don’t want to take someone’s money when I don’t feel like we can’t help them.”
Potential SEO Client: “I want to hire an SEO firm today and if you don’t want to take us on then I will just take my business elsewhere.”
Me: “You have every right to hire whomever you want, but I don’t think we are the right SEO partner for you.”
Potential SEO Client: “Don’t you want to make money!?”
Me: “Of course, but I don’t want to take your money and 6 months from now you’re furious because you aren’t seeing the results you wanted. I don’t want to waste our time or your money.”
And that is a bottom line I have held for ten years. Yes, I want my business to be successful and I want to grow my company and take care of my employees, but I also don’t want to take money from small businesses and then not deliver outstanding results and service. I price our services based on the amount of work we do for our clients. If you’ve ever kicked off an SEO campaign you know just how much time and work goes into optimizing a website, running an ongoing link building campaign, managing social media accounts, publishing a new blog post every day and so forth. SEO isn’t a set it and forget it kind of thing and it certainly isn’t something that you can do sometimes. If you want to/need to manage your SEO in-house you make the best of the situation and get done what you can. But shouldn’t an SEO firm be able to do MORE than what you can handle in-house? Isn’t that why you hired them in the first place? If your SEO partner is just going to do the same amount (or even less) work than you can do on your own why bother hiring them?
Finding the right SEO firm for your company is not a decision you should make lightly. Even when you’re buying a pair of shoes you try on a few sizes and styles, right? So why wouldn’t you at least compare a few different SEO firms to see which one is the right fit for your company? How much help do you need? Do you need an SEO firm that also has a designer/developer in-house to help you rebuild your website? Do you need someone to manage your social media? Do you need someone who can write for your blog? Do you want someone who is willing to train your team? There is no “secret” to SEO; the white hat SEO process is the same no matter where you go, so what you really need to look at is what kind of service you really want/need.
Your SEO firm should be like a in-house partner, even if they aren’t in-house. You are putting the future of your website in their hands and you have the right to know EXACTLY what they are doing with regards to your SEO campaign. 100% transparency is critical and the best SEO firm will do everything they can to make you as informed as possible.
Categorized in: SEO
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