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Should You Fire Your SEO Company?
By Ajay Prasad (c) 2009

Search engine algorithms are shrouded in total secrecy. So
what works in SEO and what does not is merely the result of
an analysis of sites that make it to page #1. Some times
the keywords show up sooner than expected, at times they do
not. It's very difficult to measure the effectiveness of an
SEO campaign because the time frame for results is
prolonged. With the mushrooming of SEO companies and the
vagueness of operations, finding the right company can be an
issue.

True, SEO is no science, but it can have a scientific
approach. The results are not instantaneous like PPC but
results should be visible after 3 months into a program.
Okay... give or take a few months for the vagaries of
Search Engines that like to alter their algorithms just when
your site is all set to take off!

The problem with SEO is that it is too vague a field. We
can only guess what works and what does not. Broadly there
are five factors that are said to do 70% of the work.

1. Well optimized code
2. Well Optimized Metatags
3. Header Tags, Alt tags
4. Keywords in the URL
5. Backlinks to the site

If your SEO company is smart enough to integrate all these
together, chances are that by the fourth month your SERPs
should be somewhere around rank 10-12 for moderately
competitive keywords. Competitive keywords take much longer
and the effort for increasing the positions in page 1
increases proportionally with every position.

There are two ways in which you can check if your company
is really working on your website.

1. Set up Google Alert on your company's name. Once an
alert is set up, every time a directory picks up your link
or a blog picks up your article or the company does a press
release, Google will pick it up and deliver it into your
mailbox. The larger the number of alerts the more your SEO
company is working.

2. Use a tracking account. Google Analytics is free and is
improving with feedback. Ask your SEO company to set up
tracking in analytics and get your account id and password
so that you can check occasionally.

SEO is unfortunately a long drawn out process. How long should
one wait before deciding that the SEO company is taking you
for a ride? When you are six months into an SEO program and
you face any of the following scenarios it's time to fire
your SEO company.

Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no
increase in search traffic.

Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not
getting any conversions.

Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your
targeted keyword.

Scenario #4: The company's report shows a lot of increased
links but there is hardly any increase in rank.

Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were.

Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no
increase in search traffic Why is it so? Maybe they are not
working at all OR Maybe they are targeting all the wrong
keywords. Very competitive keywords may bring in more
traffic volume but they take longer (read upto 12-24
months) to optimize. To maximize your ROI, professional SEO
companies choose a mix and match of low competition,
moderate competition and high competition keywords. If your
SEO company did not take this approach, it's time to fire
them.

How to Check: Insist upon adding Google Analytics (a free
tool) to your site and visit it regularly.

Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not
getting conversions Maybe it's a genuine mistake which can
be rectified OR Maybe you are getting a lot of spam traffic
because the company has posted the site at improper places
just to show stats of increased traffic. Believe me this
happens quite a lot with unprofessional companies who want
to gain SEO credibility. The unknowledgeable client gets
taken in.

How to Check: Visit analytics. Click on traffic sources.
Check all the traffic types - Referral, search engine and
direct. Check the type of sites the referral traffic is
sending, check the type of keywords. If all of these are
okay, then you need some serious website marketing not just
SEO.

Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your
targeted keyword. Maybe the targeted keywords are too
competitive OR Maybe all the aspects of SEO are not being
covered by your company. This is a tricky issue. If you are
satisfied with your keyword movement over the months maybe
just a push is needed. Otherwise you need to check what the
company is doing.

How to Check: Simply type your keyword in the search bar.
Check page #1 for your URL. If it's not on page #1 it
should be on page #2 after 6 months of the campaign for at
least some of the keywords. It should show up. If it isn't
there, call up the SEO company and demand an explanation.

Scenario #4: The company's report shows a lot of increased
links, but there is hardly any increase in rank. Maybe the
ranking will improve gradually OR Maybe the company is
trying to impress upon you that it has increased your
links. This is false reporting and not genuine SEO. In the
long run these links will harm your site. Keep away from
the company.

How to Check: Occasionally, in the Google toolbar type the
following to see the number of links to your website -
links:www.domainname.com. Analyze the relevancy of the site
linking back to your website. If the links are from spam
sites, fire the company.

Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were.
Suppose you were already on page #3 or page #2 for the
keywords and approached a company to take you to page #1.
But you haven't moved. Maybe the company's taking you for a
ride

OR there is no other reason. Just fire the company. They
are showing no results.

There may be other scenarios which have not been covered in
this article. It's very difficult to know if the company is
working hard enough to get you on page #1. Keeping constant
contact with the company is a good idea. Ask for a monthly
comparative report and track the increase in links, traffic
and keyword positions. Get an action plan of the month by
the company. Track the action plan. You will see results
soon enough!
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Ajay Prasad is founder of Global Marketing Resources LLC
that runs a number of ecommerce websites under it's
umbrella. Ajay's functional expertise includes website
strategy, marketing management, business development,
consumer research, market analysis and strategic planning.
GMRWebTeam (http://www.gmrwebteam.com) is a company that
aims to develop an overall strategy
(http://www.gmrwebteam.com/website_strategy.shtml) for your
site.
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