The main point of this list is to help educate clients about who is available who actually have some intelligence behind their decisions and actually have some decent client results for highly competitive terms.
It is a common request from clients but it is not often that a seo agency will actively list other competitors who they believe do a quality job. In the past 2 years I have met and spoken with a number of directors about their company beliefs, client roster and approach to client development. This list is subjective based on my hidden ranking factors and positions on this list may directly relate to their past or current projects.
The main point of this list is to help educate clients about who is available who actually have some intelligence behind their decisions and actually have some decent client results for highly competitive terms. The problem with seo is that it can be easy for boiler room style operations to hide behind smoke and mirrors, target non-competitive terms and not measure and report on results.
If you are going to select an seo firm, follow our advice and check a few key points:
- Do they have a company blog?
- Do have they have plenty of relevant articles on their blog
- Do all the pages on their website work?
- Is contact information upto date?
- Do they contribute to the online community?
- Have other seo firms actually heard of them?
- Do they regularly attend/present at conferences?
If you are going to select an seo firm, follow our advice and avoid them if they offer:
- guaranteed 1st placement on google
- guarantee improved rankings before you tell them your keywords
- only guarantee ranking improvements on Google.com.au “within Australia”
- they offer services for $100/month
- they have a blank blog with a “welcome to wordpress” message
- they have to buy billboards to advertise
- they advise blackhat is just misunderstood
- they advise that “search engine optimisation” & “search engine marketing” is the same thing
- dont track your traffic improvements
- dont offer reporting of your results
- they dont understand your business goals
- they just focus on traffic as conversion are a secondary issue
Leading SEO Companies in Australia
While many agencies have offices in multiple locations, this is where they are based and their head office is located. If you are dealing with a local agency it can make the initial meeting process easier, but because the work is carried mostly via phone, email and web there is no reason you cannot deal with an interstate agency.
Brisbane SEO Agencies
Sydney SEO Agencies
Melbourne SEO Agencies
Great post David, love the ‘avoid them’ list.
It is also nice to see an SEO company who is willing to link to potential competitors, it shows professionalism and etiquette within the blogosphere (god I hate that word?).
Well done and keep up the good work.
Alex
Alex,
Thank you for the comments, I did hope to write a bit more on the topic but decided to keep the topic light and easy for people to glance over. Just hope more clients considering have a chance to read over the “avoid them” list as it makes it easier for everyone if they value seo services and you get what you pay for.
David