What can go wrong when you employ a bad SEO / SEM company?

The worst case scenario is that, your visitor levels fall, you get dropped from search engines all together, you get negative publicity for your company, your company is labeled as an SEM spammer... need we go on?

All of this has happened and is still happening to many companies who don't understand the implications of poor SEO / SEM strategies.

Below are just a few of the things to watch out for when you first interview a company to perform SEO / SEM for you.

How to pick a good SEO / SEM company.

• 1: If they say: They can get you 1000 back links to your site for £100 a month (or any sum resembling that).
  Then walk away, automated submissions (and the like) for back links is the best method to get your site blocked from a search engine or worse still!
• 2: If they say: Page rank is the be all and end all of Search Engine Marketing.
  Then walk away, it will take more than that to improve your SERPs!
• 3: If they say: We can guarantee you page 1 position 1 for any key phrases.
  Then walk away, no one can 'guarantee' that.
• 4: If they don't have: At least a few reference sites which can vouch for their work.
  Then walk away, don't work with anyone who can't clearly demonstrate their talent and reliability.
• 5: If they say: They are SEO Certified Professionals.
  Then run away, there is no official certification for SEO professionals. You might want to read this article for further clarification.

Other questions you can ask and the answers you really want.

• Would you consider working for short term contract periods, like 3 months.
  The answer should be YES. Progress SEO always offer this.
• Would you consider working on a performance related payment scheme?
  The answer should be YES. Progress SEO always offer this.
• Do you offer any guarantees on results?
  The answer should be YES, but be careful what they promise (see point 3: above). If they can't guarantee anything then we'd be concerned. The best way forward we have found on this point is have performance related costs, no guarantees but they get paid according to what they achieve, so you don't pay for 'hot air'. Progress SEO always offer this.
• Do you use web analytics to measure the quality as well as quantity of traffic that your SEO / SEM provides.
  The answer should most definitely be YES. If you don't prove quality then the newly generated traffic can come from anywhere and they still get their results. NO experienced SEO / SEM company should ever work without detailed analytics in place. Why? [Article coming soon]. Progress SEO always offer this (we insist on it if the terms of payment are performance related).
• Do you assign a dedicated account manager to us who is available when ever we need them?
  It's not a very good experience to receive the telephone brush off after you've handed over your money. Progress SEO always offer this.
• Can you trust the SEO / SEM company?
  Well who can you trust today? Trustworthiness is something that you can sense and have a good felling about, if you don't sense it ask yourself why. We believe that the whole process should be transparent and that you should quickly build a trusting relationship with your SEO /SEM company.
• Contact us and we can discuss how you can have an effective SEO / SEM strategy executed within your budget.
• Call us and we can try to answer your questions today... call 01614085108 to speak directly with a SEO / SEM professional Note:We employ no sales people, so you can call with peace of mind.
• REMEMBER: We can reduce your SEO / SEM costs and increase your conversions. We don't follow the herd and just throw your money at Google Page Rank, we create 'forward motion for your e-business, with innovation from ours'.