In the early noughties everyone was a Property Investor; an expert on where to buy and what to buy and how to make millions in the Property Game. Barrier to entry was low and getting the exam was pretty much a 30 minute flip through a booklet and writing a small exam. All of a sudden, you’re a Property Broker (or in layman’s terms, an Estate Agent).
The recession in 2008/2009 certainly separated the wheat from the chaff as thousands of people found out their investments were simply houses made of cards. Boom!
I’ve noticed a similar trend when it comes to Social Media, Internet Marketing and SEO. All of a sudden everyone is a Guru. Or a Ninja. If you’re in the market for an Internet Marketer to help boost your company’s rankings, here are a few questions to ask:
Some useful questions to ask an SEO include:
- Can you show me examples of your previous work and share some success stories?
- Do you offer any online marketing services or advice to complement your organic search business?
- What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe? How do you measure your success?
- What’s your experience in my industry?
- What’s your experience in my country/city?
- What’s your experience developing international sites?
- What are your most important SEO techniques?
- How long have you been in business?
- How can I expect to communicate with you?
Remember that when you ask someone to promote your business or service, you’re literally putting your company’s reputation in their hands. I’m amazed at how many of my clients get to me burnt and damaged. Their domains are blacklisted on major search engines and they have to resort to off-line media because their online reputation is as messed up as Robert Mugabe having lunch with Tony Blair.
(PS – Questions taken from Google’s Guide to finding a proper SEO Guy) http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35291
Awesome post! So many people think that just because he has SEO guru or Marketing Expert behind their name that they are the best in the business and going to deliver good results. Anyone can say that they are a Guru, but the real guru’s carry that true reputation. Be very careful before you just hand your brand over to anyone!
Ye, you know how many web design agencies are all of a sudden SEO specialists? Too many!
Stick to your trade and let someone who really knows SEO do it – that’s my opinion.
My personal feeling is that if you have to tell people you’re a guru or a ninja, you probably aren’t. It’s something that people realise after a while … you’re the go-to guy when SEO gets done.
It all comes back to old fashioned business methods. If you serve your existing clients really well, they’ll naturally tell other people about you.
T