www.seocomparison.com

I just got off the phone with a rep from this company. To me, it's always a bad sign when SEO-related companies call you on the phone...

This site is attempting to rate SEO companies based on a mix of how their site and the sites of their clients rank for selected keywords. While they are trying to cover all the bases, there are many flaws in what they are trying to do. For one, they are asking the SEO Consultants or SEO companies to provide the information on how the sites should rank... Well, we don't do ranking, but I sure could find a number of client sites that rank well for something and provide that information. Look, see how good we are...?

And the reports they are providing are NOT cheap at $175 for 6 reports. It makes the also flawed-in-my-opinion-but-they-snubbed-my-company Marketing Sherpa book a reasonable thing to consider!

Our advice to anyone that is considering hiring a SEO firm is this:

1) Get educated! Be prepared to hear conflicting options.

The only difference between a SEO consultant and a used car salesman is the used car salesman KNOWS he's lying!

When in doubt, get a second or third opinion.

2) Ask for references.

3) Check the references. Looks for signs that the person does not want to say anything bad, or that they sound like they are a friend of the company.

4) Ask for a specific quote on specific services. Get it in writing. Understand what they will and will not do and what they do not have direct control over. If they are experienced, they should have a good estimate of what the results will be for your site. Ask what they will do if they results are below the estimate.

5) Forget about rankings, unless you have a very large budget. Seeing your site at the top of the list for a given keyword is nice, but guess what? It does not guarantee that you will get visitors, and if you get visitors, it does not guarantee they will become customers.

Find a SEO consultant that is more concerned about traffic and coversions for your site and less about rankings and you should have someone that can increase the kind of traffic that you really want.

Suggested resource sites are www.seopros.org and www.seoby.org. There are others, but watch for signs of bias and greed. If you do not feel GOOD about a SEO Consultant, a SEO company, or a SEO resource, just reject them, there are plenty of others out there!!!

(hris