Should I expect my SEO consultant to have his site ranked 1st page?

8 years ago

Originally Posted by seoinprogress

Hi guys,

I live in north london and so I googled 'seo services north london' figuring anyone that could rank highly with that search would be reputable to outsource my business to.

The individual that ranked number 1 was a one man band as opposed to an agency which I liked (I feel that we wouldn't get priority as a small business if we outsourced to an agency with loads of other more profitable bigger clients) and so I decided to go ahead with him. Long story short, he has been EXTREMELY slow and unresponsive, didn't reply to my last 3 emails and about 3 months later I'm no further so have now parted ways.

I'm looking for a new consultant now to help me with local seo (i.e to rank for towns within a 5 mile radius from me) for our family run home installation business however my question is:

To find a suitable SEO consultant does their website HAVE to be ranked highly to assume they are reputable and able to get the job done for us? OR is it less important about their website ranking and more important they have highly ranked their clients websites? OR both?

I'm currently under the illusion that to find an SEO consultant that their website must rank 1st page so just want to see if this is the case or not as it seems kind of limiting if so.

Hopeful for some help - thanks.

I guess it is okay if they do rank, but I would say it is not necessary.

I have clients all over the world, and only 2 in my home town, so I never focused on ranking my website locally.

I always preferred an proactive marketing approach and went after clients rather than waiting for them to come to me.

Now everything is pretty much word of mouth for me.

I don't think ranking is a qualifier one way or the other.

In your case, I would definitely be dumping the provider. No response in 3 months is pathetic. I would fire them if they did not respond in 3 days.

[ 1 ] Thanks

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satyajit

8 years ago

Hello guys, it is difficult to say that, your SEO consultant optimize your site in the first page. Every buyer expect this. If your domain name and business is closely related, unique article and all web development process perfectly finished then your consultant can ranked it in the fast page. You need to know that SEO is a long term process. Every search engine like slow and steady SEO.

Thanks

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seoinprogress

8 years ago

Thanks Mike, I remember you being a great help last time I posted so thanks again.

I guess I'll have to network a bit and see if I can get any personal recommendations through word of mouth and then qualify the consultant to see examples of their work.

As a small business, would you advise against outsourcing to an agency? I was fortunate enough to have a good chat with a fairly accomplished SEO consultant a while ago who said that if I just focused on local directory (e.g. Yell, Google Maps etc.) that I wouldn't even really need to outsource any work and so I imagine that for a business our size and what we want to achieve (ranking just within a 5 mile radius of where I live in greater London) shouldn't be a mammoth task?

Cheers.

- O

Thanks
1 reply

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MikeFriedman

8 years ago

Originally Posted by seoinprogress

so I imagine that for a business our size and what we want to achieve (ranking just within a 5 mile radius of where I live in greater London) shouldn't be a mammoth task?

Even in local SEO, the competition can be steep.

Try ranking for something like "Italian restaurant in New York City".

Even in a smaller town, all it takes is for 2-3 competitors to have good SEOs working for them and the competition becomes a lot tougher.

It just depends on the specific situation.

Thanks

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stockriderman

8 years ago

If an seo agency can rank its own site among other local seos, that would be a huge positive factor. We get a lot of calls from seos in India, Pakistan and Philippines and their pr 0-1 sites aren't even on page 4-5 for anything related to SEO so it would be impossible to trust them.
Certainly, some are so busy, they don't need to do it, but to me it seems cheaper to rank your own site and start getting leads of google than pay $1000s every month for 2-3 people to call businesses and and ask they want seo done.

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sonjay

8 years ago

Well, I operate in the Philippines, and my PR0 SEO-related website sits in the first page for some important local keywords. But as Mike said, the ranking(s) of the consultant's website is just a bonus.

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cbpayne

8 years ago

My SEO site does not rank (at least it did not use to, but I have not checked in a long time). Why should I spend time ranking my site in a competitive market when I can spend that time earning $ from clients by ranking their sites?

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wAvision

8 years ago

I wouldnt be too concerned with their site not ranking.

I am sure a lot of seo's just have their site to show their services, offers, and testimonials.

If their method of getting leads is not via google, then they have no reason to get their site ranked.

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paulgl 8 years ago

They had better be able to show you sites that they DO rank.

If not, they have nothing to show. A good SEO person has
a portfolio of successes, even if they keep some info hidden.

A new SEO person/consultant is no different. They need a track
record. They can't make an excuse that they are new. That
makes no sense. They had to do SOMETHING before....

Not every site can rank first page, all the time, at least real
pages in the real world for real search terms.

If they cannot how you some proof of their work, avoid them.
But then, you should have done that first.

Why is it so easy to hang a shingle and lure customers?

Paul
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nettiapina

8 years ago

I would not expect them to rank on the first page. "SEO" is one of the most heavily competed keywords in any language, and for fairly obvious reasons. In addition to SEO agencies there's often big name digital agencies that get the press because they've got "rockstar consultants" and staff to attend all sorts of events. It's hard for a small agency to compete against the giants.

Paul makes an excellent point about the references. They should have some.

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yougpeter

8 years ago

If the consultant can't show the results that he can rank sites then there is no point to order service from that consultant.

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st0nec0ld

8 years ago

I think so, but it is just a plus for a SEO consultant (probably for portfolio use), but not really necessary.
Keep in mind, SEO people have different perspective.
I suggest that if you want to get the best SEO service for your business then why not try to learn a little something about it first, so you'll have an idea of how it works and how much work it needs.

Thanks

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DexterGallagher

8 years ago

We are an SEO agency in Cambridge and we had a prospect contact us with a similar question, however it does depend on how the SEO person/agency goes about getting business.
Do they cold call?
Use lead capture on their website?
Organic listings?

The prospect was swayed when we showed him examples of our work and how we have ranked websites at #1 above high authority sites in their industry.

The other thing is, when you are talking to a potential service provider, how contactable are they? We use Skype, landline and mobile, then at least any customer can contact you, even if we are out of the office.

Thanks

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dronehawk

8 years ago

You need to ask for the portfolio of his current rankings (Though he may claim he has an NDA with the clients)

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Should I expect my SEO consultant to have his site ranked 1st page?

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