SEO Forum - SEO services feedback needed (Hubshout, eBrandz, Endless Rise, Zeno, etc...)

by 45 replies
67
Hi fellow Warriors. I am looking to get some honest feedback/suggestions from people who have actually used services of an outsourced SEO company. I have looked at many options including Hubshout, eBrandz, Endless Rise, Zeno SEO and others. Obviously, they all sound good on paper (screen :-) ) and they all say they will do a great job, but the packages are very different as is the pricing. I am also very much open to other outsourced SEO options including a la carte services. I just want true opinions/reviews from those who have used them.

A quick bit of background - I have several sites to optimize, some are brand new and some have been around a while. I have SEO knowledge, but I don;t have the time to do all of the SEO work myself (or for that matter even to keep up on the seemingly daily changes in the SEO industry). I have realistic expectations about what is possible so I just want to be as sure as possible that I will not throw money away on ineffective or overpriced services.

Thanks a million for your forthcoming input!!

-Zaxx
#search engine optimization #ebrandz #endless #feedback #hubshout #needed #opinions or suggestions #reseller #rise #seo #seo reseller #seo services #services #zeno
  • Zaxx,
    You will get more targeted answers posting SEO related questions in the
    Adsense / PPC / SEO Discussion Forum


    Have a Great Day!
    Michael
    • [1] reply
    • Yeah - You should check out the other discussions that exist on this board. I know that I've talked to many people personally from TWF and some of them have posted feedback in the threads. I believe that's what you're looking for, right?

      I also know that a few of our customers have posted over at SEO Chat Forums - another great source for honest / unbiased information on SEO resellers.

      BTW - Smart move on your part to seek references. So few people actually do that and it amazes me.

      Best of luck...
  • [DELETED]
    • [1] reply
    • Hi. I represent eBrandz. I agree that you should seek references from members here. Also talk to the agency's clients and seek out what their experience is.

      And you are correct - each agency's offering is different. So its very difficult to compare apples with oranges. I would recommend that you do an analysis of how much your clients can afford to pay you per month. Divide it by 2 or 3 and that is the amount you would be paying monthly to the white label SEO company. Based on this budget see which companies are a match and then seek out their references.

      Hope this helps.
      • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • This may sound silly but you may want to look at Warriors For Hire...Warriors will offer this service. It certainly something I am interested in looking at for my own offline clients.
  • Let me also add the Classified section to that
  • Warriors for hire and classifieds is one way to go. But endlessrise, hubshout and ebrandz all have white label customer dashboard. I think a few others also have a dashboard. Some of the dashboards pull data using APIS from Google, SEOmoz, Majestic and also have social apps.

    IF you want to enable your clients to have their own dashboard, then it makes sense researching a white label SEO reseller company which offers you and your clients a dashboard.

    If you don't want these bells and whistles, then you can basically outsource to bunch of people at different places and save a few bucks.
  • I agree. Hiring Warriors is a very cost-effective way to get things done. I've done a ton of hiring around here and have been generally satisfied. That being said, you also get what you pay for.


    I think Milind is right. Where hiring your own crew starts to break down is on a few points:


    1) Having custom software for your end-clients:


    Unless you are a software wizard yourself, it's going to be hard to compete with the big guys on this topic. Many of the data aggregation subscriptions are very expensive and, therefore, are out of reach for many small time dudes.


    2) Reliability:


    One of my biggest frustrations when I used to hire people on the side from TWF, DP and other forums was the reliability factor. Sure, the deals are great. But finding people to actually do what they say they are going to do is amazingly low.


    3) Expertise:


    I know this one might be tricky to talk about because there are a thousand different ways to SEO your way to the top of the search engines.... Let's just say that I see tons of advice on these forums that I don't agree with. Furthermore, when I hire people in here I often use a test site to see what they are doing... I have had some sites punted back to page 80 or worse LOL :-) When you go with the big guys, you have their full track record behind them... I know at HubShout, we've never had a customer penalized. We'd rather have people quit the program because it was taking too long than to ever see someone penalized.... And those who don't quit / have the patience it really takes for high quality SEO are very happy in the end.


    Enough rambling on my part. Hope that helps your decision. When it comes to an SEO reseller I'm always the first to say "try it yourself first".... Why? Because I was a little guy doing myself just a few years ago (it's try - look at my posts from 2007)...


    Cheers...


    adam
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Hi Zaxx,

    I read ur thread and will be happy to serve you my best work for you. I have no charges for the work it depends on you to pay. I have a team of 10 people having 3+ years experience in this field. I am honest in my work and if I neglect something in my work I will not charge u a single penny.
    • [1] reply

    • I think he said he was looking for some honest feedback from people who had used outsourcing organizations before... Not a sales pitch... LOL


      Oh well... I guess that's gonna happen.


      I was trying to think of other places you could go for objective feedback and suggestions on which services to try.... Obviously, talking to Warrior Forum members is a great start. But also remember, that most larger companies are not going to spend time in any place called "The Warrior Forum." I mean no offense by this as I've been hanging out here since 2007... I'm just stating that the type of audience you have here is MUCH more slanted toward the do-it-yourself crowd... (Again - I like those types of people).


      You may want to consider other forums on the internet where bigger business folks hang out... You might find references through your linked-in network... You could also call whoever you are considering (including us) and ask for references. I am always amazed by how few people actually check references... It is a REALLY REALLY REALLY good idea... It cuts through the sales pitches and gets to how it really was to work with someone - warts and all.


      And don't believe anyone who tells you there are not warts when it comes to SEO. There are always problems. SEO is a messy business, with very ambiguous definitions and TONS of customer confusion. This sets the stage for people to feel badly about a service unless you are really transparent with them.
      • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • i have been thinking about starting a small SEO company and using outsourcing. Am I right to assume that it is best to rank local businesses as opposed to online ones though? Because, is not the competition more fierce in trying to find online clients to rank..?

    Also.. how often do you get pissed off clients who want to see results right away and don't know anything about SEO or how it works? Is this par for the course or do most clients have a general understanding of the sort of 'no guarantees' world of SEO?
  • ^ anyone?
    • [1] reply
    • I'm considering white label seo and website building - primarily looking at Hubshout. I found this thread through a Google search. While there are some good tips in this thread, it seems that nobody has given an actual review of Hubshout or other services to let us know if they deliver. I'm certainly not complaining - it just seems that the thread may be better served if someone could post an actual review.
  • The answer to your question depends on who your target audience is. If you can get local businesses as clients, then yes go for it. But why restrict only to local businesses ? Of course you will get clients who would want to pay few hundred bucks per month and would like to rank #1 for casino, pill, finance related keywords. You should be able to handle them.

    This depends on your sales process. Most clients ask about guarantees before signing up. Also a basic understanding of SEO should be part of your sales process. There is no point in getting people to pay for SEO if they dont have patience of few weeks/ months to see results. Even after doing this, we find sometimes clients bail. But if your sales rep basically promises everything for a sale, it would be difficult to handle client expectations.
    • [1] reply
    • Hey Zaxx,

      This thread hasn't had action in a while, but I have to speak up. I'm a member here, but picked this thread up out on google and came in to look around. I've looked at the white label programs and tons of others, I used some hacks from far away places and after five years now of doing my own seo to save my construction businesses from the 2007 meltdown here's my opinion:
      a). If you know very little about seo, I would start by getting a cheap education here on the forum. Why, because it will serve you well to know the lingo and so a service provider doesn't take advantage.
      b). I've paid little for work that really lifted my site and paid a lot for work that did nothing or got me penalized, so I would look for a personal referral, if not from a personal friend, go to some local meetup groups, email some mid-level wso sellers on here or other people you see on posts that have been around or are asking smart questions. Then ask them for some recommendations.
      c). If you're ranking for local terms in a city of 100,000 or less it's probably way easier than you think. I've ranked top 1/2 front page of google in days to a month. Larger cities like Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Tampa, Miami, get tough as they get bigger, so of course NY and LA are about the toughest.
      d). Don't look at number of items that come up as difficulty factor, type in "allintitle: chicago roofers" or "allintags: chicago roofers" as it is having the keyword in title or tag that represents competition, not number of items found.
      e). You may want to find someone who will do keyword research and on page seo, including fixing content/pics/video, then shop around for off page seo, i.e. link building etc. I do both for friends, but not for free, usually spending 4-6 hours on keyword research, so charge $100-200 unless a really big site/job. On page, content, etc is harder to estimate, but usually $250-1,000. Your wasting time and money if you don't first figure out keywords you actually will get good buyers off / convert and you'll need to know how hard your task to have any idea what you'll need to do/spend.
      f). Once you have great keyword research / strategy and get good quality on page seo w/seo quality content, pics and possibly a little video, you may already be on page 1 of google. Especially since this years corrections at google, it can happen. Lots of sites out there been pouring on links, making up for bad domain name, bad research, bad content, bad on page seo. A PR-0 site often can outrank PR-3 and up or at least make onto page 1. Tough local terms or national terms, less likely, but will still get you on page 2,5 or 10. You'll want to know where you stand before you even start off page seo, so do all this first.
      g). Find referrals for off page seo as described above. The people you find for the keyword research, on-page seo, content, etc. may all want to bid, may have referrals for you (and won't want you unhappy so you keep using them for their part each time), etc. You may have already found someone and happy, but if not you are also welcome to message me and we'll get hooked up to talk via FB, email or whatever.
      Hope this helps and sorry to be late for the party :-)

      Garymac101
      • [1] reply
  • I have used hubshout's seo services on two sites for over 3 months now. I'd be happy to tell anyone my experience. i think, maybe best not to post it here though. feel free to send me a message, i guess there must be a way to PM members?
  • Banned
    I use IprovideSEO's manual link building and Press Release service. It is very professionally done and the links usually become pr 1-3 within a month or so because of the unique content and press release
  • In the end its up to the creator of who is doing the SEO. It's an art and a science in the end. Personally I need to know who is doing the work and the qualifications of them and not just a big link farm network that can really screw up your website if you are not careful. Also loads of quick submissions is also a red flag as it does not look natural....Many of the SEO's offer hundreds of submissions of directory, social bookmarking, article submission still. I just wonder how much value those have if any?? for those who did too much may have to do the disawow and remove those links....
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • anyone know if warrior has a place where the white label services are ranked by warriors? seems like it would be a great service. based on the inquiries i've gotten about hubshout there is obviously lots of interest in white label seo work...
  • I agree with you Marketing Ignite. From what I've seen of all the white label providers -- the issue is quality of the links. this is common sense. if they are going to have TONS of clients they are creating TONS of links for -- well, come one, how valuable could those links possibly be. I think we fool ourselves cause we want to believe you can pay someone a few hundred bucks to "take care" of seo. forget it. IMHO. Maybe in the old days that worked. It works less and less every day. Again, in my opinion, based on my experience.
  • Don't use any business that offers package services where you get x amount of links and such. Find someone to build links naturally that are geared towards your site.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Hubshout: Knowing this is a paid for software, Can this software be used for our own SEO services we provide our clients or does it have to be used only when Hubshout provides the SEO work?

    In other words, if i want to do the work myself but want your software for tracking and analytic s, can that be done?

    Thanks
  • can some one answer BIGCHRIS questions above? I have the same question, thanks!
  • Hubshout allows you to use their reporting software for your own clients without subscribing to their packages, however, it costs $40 per month per client I believe.
  • Seomall.net has launched a new reseller program recently. Among main advantages are ready reseller websites that you can install quickly, a lot of promo materials, video lessons and additional reseller discount.

    Most Profitable SEO Services Reseller Program | SeoMall.net
    • [1] reply
    • Yaros I purchased the reseller site and have sent 2 requests for support to the seomall support desk with no response. Is this operation working?

      My site is almost ready to market but I need assurance on services and support. Please reply.
  • If you are unsure of their services, clear your all the doubts, also at first start with small amount, if you get good result then you can increase further,
  • I've got to give props to hubshout they seem to be doing the right things (more quality content), though I've not used their new service. Check out:

    http://hubshout.com/?WEBINAR----Lear...-Plans&AID=963


    Although I do think they could do geo-targeting articles -- they just have to say something unique about it.

    In any event, I'm not sure SEO is generally worth it anymore. The cost is high, you run the risk of getting no tangible results. Even if you do get to say #5 on the organic rankings, you still may not show up above the fold because google is giving so much more visibility to their own properties. For many local searches, really, only the first two organic spots get much traffic at all. So, before you launch an SEO campaign you have to decide if you think you'll make it to #1 or #2. If not, you've spent a lot of money with little to show for it.
  • [DELETED]
  • Wow. This thread is still kickin' :-) Oldy but goodie...

    I agree with Julia. Read reviews! Sound simple, but few people do that. It will tell you volumes that flashy marketing does not.
  • Banned
    If you want to have your site tanked fast you should do business with 99% of the people in the warrior for hire and classifieds section.

    And if you want to hire a 100% legit whitehat company you're probably better off with PPC as it makes it so expensive that it isn't even worth it.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Hi Zaxx:
    I have been using ebrandz for several years with great success. They optimize 4 of my sites. I receive great service at a fair price. I have a dedicated (english speaking) project manager and use their very robust dashboard to access very detailed reports. I highly reccommend ebrandz.
    Doug Dvorak
    • [1] reply
    • You came all the way to Warrior Forum to give your eBrandz testimonial in your very first Warrior Forum post?

      Really?
      • [ 2 ] Thanks
  • I think a few others also have a dashboard. Some of the dashboards pull data using APIS from Google, SEOmoz
  • Yes. There are a bunch of dashboards out there. They all take slightly different approaches and have different feature sets. HubShout tried to get 80% of the functionality you need from a VERY diverse set of areas:

    SEO, PPC, EMAIL, SOCIA, SALES... And we have a bunch of APIs running as stated above.. Watch the videos or youtube channel for in-depth training.

    As for reviews - We have some customer white papers and case studies. Best to jump on the phone someone can walk you through them.

    Cheers! :-)
  • [DELETED]
    • [1] reply
    • Hi Chris!

      I hear you. It's a great question. We are BIG into transparency, so we always welcome feedback (we're an open book).

      While that ranking you are looking at may be down a bit, it's still on the first page. Also - We just had our HIGHEST impressions ever in a single day (in Google) according to Webmaster Tools. So we're not worried.

      I will send you the column I wrote for Search Engine Watch that is publishing on Sunday. We discuss this very phenomenon and review the importance of breadth of rankings, overall traffic, and the measurement of leads (actual customers) -- vs focusing on a few rankings.

      SEO is definitely changing and we have been moving more to measuring actual increases in business rather than individual rankings. As I'm sure you've read, we are pushing big on content marketing as well. In the end, rankings are a means-to-an-end. It is new business that will keep a customer around for years...

      But again. Great question.

      Cheers :-)
      • [1] reply
  • [DELETED]
  • You should only know what exactly you would like for your website. Then, look at the portfolio of those providers to see if they are able to help you!
  • Hey Chris... Here is the HubShout monthly column I write on Search Engine Watch that I was referencing last week in our posts. The piece just published a few minutes ago,and is addressing exactly what we were discussing: Focusing on SEO Rankings vs Actual New Leads. To me, the SEO reseller space is moving with the updates from Google. Evolving into small business marketing and consultation. What's EVEN more timely is that Google released ANOTHER update late on Friday. How ironic the timing? LOL

    I hope you will check out the HubShout column and jump in the discussion. I'm sure it will be lively (usually is):

    What '(Not Provided)' & Google Hummingbird Mean for Small Business SEO - Search Engine Watch (#SEW)
    • [2] replies
    • purdue512 can you tell me what kind of marketing materials you guys provide that are white label? Also is there a monthly fee to sell these services as a reseller besides the fees for the seo work?
      • [1] reply
    • Never mind I just checked out your blog found answer there.
  • [DELETED]
  • There are some good SEO work offers in this forum (I'm new here). Still contemplating whether to try it out - just a bit scared and all; never did this before, afraid of Google giving more wrath
  • [DELETED]
Join the discussion

Next Topics on Trending Feed

  • 67

    SEO Forum - SEO services feedback needed (Hubshout, eBrandz, Endless Rise, Zeno, etc...)

    Hi fellow Warriors. I am looking to get some honest feedback/suggestions from people who have actually used services of an outsourced SEO company. I have looked at many options including Hubshout, eBrandz, Endless Rise, Zeno SEO and others. Obviously, they all sound good on paper (screen :-) ) and they all say they will do a great job, but the packages are very different as is the pricing. I am also very much open to other outsourced SEO options including a la carte services. I just want true opinions/reviews from those who have used them. A quick bit of background - I have several sites to optimize, some are brand new and some have been around a while. I have SEO knowledge, but I don;t have the time to do all of the SEO work myself (or for that matter even to keep up on the seemingly daily changes in the SEO industry). I have realistic expectations about what is possible so I just want to be as sure as possible that I will not throw money away on ineffective or overpriced services.