It is 2016, and I basically don’t talk to anyone who hasn’t been burned by an SEO company by this point. Whether they had one ten years ago or just got wrapped up with their second try several months ago, it seems like any small to medium-sized business has partnered with an SEO at some point in time and frankly, over 90% have been burned, some worse than others involved in harsh long-term contracts. It does make it a grievous situation for companies like Market My Market (yes I have a lot of pride in my company) that take a very hands-on, communicative, personable, and of course effective approach to our client accounts. I talk to people often that simply say “I’ve already had two SEO companies and they didn’t work” which makes it quite hard with all the data, results, and knowledge in the world you can provide to succeed.
How does someone essentially get burned in the first place? It could really be any or all of the following:
- Lofty expectations were set and were not even remotely met
- Work was not performed on the account
- The site was penalized because of the SEO’s tactics
- The client was charged an egregious amount of money and locked into an account for services that were a fraction of the value
- Communication/out-of-the-loopness were pitiful
Having bad experiences with an SEO company is extremely unfortunate and I’ve hated hearing the dozens of horrible stories about people getting burned – specific reasons I’ve heard of people getting burned include red flags like:
- An SEO company doing a campaign they claim is comprehensive but doesn’t have any content
- Holding passwords, website files, and logins hostage
- Building links from link farms and garbage websites
- Someone that not only has no insight to their industry, but doesn’t even care to learn about them or their company
- And most commonly, just isn’t good enough at SEO to make a difference
What are some signs of an SEO that is already different from the previous guys?
- Excellent responsiveness via phone/email. Never more than 24 hour response, ideally within 2 hours.
- Genuine concern about your industry and your business goals
- Desire to plan meetings with you without you asking, either in person or on phone
- Proactive about marketing ideas – suggesting new creative ways to promote your business or content ideas without you asking
- A thorough, educated response to all of your questions and if it isn’t answered on the spot, no longer than the end of the day.
The thing about SEO is that I will profess indefinitely that any business can benefit from SEO one way or another – some dramatically more. SEO is a great component of online marketing for easily 95% of the potential clients I talk to.
Everyone hates Comcast – they arguably have the worst customer service in the history of mankind. If you drop them for internet and go to AT&T, you’re acknowledging you still need internet but hopefully the next vendor is better. I consider SEO the same – even though you have been burned a few times because of the wrong fit, you still should remain adamant and committed to the fact that the right SEO will help you tremendously.
Thankfully, not all SEO companies are created equally. Your company deserves an SEO company that provides results and satisfaction. Market My Market implements the highest quality SEO practices with exceptional client services. Let us show you how we do things the right way. Contact our team of professionals at (800) 954-9411 for a free service quote today.