

Has anyone had success with using a SEO company? If so, which one(s)? - mannylee1

The title says it all.  I am just curious if anyone has had solid success.
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netcan
I think one of the things to really note here is what kind of service you are
after. Most SEO clients are not "the website _is_ the company" businesses.

 _Type One_

The client is a plumbing company. Their website gets 300 visits per month
resulting in about a call a day. An SEO company can come in, get them to make
some changes. Make sure Google can index all the pages, add meta tags, get
some more content written, sort out local business listings, get a few links
and bring that up to 900 visits and 3 calls a day. I would (and do) call that
success. For comparison, the difference in cost between a Yellow pages ad that
gets a plumber 1 call a day and one that gets them 3 calls a day would be
(very roughly) $10k-$100k where I live.

There are lots of companies that can and do achieve this kind of success with
decent predictability. They can usually do this without too much reliance on
the client for input. Sceptics will point out that you coud get SEO for
dummies and do this yourself. SEOs point out that most plumbers don't. Anyway,
this is most of the SEO "market."

 _Type Two_

There are also the kind of SEO companies that advise bigger companies on their
SEO strategies. They work with IT/Web on creating more SE friendly designs.
They work with content writers on selecting topics that get searches. They run
training sessions on metatags and giving your page an "on page SEO score."
These companies' expertise is mostly consulting expertise. There is some
specific knowledge they bring to the table, but not rocket surgery and not
really more than the other type of company, usually. I reckon you could train
"SEO Consultants" in weeks. What they do do well (if they are good) is they
are able to get these companies to change the way they do things a little.
These probably have as much in common with "occupational safety consultants"
as they do with the former type. If I was hiring for these businesses, that is
the background I would be looking for. These projects probably have a higher
rate of failure since they require changing the way an organisation does
things.

The kind of people that write blog posts about SEO companies however are very
rarely in these categories giving the whole "industry" a warped public
perception.

------
patio11
I think many businesses on HN should be doing their SEO in-house rather than
contracting out. My reasons at length:

[http://www.kalzumeus.com/2008/01/28/why-you-shouldnt-pay-
any...](http://www.kalzumeus.com/2008/01/28/why-you-shouldnt-pay-any-seo-you-
can-afford/)

There is also the factor that to be good at SEO, _really_ good at it, you have
to integrate it into your ongoing operations. It is like marketing: you can't
put a firewall between the product and the marketing and just toss stuff over
the wall and expect it to work.

~~~
mannylee1
I totally agree with you; SEO should be done in house. However, what if you
absolutely need the help and do not have the time to do it on your own.

Are there any decent SEO companies out there?

