SEO services..search engine/website related....

SouthCrackalack

are these things legit? I rec'd an offer from an "expert" in the field..wanting to trade his "deluxe" package services and some other partnership type stuff for some website design. Of course I am skeptical of it since I dont know too much about the whole SEO services thing. He says he has worked for Google in the past in Europe and "beta tested algorithms and have proven results online, getting number 1 and 2 positions within Google for terms being competed by over 3 million websites" as well as many other things that all sound quite promising in print. Basically, he is offering his services for a business website(graphic design) of mine..on a barter deal for some design work done for a site for him. What do you know about this kinda thing? Is it a pretty legit thing..or some bullshit? I know there are people that do the whole spam thing and all that when it comes to SEO services..but he says he doesnt do that(says he has over 11 years experience providing his services to a lot of large businesses,etc). What do yall think about this offer?

kwality

I'd be extremely wary - besides it being shark infested waters, google is about to change its bots rendering most SEO work useless.

33thirdcom

It depends there are certain criteria that will not change with this next bot change and some I think some nice additions. Google and all the Search Engines are always adjusting about every 4-6 months and as a website owner you just need to be aware of the changes, try to decipher them and make the necessary adjustments. Its a pain, but kind of interesting like cracking a code. I have a friend of mine that does this stuff non-stop and does pretty decent on the sites he runs.

As far as these guys selling services, some are legit some aren't. The best thing to do, if you are interested is to ask them for references. Its not the best way, but at least if they have done some legit work in the past they should be willing to let you know who their high profile clients are.

SouthCrackalack

Okay, thanks for the tips. The dude seems pretty straight up..but who knows. I just dont know too much about the whole thing and knew some people on here probably were a lot more familiar with it.

Bunk

You can really benefit from a good SEO program, especially if people in your market aren't utilizing it. A vital component of a good campaign is a linking strategy. Don't let him sell you on some bullshit directory submission campaign as a linking strategy. As long as there are search engines there will be seo.

a good site to educate yourself a bit on it is seomoz.org

peace

Zeke

This is a part of what my company does. There are a lot of bullshit artists out there, but if integrated correctly, a well planned SEO campaign can work VERY WELL. Specifically, be wary of companies selling LSI/LSA (Latent Semantic Indexing/Latent Semantic Analysis) solutions. This special breed of SEO company generally charges much more because they are using a "scientifically proven technique." The math they've based their solutions on can't be used without knowing variables they do not have access to. Content is still king. Legitimate link campaigns work. Though it's not entirely necessary, if you're lingering at the bottom of the sandbox, making your page's content linearized and ensuring that it validates can help significantly.

If you end up trading services with this guy, PM me when he's finished. I'll throw down a quick, free analysis just to make sure whatever he's done is not going to hurt your position.