Five Questions to Ask Your SEO Consulting Firm

Hiring a SEO consulting firm can be tricky, especially if you don't understand the business. A lot of firms will promise certain things that may be impossible to achieve. Do some homework and ask around to ensure you are getting the best services, not just the cheapest. You want to make sure that your price matches your results and your desires match the value the SEO consulting firm promises.

Here are five questions to ask a potential SEO consulting firm before you hire them.

1) What has your success rate been with other clients? Reputation is one of the most reliable factors in regards to service. If an SEO consulting firm has done a great job for 10 clients, they will usually do well for 20, 50, or 100. It is better to trust results from previous clients and their successes. If an SEO consulting firm is willing to offer testimonials from previous clients, they are confident in their abilities.

2) Where does your own website rank? When looking for the answer to this question beware of their tactics. If an SEO consulting firm cannot rank high with their own site, how can they raise your rankings? That is not to say they do not know their own business, but you have to wonder why "the shoe maker's children don't have their own shoes."

3) What guarantees can you make? This will be a large factor in your decision. We all love guarantees, especially when we are spending hard earned money. However, there are no guarantees in this particular business. There are too many variables that can guarantee a top ranking for your company. So a good SEO consulting firm should answer with "none," a bad one will tell you whatever you want to hear.

That's because organic rankings take time to achieve, because they are constantly changing. Not only are there other companies and competitors who are trying to achieve a top ranking, but Google is constantly changing its search algorithm. So even if you did everything right this week, it could all change next week, through no fault of the SEO consulting firm. So make sure your firm doesn't promise a top page ranking, or you'll be left with broken promises and no money.

4) How will you measure our success? Success is the driving force, right? So we must know how to measure it. How will you even define success? Is it sales? Visits to the page? Time on the page? For a business site, the answer should always be sales and ROI. But even that has to be decided on. How much is not enough versus just right? It is important that your SEO consulting firm measures success the same way you do. You don’t want to be left disappointed, so make sure this is something you discuss early in conversation. It is also important that your goals and expectations are even achievable for your SEO consulting firm. Remember that these things take time — months, usually — and you're not going to see a positive ROI after a few weeks.

5) Do I need to make changes to my website? The answer is yes, yes, yes. How do you expect results if you keep trying the same tactics that never work? If your search engine optimization was perfect, you would have top page rankings and big sales already, and you wouldn't be talking to an SEO consulting firm. But since you're reading this article, I'm guessing that's not the case. Remember, Google even changes things from week to week, so what worked last year won't work this year. So, be prepared to change your website. If your SEO consulting firm says no, you don't, you might want to reconsider your choice.

Reverse SEO: Key to Managing Your Reputation in Google, Bing, Yahoo

Reverse SEO has become critical for all types of organizations. It has never been easier for your customers, competitors, and employees to publish items online that can have a damaging impact upon your business. If those items gain exposure in Google, Yahoo!, Bing other major search engines, their effects can last for years.

Whether you operate a small firm with less than ten employees or a multi-billion dollar company, bad publicity can destroy your business.


To follow are the fundamentals of reverse SEO. We explain how it works and the advantages of using it. We'll also describe a seldom talked about strategy of leveraging reverse SEO as a preventative approach to online reputation management (ORM). You'll discover why many companies are rushing to search engine optimization specialists to enlist their help for damage control. If you are not currently using reverse SEO to limit the effects of bad publicity, your company may be vulnerable.


How Reverse Search Engine Optimization Works


Google ranks pages based on several criteria. One of its organic algorithm's ranking parameters is a website's authority within its space. The more authority a site has, the easier it is for a page on that site to rank well and control its position. When an authoritative page carries bad publicity about your company, it can gain exposure to a wide audience. This is the problem that reverse search engine optimization resolves.


Reverse SEO specialists have a number of tools at their disposal they can use to suppress bad publicity in the search engines. First, they'll analyze the authority of high-ranking pages that speak negatively of your business. Then, they'll formulate a strategy to push those pages into the depths of the search engines' organic listings, limiting their visibility.


Long-Term Advantages Of Reverse SEO


A single unsatisfied customer can create havoc for your company by spreading deceptive stories of poor service or shoddy workmanship. Similarly, one resentful employee can anonymously unfurl a string of damaging diatribes. If such stories and diatribes are merely told to another person, their effects are limited and temporary. By contrast, if they are published online and gain exposure in Google, they can have disastrous results for your business.

This type of negative press tends to gain a groundswell of momentum, regardless of its accuracy. By suppressing these pages in the search engines, reverse SEO allows you to control the effects of bad publicity. It helps you to smother the flames before they grow out of control.


Reverse SEO: The Preemptive Strike


Most companies launch a reverse SEO campaign after bad publicity has already crept toward the top of Google's organic listings. That is a reactive approach. The problem is that high-ranking pages with negative press tend to generate inbound links. Those links further strengthen the pages' positions. As a result, they become more difficult to suppress.


You can use reverse SEO as a preventative measure. By launching a campaign that controls the top organic positions, you can prevent negative publicity from gaining exposure in the first place. In effect, you can insulate your company from the whims and machinations of frustrated customers, unhappy employees, and deceitful competitors.


Is Reverse SEO An Essential Cog Of Search Engine Marketing?


Search engine marketing (SEM) increases your company's exposure within your space. On its own, an SEM campaign can deliver staggering results that translate directly to your business's bottom line. However, bad publicity can disrupt even the most formidable of search engine marketing campaigns.


Reverse SEO is a vital component of any SEM effort. It protects the integrity of your search engine marketing campaign and supports its growth. The same tools that can be used to control the top positions in Google and prevent negative press from gaining traction can seed inbound links to your website. This creates a well-rounded SEM campaign that is potent on multiple fronts.


Damage Control And Online Reputation Management

If your company enjoys exposure on the internet, whether from social networking sites, professional online trade journals, or broad media, online reputation management is important. The number of authoritative websites that your customers, employees, and competitors can use to spread negative press about your business is increasing. Making matters worse, many journalists have become lax in sourcing their stories. ORM and reverse SEO can work seamlessly together to control the spread of bad publicity.


Negative press does not need to be accurate in order to rank well in Google. That makes reverse SEO more critical for your company than ever.


Receive a free reverse SEO evaluation and begin to take control of your company's online reputation today.

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Reverse SEO: What is Listed Under Your Name In Search Engine Results?

Reverse SEO manages your online reputation. See how this company replaced negative search engine results with good information in just 8 days!

If you search on your name in Google, Yahoo or Bing, what will you find? What are search engine results saying about you? Are the results under your name about someone else with a bad reputation? Reverse SEO will replace the bad information with good information under your name. Manage your online reputation today with Rostin Ventures Reverse SEO. http://www.rostinventures.com

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Reverse SEO experts in online reputation management provide search engine readers with what you want them to see. Reverse SEO pushes the negative information down in search engine results. Manage your online reputation with these proven techniques of these Reverse SEO Management pros.

Online reputation management (ORM) was created to help business owners and professionals deal with bad press. Countless companies – large and small – have found themselves on the receiving end of negative publicity. When it is posted online, it can spread quickly. The size of your business has little influence on the devastating effect of such feedback. Online reputation management curbs the impact of bad publicity in search engine results. It allows you to control information about you.

Rostin Ventures, http://www.rostinventures.com, Reverse SEO Experts in SEO Consulting and Public Relations Online

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Reverse SEO: Who is Reading About You in Search Engines

Reverse SEO manages your online reputation, pushing the negative information down in search engine results. Manage your online reputation with these proven techniques of these Reverse SEO Management pros. Online reputation management (ORM) was created to help business owners and professionals deal with bad press. Countless companies – large and small – have found themselves on the receiving end of negative publicity. When it is posted online, it can spread quickly. The size of your business has little influence on the devastating effect of such feedback. Online reputation management curbs the impact of bad publicity in search engine results. It allows you to control information about you. Rostin Ventures, http://www.rostinventures.com, Reverse SEO Experts in SEO Consulting and Public Relations Online