If one is considering hiring an outside firm to perform SEO services (Search Engine Optimization) to help market their Online Business or Website there are several questions that need to be asked and some general concepts that should be understood to help make an informed decision while choosing a qualified firm.  Below is a list of 10 basic rules to SEO and hiring the right firm.

1. The first rule to SEO is a good solid website design.  Make sure that the firm that is being considered has discussed and is aware of the many on-site SEO techniques that are essential to ensuring the website itself is SEF (Search Engine Friendly).  If the website is not designed utilizing the correct SEF strategy than it is much more difficult and in extreme cases may not be possible at all, to achieve significant SEO results.  SEF url’s, the correct keyword density, and logical Meta-Tag and Meta-Description information are a few of the on-site SEO pieces that should be employed before any other strategies are embarked upon.
2. There are many companies out there that are offering ‘backlinking’ as a means of achieving SEO, and although back-linking can be employed as part of an SEO strategy, it is merely one piece of the puzzle so to speak.  Back-linking alone will never get a website to the top of Google, Yahoo or Bing, especially if it is merely random links strewn out across the Internet with no plan or context.
3. Ensure that the firm that is being considered understands how to use backlinking in its proper context and effectively so that valuable resources are not wasted on a strategy that will not produce results.
4. Ask to speak to a client that has had successful results through the use of the firm’s SEO strategy in the past (ask for references).
5. Proper SEO should include high quality content included in the body of the website and posted at various authority external websites that link back to the target website.  This is the most effective way to ensure the website is viewed as an authority in it’s area of expertise.
6. Ask to view reference sites that include content that has either been authored by the SEO firm or has been written for them for their client(s) by them.
7. Determining the correct keyword phrases to target is the next most important aspect to effective SEO.  Choosing either keyword phrases that are already in an overly competitive niche or do not have significant search volume can render any SEO attempts ineffectual.
8. A good SEO firm will provide a keyword analysis in the area of expertise for the web site’s key area of business to provide suitable options as to which keyword phrase or phrases should be focused upon to achieve the most effective SEO results.
9. Be sure to ask for an analysis of competing websites and an estimate of the expected amount of improvement related to Google, Yahoo, and Bing and the cost in doing so along with an approximate expectation of the duration of time it will take to achieve the improvement.
10. Most importantly, be sure to get everything in writing and in signed contract form.

San Antonio SEO