FAQs for SEO Companies
Here are a few of the most popular questions we get asked by our clients when they’re sizing us up. They’re also questions you should be asking when comparing SEO companies.
How soon will I see results and a Return on Investment?
The most common question we get asked about search engine optimisation is ‘How soon can I expect to see results?’
The answer is: it depends.
It depends on if your site is new or established. It depends if your site has already had some link building or if we are starting from scratch.
It also depends on the competitiveness of your keywords and the strength of your competition.
We will usually get your website ranked on the first page of Google in less than 6 months if you keep up your end of the bargain and make all the recommended changes to your website to help it improve. Of course we can do them for you, if you need us to.
Ultimately it will rest on how much budget you have available and the number of keywords you want to target with that budget. A bigger budget and fewer keywords mean we can target things more aggressively for you.
What happens when my site gets to number 1, do I have to keep paying you?
That depends. It depends on how hot on your heals your competition are. If they are trying to knock you off the top spot then we’d suggest keeping up the campaign so that you’re always ahead of them.
We can also rank another page from your website for the same keyword to increase your exposure. This clever little trick will also squeeze another one of your competitors off the first page.
What most of our clients do is ask us to start optimising their site for new keywords because they want more of the same success we’ve brought their business so far.
And another thing, if for some reason you’ve exhausted all the keywords in your market, you could always build and optimise a second website and get that to the number 2 position.
If you’ve got all the business you can handle you may be able to reduce to a maintenance budget as you’re no longer trying to leapfrog your competition.
If I stop paying you, do I lose everything?
With SEO it’s a constant battle to keep up with the changes in the search engines and stopping your campaign will give your competition the opportunity to overtake you.
All the work we do for you is for as long as Google decides to recognise it. We do not remove any of the links we have built or take down any webpages we have created, they’re yours to keep forever.
Will you work for my competitors?
We will never work for your direct competitors all the time you are retaining our services. There is only one number 1 position on Google for each keyword so it wouldn’t be fair to have to choose who gets it.
If we are approached by someone where we feel there would be a conflict of interests, we’ll always ask you.
Will I be tied into a contract?
We don’t do contracts, there’s nothing worse than working with someone who feels trapped and resents you for it.
All we ask is that you pay us monthly in advance and if things change and you need to stop, just be courteous enough to let us know.
Why do you charge in advance when other SEO companies offer ‘pay on results’?
The reasons for this are simple, firstly getting paid on results creates the temptation to cut corners, which no doubt most of these types of SEO companies do (see the related question below). This is because search engine marketing is a labour intensive thing and results can take a few months to come through. That would mean a lot of capital outlay for us upfront with no guarantee of getting paid at the end. We don’t want to go down that road.
And another thing we don’t want to spend out time chasing payments, we’d rather be busy doing what we’re best at, growing your business.
Our clients have always been happy with this arrangement because they understand that quality is worth investing in.
How do I know you’re not going to get my site banned by using spam or ‘black hat’ tactics?
Short term methods that may work for a while but eventually Google penalise you for are dangerous shortcuts that a lot of pay on results search engine marketing companies use.
We want to grow our own business as much as you do yours so it’s really not in our interest to jeopardise our reputation and your business by cutting corners.
Another SEO company wanted to build lead generation sites for me and optimise those, do you do that?
That’s only a good idea if you own the domains and the websites. If they own them, then this is against Google’s best practice guidelines for SEO Companies.
If you ever stop working with them and they own the websites, they will divert all the calls and emails from those sites to one of your competitors and there’s nothing you can do about it. Beware!
Your website is a business asset and improving the rankings will increase the value of your business. We always optimise your own websites.
Who owns any web properties you create for me?
You have full ownership of every webpage, website and account we create for you. You won’t be held to ransom if things change and you need to stop.
How do I know where my money is going every month?
At the end of every month we’ll send you a report to show you the improvement in your online performance.
We’ll also schedule a call to talk you through it so you can ask any questions.
If you need to see evidence of all the work we have done and exactly how we achieved the results, we can do that too but most clients haven’t got the time to review it all. They just want to see the results and what it means for their bottom line.
