Over the last year there has been a rise in advertisers hitting the the pavement to round up any Local Business they could to sell them online services and you may have noticed the rise in companies doing SEO in Sacramento. I have been working online solely since the later part of 2009 and it was in 2007 I started a journey into the Internet world that would change my life.. for better or worse. So, you can guess I watch
trends very closely and I still devote 1 day a week to learning something new and keeping up with changes in the industry.

We can all agree the Internet has exploded but the rush to sign up Local Businesses has really just boomed in the last 6 months or so. Every media or Yellowbook salesman soon found that sales were decreasing and it was harder to sell the big yellow book and started jumping on programs to sell SEO or any online service for that matter but we’ll stick with SEO to keep this post on track.

With unemployment rates increasing I feel there has also been a sense of “how stable is my job” (if you have one) and a boom in people wanting to work from home.

The Mad Dash to sell SEO Services

This economic and internet trend has been accompanied by a huge increase in marketers selling programs or courses on how to go out and sell SEO services to Local business owners. Which you would expect when a profitable trend emerges in the market people jump on it to make money. Most of these courses are mainly reseller programs or done for you services whereas the new SEO or Marketing “Guru” aka former office worker can go out and sell a SEO package then hand if off to the company to deliver it.

There is nothing wrong with reseller programs, I am planning one of my own, but selling yourself as the “expert” then handing off your client account to a company in India seems to be an issue of honesty and ethics, for my taste. An expert is not a reseller and a reseller of Sacramento SEO services is not an expert.

Most of these programs teach people how to be an “expert” missing the fact that to become an expert in any field of study takes hundreds and most would say thousands of hours of study and practice. As a skilled guitar player I have played on big stages, small stages, appeared on T.V., and done numerous Radio shows and I can play any style, but I have spent thousands of hours in practice and performance. In my college days I was practicing 8-12 hrs per day. A wood worker perfects his skill in much the same way. This is the expert path.

I have a lust for knowledge and information so I started doing SEO on my own websites (20+ and counting) studied every piece of information on SEO I could find from a reputable authority in the field and after thousands of hrs. I finally feel like I know what I am doing.

But because trends change, Search Engine Algorithm’s change, the way consumers use the internet change, it is important to keep up with this in order to stay ahead of the game and be able to deliver a great SEO Sacramento service.

Which is why I still devote 1 day per week to learning something new, reading new developments and trends, and seeing what my mentors are doing.

When searching for SEO how do you choose the right company?

So here we are going to get to the meat and potatoes and how to weed through the companies offering SEO Sacramento services. Some of these may or may not be important to you. Like having the company be Local is pretty big to many of the business owners I have spoken with and if you think of one that is important to you and its not here, feel free to leave a comment and I will add it.

#1 Results
A: Is there company ranking for their own market or service?
When you Google the service your looking for (sacramento seo company, internet marketing sacramento, etc) does that company appear in the top 10 or even better top 5.
B: Are their clients on Page 1?
Where are their clients ranking and ask to see proof.

#2 Customer Service and Communication
How big is there company and are they going to manage your marketing or do you have an account manager. This may or may not be a deal breaker but it effects responsiveness. A very common story I hear is that there SEO or Web Designer disappeared for 2 weeks after they got paid. So how responsive is that company?

When you requested a consultation how long did it take for them to respond? You want to make sure that the communication is very high and fast.

#3 Are they Interested in YOU
What questions are they asking you? Are they really interested in your business or your pocket book.
Are they just trying to sell you more back-links than the next guy?
A professional consultant will take time to interview you to get in-depth details about your business, services, and target customers.
They are going to be interested in increasing your revenue and not just selling you links.

#4 Location
Is the company even located in the US?
This may or may not be important to you but I think it is important to most Local Businesses. I have spoken to many business owners who are giving me time JUST because I am here in Sac. They are getting hit with many calls a day from companies not in California and some not even in the U.S.

It is also very nice to meet someone your going to be working with, shake their hand, and speak face to face… I know I enjoy it and it gives me a chance to peel my eyes of the monitor

#5 References
Do they have a few clients past or present that you can speak to?
You dont need a 100 names but a few people to confirm their a good guy/girl and people are happy with them is always nice.

This may be difficult for a new company or service provider, so if you are new to working with Local Business owners just tell them, and be honest, that your new and don’t have any references yet but you do a great job and if they give you a shot you will make them very happy.

#6 Cost
Are there services really cheap? Are they too expensive? Are they priced right?
SEO companies that offer really cheap pricing you should proceed with caution. By cheap pricing I would say anything under the $300 per month mark. Depending on the geographical region and number of keywords of course, but that is a pretty good benchmark.

To over deliver to a customer, because that is what we are talking about. To deliver a very exceptional winning service and give the best results it cost money and there is no way around that. You can’t drive a Ferrari on a Volkswagon budget.

So that just about wraps up this post I hope you found these tips useful. Put them into use and I think you will find the right company to work with your business. Remember its all about taking action and putting in the right action steps needed to help you achieve your business goals.

Talk Soon!
Craig