1. Do you use white hat techniques exclusively?
Achieving excellent results is completely possible by using only white hat techniques. The best part about staying above the fray is that there will be no surprise penalties to your website later on down the road. If an SEO provider seems to take a strangely uncanny pride in their secretive underground SEO techniques, chances are they’re trying to pull a fast one. Buyer beware.
2. How will relevant backlinks be developed for my website?
Everyone now knows that having one way incoming links (a.k.a. backlinks) from other respected sites pointing to your website is essential to improving search results and rankings. But not just any old backlinks will do. Ethical SEO professionals know and understand that backlinks from quality, relevant sources are the ones that count and that some unscrupulous incoming links can actually penalize your site. Ask your SEO pro for clarity on their link strategy.
3. Will all the content provided for my site be 100% original and unique?
It’s no secret that some less than reputable SEO providers will try to provide content for your site that is outright stolen from other sources. Obviously, this means serious trouble on many fronts – everything from legal issues to duplicate content penalties with the search engines. If your SEO provider will be producing content for your site, be sure to ask them if the material is guaranteed to be original and unique. All ethical providers comply with this rule.
4. Is it your policy to guarantee specific search engine results?
SEO providers have their work cut out for them. More often than not, they’re competing with high budget big corporations and fierce competition to score that coveted ranking in the search engines. In reality, there is no way to guarantee a specific search engine ranking for your site. Offering guaranteed improvement – yes. Guaranteeing results within a certain range – sure. But guaranteeing an exact result, such as being number one in the search listing, is just not realistic.
5. What do you do to keep up with the latest search engine algorithm updates?
Keeping up with the latest search engine algorithm updates is a daunting task indeed – even for the bona fide SEO professional. Changes happen constantly and are almost never announced or made transparent by the search engines. Savvy SEO pros know where to turn for reliable advice and news, but more importantly, they follow SEO practices that are solid enough that they won’t need to be too concerned about every little algorithm change in the first place.
6. What is your plan for building or improving my website?
Professional and ethical SEO providers use a huge variety of tools and practices of the trade to optimize a website to score maximum exposure on the web. When asking for an overview of the big picture plan for your site, don’t worry about the nitty gritty details, but rather if they can explain their SEO plan in a way that makes sense to you. Communication is important no matter what SEO tactics are deployed.
George Chaney
President/CEO
SEO King, Inc.
