SEO Tips: Beware of SEO Firm Cold-Calls

Let me set the scene for when you receive pitches for SEO.

It’s late at your office or maybe an early morning quick check of things to do.  You fire up the tableland take a last minute review of email.  An unsolicited note catches your eye, with a message like this:

Hi, my name is Terrance and I am the sales manager at Such-n-such SEO and Extraordinary Marketing services. I was just looking at your site and see that your site has the potential to get even more visitors. I just want to take the time to tell you how.  Now, let me ask you…

Ok, stop.  It is at this point you should put the note aside, and start onto other pressing business.

Because accepting to do business from a SEO firm that starts with one blind suggestion is a waste of time. Here’s why….

Results from one specific SEO suggestion cannot guarantee traffic or a significant improvement in performance.  The most complete SEO involves a combination of steps addressing page text, links, social sharing, and supporting code in a site layout will ultimately attract the right search engine queries  from the right customers.  To make such a combination valuable to the client, a SEO firm needs to review objectives with the website owner.  That means understanding the business as much as understanding the website.

Thus when approached with a cold call about SEO, you may be receiving word on a needed task such as revising metadata or updating links. But most times cold calling SEO firms approach potential customers with an obvious site tasks so that the salesperson can just get a foot in the door.  And many times, that foot is an unwelcomed one, selling unnecessary services or consuming precious time with poor follow up.

Most sites require an update over time. To ensure that the  it’s up to YOU, THE CUSTOMER to determine what and when that update is put into place.

Now, here’s what your business can do to manage cold calls.

• Investigate the firm online before speaking with anyone. Are there customer reviews from legitimate sources.  Who is affiliated with the firm?  Gaining a sense of what they have done for past firms or customers is a big help, as well as giving your team a feel for how the SEO firm will operate.  A member of your business can then speak with the firm about capabilities, and then decide if doing business makes sense.
• Speaking of capabilities, having ideas on what to expect from an SEO audit can help frame the questions to be asked. Learn what typically goes into an SEO audit here in this Zimana post.
• Moreover, maintenance of a SEO strategy needs to be conducted periodically - check out this Zimana post about why SEO maintenance is essential.

Overall, remember that a SEO firm can gain some information from your site code to ask a seemingly relevant question, but don’t work with firms that have not proven their value to other businesses and people.