Favorite SEO firm you would recommend

[movieguide]

Is there a favorite SEO firm that you would recommend. Is there any site that ranks the top firms in the country?

[TheeDigital]

Each firm will have their own strengths and weaknesses.  Some may be better at Design and conversion, others at programming and technical aspects of on page SEO, others may have an advantage in strategy planning or content creation, and others may be better at link building.  Depending on your needs, you may want someone local you can meet with.  If you are a local company then you would want someone who knows the local market and places where you would want to be, but for a national campaign this may not apply.  I would always check the rankings for the company itself and ask for examples of rankings for customers or case studies, testimonials from clients, success stories, etc.

Good luck!

[KeriMorgret]

Moz has a list of recommended companies (based on our own personal experience) at http://moz.com/community/recommended.

If you search, you will find some companies (there is one prominent one in particular) that state they rate SEO firms. You may want to look on the Q&A forum for opinions of those companies, as they often require payment to even be considered in their listings.

Also, what works for one person, may not work for another. Do you have a 25 page site that serves a local area spanning two counties and sell nothing online? Or do you only sell your products online and never meet face-to-face, and need to be present in searches in Asia, Europe, and the Americas? Two very different firms would meet those needs.

[EGOL]

Learn from Moz, then bet on yourself.

[KeriMorgret]

EGOL does have a good point. You can learn a lot from our blogs, Q&A, and our Beginner's Guide to SEO at http://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo.

You may still need to hire a firm, but if you have started educating yourself, you will have a much better feel for if someone is giving you what they think you want to hear, or giving you something closer to the truth.

[EGOL]

If you are going to hire someone, it is a good idea to have enough knowledge to understand what services are going to be performed, if they have a chance at being successful, and if they have a chance of getting you in trouble with google.

The worst thing that you can do is to be a blind noob who hires on the basis of price and baloney.

Visit Q&A and read some of the questions posted by others that have titles like .... "Wah!  My traffic dropped".   You will find out what is tanking websites and what to stay away from.

It's just like anything else.  If you wanna buy horses, you better know something about them.  Otherwise the money you spend will be tuition.

[EGOL]

The Q&A questions that I like the best is when a relatively new member asks....

Hey, I was gonna hire an SEO guy to promote my site and he was going to do ( list of low quality trash )... but I am doubting that this is going to be effective because of this white board friday post or this video by matt cutts.   What do you think?

[evan89]

Hey,

I just went through this process, so I thought I would share some things that would have been helpful for me.

It is good to know what your budget is. Once you know that, know specifically what service you are looking for. Are you looking for content creation, link building, technical SEO, CRO, strategy, consulting.... Also, know your own strengths and the strengths of your team.

I contacted a few firms recommended by Moz and Distilled, and I realized that each firm has their specialties. One was a broad internet marking firm. They were more expensive, and I realized that since there were redundancies in our capabilities, I would have been paying a premium on the overlapping skills. In the end, I found a company that specifically specialized in what I really needed, and in realizing this, I was able to save as well.

Ultimately, I was very confident in all of the companies I spoke with, and if they are on the Moz list, they earned it. But make sure you are clear on what you need before you start contacting companies (unless you are looking for consulting I suppose).

I hope that my experience can help you. Good luck!

[Alex-Harford]

To add to this, Google have a good primer: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35291?hl=en

There is some good info e.g. "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google".