Hiring an SEO Company

[TIM_DOTCOM]

I am looking to hire an SEO company each have there own ideas and strengths. My concerns are what is good and what is bad.

Here is one company where their Silver Package fits within our budget. But there are a lot of features on here we do know if is it good or bad SEO. I attached the packages they send us.

If we were to hire an SEO Company to do our offsite SEO, what should we be looking for that is considered whitehat seo for 2015?

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[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi there

Here are some great articles to check out:
10 Questions to Ask When Hiring an SEO Consultant (Entrepreneur)
SEO Company Checklist: How to Hire the Right Vendor (Inc)
The Recommended List (Moz)

One thing I will say out of the gate - any company that says "first page of Google", ignore them. Any company that has strategies solely based on link building, ignore them. If something sounds TOO good to be true, it is. You'll get gut feelings talk to SEO companies - you can tell when someone has your best interest at heart and asks the right questions.

I would recommend as well that you take a look at the Learn section of Moz to educate yourself a bit as well. This way, you can hear red flags on basics and understand fundamentals in the industry.

Based on a very, very quick skim of the attached document, I would be questioning the Custom Backlink section. Here's a great article from Forbes on what not to do from a link building perspective. Also, Webmaster Tools shouldn't be "optional" - it's a must. Here's how to set those up from Google and Bing.

Hope this all helps a bit - good luck!

[AlanBleiweiss]

I read through most of the "services" they offer with the different levels.

RUN AWAY SCREAMING. That's my best advice.

Several of the services they offer are old and outdated from a few years back.

Several of the services they offer communicate that they will artificially create likes, shares, social bookmarking with specific numbers of each.  That's a big red flag for fake promotion.

Several of the services they offer are outright spam.

So take the time to read the content from the links Richard provided in his comment. It's well worth the educational value.

[TIM_DOTCOM]

Thanks for the great answer. I had a feeling it wasn't right and why I shared it as a question. You know when you get that bad gut feeling? That is what I got when they sent us this - it seem wrong and off for some reason. I am glad we checked it out! And I am glad this site has great community of members as yourself to help.

Now off to find a reliable company.

[TheeDigital]

A general rule to follow would be that if they are offering a package deal, it's probably not good. What works in one niche may not work for another. A lot of their link types are considered spammy and they are offering a ton of items for a very low cost which throws a lot of red flags.

[MiriamEllis]

Good discussion here. I want to add, I noticed that you had categorized your question in two of our Local SEO categories, so I'm guessing you might be specifically looking to hire a Local SEO. If that's true, I recommend that you check out the websites of some of the experts who participated in the Moz Local Ranking Factors 2014 Survey. You'll see them listed on the left side of the survey in the box titled 'Contributors'. There are some very good companies represented there:

https://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors

If you specifically need Local SEO rather than traditional SEO, you'll want to be sure you're working with Local experts.