I'm facinated by SEO but the truth is, I don't have the time to do it. Who can I hire?

[Chaz88]

I'm facinated by SEO but the truth is, I don't have the time to do it.  I trust the moz community more than some of those other SEO forums out there so I'm asking you all, where can I go to find a good SEO firm who's affordable enough for a small startup? The next part of the question is, what should I expect to pay for services that will really make a difference?

Please don't spam this thread....I seriously just want an honest opinion as to where I can find some credible help.

[Gyorgy]

Find a local SEO company or a freelancer with good reputation. It's always better to meet sometimes, discuss the project and talk maybe once a month about the project.

Probably you'll have to pay a one time fee to start the project, on-site SEO, etc, then a monthly payment for link building, new content, social media and reporting.

[augustos]

Did you tried the SEOMoz Marketplace?

http://www.seomoz.org/marketplace

I believe that someone over there might help you.

[JamesNorquay]

hi Mate,

Some advice:

Try to get a SEO company which is local to your area, for example if you live in Sydney - australia try and get a SEO based local so you can have face to face visits.

I see horror stories when people in Aus hire a SEO in the UK and they have a complete link profile from .co.uk domains!!! and not one .com.au at all!!!

Check out case studies and prior work including link profiles, don't be afraid to ask questions, do some research, people can talk a whole bunch of sales BS and rip clients off I have seen some horrors in the past.

By all means go for some one from the SEO market place too, some good companies and consultants in that list.

Regards,

James Norquay

[Gyorgy]

First Rate and Colombus in the same thread.

[copykatrecipes]

You may want to begin with someone, but I really think that you should brush up on your skills and incorporate it into the way you work your site.  You should be able to learn on page SEO rather easily, that's how you structure your site, and how you write your posts.  There will be a post here on on page SEO.  You may want to begin to work on offsite SEO yourself, make sure you are getting the links to your site.

You need to learn about it to make sure you are getting a good value for your money.  Learn about it, and then you can see if they are giving you an impact.

[JamesNorquay]

Its usually Dejan SEO and Columbus posting on here Good to see more locals.

[ericpratum]

The price is really going to fluctuate depending on whom you hire, what you're asking for, the size and complexity of your site or project, and a number of other factors. I totally agree with all of the recommendations about finding someone local. You don't have to stay local, but if you can at least get started with someone local, it'll probably help to expand your (and their) understanding of what is needed and being done. Then, you might have a better basis for deciding on future work whether with a local or not.

[DROIDSTERS]

Here are my recommendations

1.) Look at some local brands performing well in the searches in your country

2.) Check whether they achieve their rankings through good SEo practices (run the domain in opensiteexplorer) and analyse their top links

2.) Find out who the SEo companies are who are doing work for them

3.) Approach these SEO companies for quotes (and if they are to expensive, ask them to recommend another company)

I totally agree with your time constraint (alot of people have this). However, I would strongly suggest you take the once-off time to understand as much about SEO as possible (roughly 10-20 hours), so you can properly understand and question the SEO processes a company will implement for you. Hope this helps. Cheers & Good Luck