Accepting SEO clients. And ranting.
As most of you know, I've been around for a while. Recently, I made a post that inquired as to how others on WP dealt with the lack of social interaction in a business such as website publishing. Well, after a lot of contemplation and planning, I've concluded the following:
I'm shifting the focus of my business. Currently, I have a couple of monthly SEO clients (who pay a retainer) and I manage the construction of my personal websites, which I'll continue to do so. What I want to do, however, is expand the business and offer SEO services professionally -- on the web, and locally. I'll be able to offer such a valuable service, while dealing with more people in-person and on the phone on a daily basis.
Here comes the rant.
There are so many overnight, outsource to India, unprofessional, SEO companies on the web that it makes me sick. Throw up a cheap template on internet-marketing-xyz.com, add some definitions of a couple of SEO buzzwords like "link popularity" and "keyword density" and you're all of a sudden some kind of internet marketing guru.
I won't pretend to know everything about SEO -- I don't. As we all know, the atmosphere is constantly evolving and it's simply impossible. But, I do know what it takes to rank in Google, Yahoo, and MSN. More importantly, I'm a straight-shooter by nature. I know that when marketing a website, I'm representing another company. I ask the questions: "Does my client really want to have their link on buy-viagra-now-while-playing-holdem-online.com?" and "Won't spamming bring negative attention toward my client?"
Services Offered.
I'm not copying and pasting the same "services offered" list you see on every SEO company's site on the web, honestly. The services offered are as unique as possible, caterered to each client.
Link Popularity/Management.
If the client wants me to buy links on websites, I'll buy as many links for them as their budget will allow. I buy a lot of links, so I'm able to get discounts. The bigger the budget, the more opportunities. I have links for clients on HowStuffWorks.com, Answers.com, and Miami.com. I also get one-way links to clients' sites by writing articles, press releases, submitting to directories, and more. My rates are very reasonable -- and I only get paid for links that you actually see live on the web.
Keyword Tracking
A weekly, graphic, colorful keyword report sent directly to the inbox of my clients each week. The report contains present keyword rankings for Google, Yahoo, and MSN.
Industry/Competition Analysis
I'll delve into the industry of the client and analyze the top competitiors. I'll check out their backlinks, see why they're ranking so highly, estimate their traffic, find out what other marketing methods they're using on the web, and a couple more things.
On-Site SEO
Of course, I also offer basic on-site SEO services. Tweaking titles, META tags, making sure the site has the proper keyword balance, etc.
That's about it. Each client has the right to select one service or all of them. I perform all of the above services for my current SEO clients and accept a monthly retainer, but, if one of you were looking for just links, I'd accept payment per links.
I'm not looking to accept a ton of new work, once I receive two (2) more clients, I'm going to stop accepting them again. As I said above, I'm personally doing this work -- no outsourcing.
If anybody is interested, PM me.
