If you’re considering capitalizing on companies’ need for SEO by starting your own business offering SEO and related activities, be aware that it’s not as easy as it sounds. And if you’re a potential client looking to hire an SEO expert, you should know that there’s very little standardization in this relatively young industry. Anyone can claim to be an organic SEO guru, a PPC expert or a social-media butterfly. The competition is fierce and overly optimistic claims common.
Information and data within this post gathered in association with a New York City criminal lawyer at Bernfeld, DeMatteo & Bernfeld, L.L.P..
There are millions (yes, millions) of so-called SEO “experts,” and many of them promise the world (or at least guarantee a No. 1 Google rank) to their clients. Hopefully you understand that:
- Guarantees are not possible in SEO.
- Rankings change based not only on what you do but what a company’s competitors do.
- Some SEO consultants use “black-hat” techniques that risk getting their clients’ sites banned from the search engines
Unfortunately, many consultants promise (and clients expect):
- Top organic search rankings for the most competitive keywords.
- Top PPC ad placements for the most desirable keywords, on a meager budget.
- Thousands of Twitter followers and Facebook fans within a month.
Peter D. gives a good overview of the potential barriers to entering the world of SEO consultancy in “Starting a New SEO Business In 2011?” He also points out that many of these consultants are rehashing the same old marketing materials with a bit of online jargon thrown in to make them sound up-to-date. Don’t be one of them.
This is not to suggest successful SEO start-ups don’t exist. A good salesperson with a firm grasp of SEO can do it. Just be prepared for a lot of hard work and patience with managing expectations.
