Comments on: Don’t Be SEO Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 15:21:42 +0000

A friend did this exact thing just a month ago because he was lured by the cheap cost. Interested, I checked the site and noticed the meta tags were completely changed and alerted my friend that this could cause him to lose precious rank. It’s amazing how almost anyone can call themselves an SEO expert yet not know something as basic as meta tags. My friend is now investigating getting out of the relationship.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:47:12 +0000

Thanks Nigel for reading and sharing your thoughts!

Bottom line is, we do not outsource any SEO related tasks as we have the in house staff to handle it…sometimes we need to hire a specialist that might need to work on a certain US based CMS or graphic designer, etc. For those situations I hire them based on their resume and overall references and of course their work…

Take Care,
Nick

By: Nigel

Nigel — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:15:20 +0000

I 100% Agree with you Nick that clients get what they pay for. However you said that “they might outsource their projects overseas” … (which is) going to cause problems down the road for your website”

I assumed that most professional SEO companies do outsource manual tasks (or use software) to do grunt link building work like Social bookmarking, local directory submissions. I was a bit surprised for you generalize outsourcing as bad and comparing it with blackhat tactics…

IMHO its not the outsourcing that’s the problem; its the quality of and training provided to the outsourced company – are they quality linkbuilders using a whitehat process?

You are right though in the end, if its only $50, then its probably being outsourced to a cheap overseas team which either uses blackhat tactics that can get you banned or is not effective.

My question for you is: Honestly do you outsource any of your manual SEO or link building tasks and if you do, how do you ensure quality for your clients?

By: Felix O

Felix O — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:41:23 +0000

Great article. Totally agree with this article. I am the Web Content Manager / SEO Specialist for Houston based Renegade Advertising and I can tell you we have clients who want quick fixes for cheap and we always tell them that good SEO takes time and a lot of effort. Sometimes they agree with us, others they don’t but those who don’t always come back, some months later, to engage our services. You get what you pay for…Thanks again for a good article.

By: Lorraine Grula

Lorraine Grula — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:05:21 +0000

Hi Nick.

While I agree with what you say, it is also true that paying a hefty fee does not guarantee good work. The SEO/social marketing firm I hired was paid $12,500 total for 6 months work yet they messed everything up, including “losing” my site with no back-up! I’m still paying for that 3 years later.

My problem was that I did not know how to check up on what they were really doing, plus I trusted them so did not really think it was necessary. Dang, I got screwed.

By: Herb Jones

Herb Jones — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:04:11 +0000

Nick – feel like you are reading my mail. I have been in month long negotations with a big group evaluating SEO vendors for a group of 225 websites that they manage (all in separate markets)

We came in as one of the most expensive vendors but our proposal was vastly different in that it focused on content marketing and true link building activities.

We gave a little on their pricing, helped change their perception of value and to their credit they stayed open minded enough to make budget a secondary priority. We won the opportunity.

Word of advice to fellow vendors – don’t price match, stay true to yourself and seek to educate – it will pay off in the long run.

By: Dave Abernethy

Dave Abernethy — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 15:11:58 +0000

I agree with Jared. If you have a client who is cost led, best to let him try the cheapo service – he’s going to anyway whatever you argue

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Sat, 14 May 2011 12:02:30 +0000

Thanks for stopping by Jared and for your comment!

Its not about the cost, its about the outcome and you do truly pay for what you get!

Take Care,
Nick

By: Jared Detroit

Jared Detroit — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:25:27 +0000

Most of the time when I’m talking with clients that want everything completed for a couple hundred bucks or something ridiculous like $50, I invite them to use the other person. If they truly believe at that time that they can get great service and results for that small amount of money, no amount of persuasion is going to get them to come to me.

We’re expensive and I tell people that.

By: Nick Stamoulis

Nick Stamoulis — Wed, 11 May 2011 10:37:11 +0000

Hi Tiny,
Thanks for reading and sharing your story!

Take Care,
Nick

By: Tiny Malone

Tiny Malone — Wed, 11 May 2011 06:50:16 +0000

Totally agree with this post! If I had $1 for ever time I’ve seen this, we could both retire to Fiji tomorrow. Recently, I made a proposal to a large automotive group. They were “commited” to search engine marketing and the “seo’s” and “the facebooks” and “twitters”. I didn’t get the account. A “competitor” offered “everything” we offered for $599 a month (total) for 13 dealerships.

All but two of their websites are black listed or sand boxed, and they can’t figure out why their Internet sales have dropped 79% over the past 5 months. Word on the street is that they are defaulting on their floor plan financing, and going out of business. Hope those few bucks they saved, in the big scheme of things, was worth it.

At the end of the day, the investment in quality always trumps the pain of lowest price short term exuberance turned SOUR!