Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an important element in the promotion of your website. But how should you choose an expert?

Unfortunately, although there are many legitimate SEO firms out there, there are also several who are little better than spammers.

Check Out Their Clients

A genuinely good SEO firm will have some testimonials from customers who have had positive results. If no testimonials are displayed on the firm's website, ask them for the websites of a couple of clients they have done some work for.

- Look very carefully at their clients' sites. Check the WHOIS directory – sometimes, dishonest SEO firms will build "client" websites themselves, so you may see that the domain is registered in the SEO firm's name. Also, check archive.org to see how long the clients' websites have been around. Similar site design is also a giveaway.

- If the SEO firm is any good, their clients' websites should be ranking in the first page of the top search engines' results for relevant keywords. Do some searches and assess the quality of the firm's service.

- You should also check incoming and outgoing links to and from the firm's clients' websites. If you see a lot of links to irrelevant sites, particularly "adult" sites, online casinos, prescription drug retailers or similar, you could be dealing with a rather unethical SEO firm. Inbound links from blog spam or guestbook spam should also put you off.

Online Persona

A good SEO expert should know how to promote themselves as well as other people's websites.

- If you see phrases such as "doorway pages", "monthly resubmission" or "optimised page generator" on the SEO firm's website, you should be suspicious. These refer to unethical, Google-blacklisted or simply ineffective SEO techniques.

- Do a Google search for the SEO expert's name. If they're hard to find in SEO-related places, this should be a cause for concern. Well-known SEOs should be credited and featured all over the web, while newcomers should be actively participating in SEO-related online communities, writing articles and so on.

- You should be able to easily understand the terms they use on their website. Use your common sense: if they seem to be trying to pull the wool over your eyes with marketing speak, they are likely to be dishonest when doing business with you as well.

By Iain Ford

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