• Stone Temple Blog, Tuesday, April 8, 2008 1:45 PM

Eric Enge follows up a post on how to recognize a bad search firm with this list of actions and results you can expect from a good search firm. Up first is the fact that a good search firm (or consultant) won't just tell you what you want to hear. "Remember, the reason why you are bringing in an SEO is that you have a problem," Enge says. "It's their job to help you understand the nature of the problem and the fix."

In addition to being brutally honest, a good search firm will explain everything they're doing as they go along--they're not going to tweak things in the background of your site without your permission or knowledge. And they won't brush off your questions, either.

When it comes to linking, the firm will know (and make sure you know--over and over!) that there's a balance between quantity and quality. They'll want to help you increase the volume and authority of your links through creation of valuable content. A good search firm also has experience with multiple kinds of sites and strategies--and they should be willing to share some of their past successes with you, either via case studies and white papers, or actual references.

Read the whole story at Stone Temple Blog »