For years we've helped clean up after projects gone astray. Before you outsource, look for these warning signs:
1. "Submit your site x number of search engines" - Submission to search engines is no longer necessary. If you are listed in the big three, then you will likely show up in the smaller ones.
2. "For only 29.95 a month!" - SEO is a time consuming activity, if you are going to do it well. If you don't think you're paying a fair wage for a fair day's work, then you probably aren't getting a fair day's work.
3. "I have a friend who works for Google" - Seriously, so Google is going to give you the keys to the kingdom since you know someone who knows someone? Hmmm. I thought their credibility was about the reliability and accuracy of results. I guess the good old boy network even works at Google.
4. Placing all the emphasis on your homepage - While pretty graphics and spinning whirligigs may make you look cool, they don't mean you are going to sell anything. Search engine marketing is about driving people to content that is topically relevant to their searches. If your consultant isn't looking at the page content as individual pages and conversions from those pages (the phone number shows everywhere, the contact form is linked, there are photos or videos in the interior) then they really aren't SEM experts. They are web designers who have learned that offering SEO increases their sales.
5. "We guarantee number one positioning" - Run, run, run the opposite way. Any credible SEO consultant will have a disclaimer that they can't guarantee positioning. Why can't they? Well, there are too many parameters: age of your domain, number of competitors for the kwp, are you willing to implement what the vendor asks...etc. I have seen some try to pull it off saying, "we did get them number one." Yeah, for obscure keyword phrases in obscure engines that lead to NO SALES.
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