Is that essential to have a SEO-website to offer SEO services?

[Aveland]

Hi everybody,

I'd like ta ask seo-people who earn living by doing seo - is that essential to have a website with description of your seo-services to do seo for clients?

Does anyone have not such a site and still doing seo services on regular basis?

Any relevant comments are greatly appreciated.

 

[temi]

If you have a website with description of your services, it will help you make what you are offering clear, however a website is not essential.

 

[smeagain]

I specialise in SEO, however when it comes to a Web Site for SEO Services, there are 2 things to bear in mind.

First if the site doesn't rank well for SEO related terms, you are shooting yourself in the foot.

Second, if your site is prominent in the SEs for SEO related phrases, your techniques and methods will be easily filched by SEO competitors or even ordinary designers.

The same goes for a Portfolio, even more examples of your handiwork to be ripped off.

I have loads of techniques that I have no intention of giving away FOC and particularly to competing SEOs. Also, I would like all the local design bureaus to continue turning out the graphic masterpieces that float in the SEs like a lead balloon as they do at the moment. Their portfolios are my best source of income. With them lacking SEO knowledge, I don't have an SEO Web Site and have no intention of having one. When the time comes that I can't get work without a Web Site, I will think it's time to pack up.

 

[Aveland]

temi, xmsmmgrs, smeagain - thank you all for your opinion.

smeagain, bravo! your comments are funny and interesting. I would say there are another two drawbacks which prevented mt from having a seo-website until now (continuing the numeration):

3. Achieving high rank and good position in SERP means a (massive) constant flow of clients, quite likely more than one seoman can handle. This means either a need for expansion (working in a team) or rejecting part of the customers and hence earning a bad reputation.

4. Another thing of course is considerable time and money to be spent on putting a new site on top positions in google, which (due to the sandbox) may easily takes 6-7 motnhs (or even more), during which one could be staying without a job.

I didn't get your meassage about the floatig balloons in SE's and how does your seo skills help customers to get rid of them. Could you expand on that or given an example (or link)?

Thanks

 

[smeagain]

In my experience, Design bureaus churn out good looking sites but don't have a clue about HTML document structure and how to optimise that structure for success in the Search Engines. Consequently, they fly like a Lead Balloon.

Check out a couple of the small to medium design bureaus near you and evaluate the sites in their Portfolio for both SERPs and Page & Site Structure. You will be amazed at the scope that gives you for direct and cold approaches.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I have an seo website, it ranks page 1 for internet marketing consultancy, and also seo consultancy (as well as loads of other phrases). My blog ranks page 1 for google expert.

As for turning work away. At any given time, i am working with about 12 clients, (apart from 1 off reports). This means I take on approximately 1 new client a month. last week I received 25 requests for me to carry out SEO work, all but one of them will get rejected. I don't see how this will give me a bad name, I tell people strsight if I am unable to take on new clients.

 

[Aveland]

I don't see how this will give me a bad name

Easily, through the word of mouth. Suppose a rejected customer tell his webmaster friends that you are not considerate with clients, freinds tell to their friends and so on. Bad fame spreads quickly.

Of couse, you may think you will always have SE's traffic, which (supposedly) brings you new customers, so bad reputation is not an issue.

However, staying in top is never guaranteed to anybody, (SE's constantly change algorithms plus there is always a competition which may get tougher with time), so there may come time when you drop of page 1 and number of clients reaching you from SE's will drop to... an insufficient number.

In this case, having a good "word of mouth reputation" - you have nothing to worry about, having a bad one - you do.

P.S. That secnario is of course rather hypothetical, and I wish no one on this forum ever faces anything like that

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I understand what you are saying but search engine traffic accounts for maybe 10% of my enquiries, I am not reliant on it, in fact when i was page one for the phrase "search engine optimisation" I DID have a ridiculous amount of enquiries so de-optimised my site.

You said:

Suppose a rejected customer tell his webmaster friends that you are not considerate with clients, freinds tell to their friends and so on. Bad fame spreads quickly.

Then they would be lying. I don't see how anyone can think that because a consultant is not taking on any more clients, that they are being inconsiderate? Can you better explain. I am not saying that they are ignored, they are politely explained to that I am unable to take them on, am I missing something here?

90% of my work comes from word of mouth recommendation, or from past clients with new ventures. But I would still say that without a website, how can an online based busines be taken seriously?

 

[smeagain]

Having an application acceptance ratio of 1 in 20 or so, allows you to cherry pick. Thee are some applications from potential clients that I turn away for various reasons. These could be unrealistic expectations, black hat requirements, a bad reputation in the business community or could be that I don't think I could work with that particular client.

Telling a potential client:
"Sorry we are too busy with existing client commitments to take on your work"
is not going to generate a bad reputation IMO.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I also only work with 1 business from each industry, ie not competing businesses.

 

[b-first]

thats a good question.. there is no need of such things