SEO Consulting
One of the most awkward things to deal with as an SEO practitioner is the expectations of customers. It is often hard to convince them that SEO takes a long time to fully work and campaign results will not be obvious for many months. Sometimes it can take over a year for really competitive terms and there is never a guarantee that any site will rank number 1 in Google for their chosen keywords. Customers however, are sceptical of paying for something they might not actually see the results of for quite a while (and they are right to think in this way). Many SEO ’specialists’ do seem to produce little for what they are paid and they hide under the fact that it does indeed take time to rank well. In addition, when choosing an SEO company, make sure they have not inadvertently done damage to previous customers’ listings in the Google index. It is not the first time that an SEO campaign involved the use of black-hat techniques which lead to the de-listing of the SEO company AND their clients.
So, if an SEO company promises quick results, think carefully about whether or not you can trust them. I tell my clients it takes roughly 6-9 months before they can expect to see results and even then I am approximating. Quietly, I hope to get them good results a lot sooner, but I do not mention that in case I fall short of their expectations for reasons beyond my control. Despite this, for some sites I have SEO-managed, the campaign generated top placements very quickly. Even this blog usually jumps to the first page of Google for competitive keywords within an hour or two of publication of an entry, so it is possible to do a great SEO campaign and get good results quickly, but just beware of a company which guarantees this. Nobody can guarantee a placement in the Google index, never mind a top spot there.