Who is the #1 SEO?
May 23rd, 2008Here’s an interesting question: How can you find the best SEO (Search Engine Optimization) firm on the internet? How about using your favorite search engine, which for me, means Google.
Searching for ‘Search Engine Optimization’ on Google returns more than 40 million (!) results so you might be tempted to pick one of the first results to find the best firm. But wait - those first 3 sites in the shaded rectangle are paid results meaning those SEOs didn’t make the natural search cut at all. Ditto for the firms listed on the right hand side of the page. Nope, if you’re an SEO firm and you can’t optimize your own business page for top natural search results, how are you going to help customers do the same for their business?
It’s interesting to note that the first 2 natural results aren’t for SEO firms at all. The first is for Wikipedia which somehow always seems to have great search engine placement no matter the search terms. The next result is from Google warning you about shifty SEO experts who claim to know more than they really do. The third result is for an actual SEO firm, Submit Express, and though I haven’t used them myself their high placement gives some legitimacy to their ability to get clients top billing in major search engines (Google, at the very least).
The fifth result, BruceClay.com, is almost as impressive, especially for such a seemingly small operation. Of course Bruce’s site is super long with tons of text that search engines love, vaguely reminiscent of those scammy sounding e-book sites. Me? I think I’ll pass on Bruce Clay.
When looking for an SEO firm to help improve your natural search result placement, consider how the SEO does with his/her OWN website and be wary of any firm that has to use paid search results to get customers.
