A friend recently forwarded me a blog post about SEO consultants. It makes the premise that SEO people are evil, scammers and opportunists. In the post, the blogger claims:
Search Engine Optimization is not a legitimate form of marketing. It should not be undertaken by people with brains or souls. If someone charges you for SEO, you have been conned.
Ok - so I don't agree because if you hire a good SEO company, they can help you understand your opportunity. For example, you might have a great product and call it a kid toy. What you don't realize is that moms out there call them toddler toys. If you don't put that word in any of your content, you are NEVER going to rank well for the term, and there are going to be thousands of people who will never ever consider your product.
Another point - not all marketers grew up in the internet age. Some of them are very uncomfortable with the web. It also means they probably don't understand how a website should be coded in order for the Search engines to successfully crawl through your site. If you are not coding your site correctly, you might as well be whispering your message on the internet. It is like you have an amazing house, but there is a ton of string tied around everything so you can't see what is underneath (also know as javascript).
It is true, you don't want to game the search engines, but you do need to know the playing field. Some people don't have the time, talent or desire to do all of the research and technical lifting it takes, so they hire SEO companies.
