# SEO Company worth it??



## swoop_ds (Nov 17, 2010)

I got called today by topofthefirstpage.com and had a lengthy "demonstration" of their services.  I kept asking for their pricing and finely after about half an hour they said that it ranges from 2000-4000 depending on how many keywords I want to rank highly for.

Is this worth it?  I think that it would be but they wouldn't give me a second to think about it because "the sale is ending todaY".....  Anyone have any opinions/comments about this sort of thing?

-Dave


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## Moonb007 (Nov 17, 2010)

I think you would be better off dumping $2000 into Google Ads.  This sounds like a scam to me or something you can do yourself for a lot cheaper.  Google Ads will even suggest keywords for you after you get a few going.


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## KmH (Nov 17, 2010)

swoop_ds said:


> ..... *but they wouldn't give me a second to think about it because "the sale is ending todaY*"..... Anyone have any opinions/comments about this sort of thing?
> 
> -Dave


 Run Forrest! Run!


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## mjhoward (Nov 17, 2010)

Ripoff... you can do that yourself for *FREE*.  First, use meta tags to insert a site description and keywords on your webpage headers. Then create a sitemap.xml file for your website with the correct format (there are many sitemap generators out there).  Finally, sign up for your domain name to be crawled by Google and Yahoo.  Search engines generally use the sitemap.xml to crawl your page (that and internal and external links), which is why you need to create one.

Yahoo! Submit Your Site
Add your URL to Google

$2000-4000 saved.  I will be willing to accept much smaller donations via paypal as a thank you for your small fortune saved


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## swoop_ds (Nov 17, 2010)

Okay thanks.  I've done a bit of SEO work but don't rank super well... I still don't think it's worth that much money.


I should tell me brides that they have to book TODAY when I talk to them


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## KmH (Nov 17, 2010)

swoop_ds said:


> Okay thanks. I've done a bit of SEO work but don't rank super well... I still don't think it's worth that much money.
> 
> 
> I should tell me brides that they have to book TODAY when I talk to them


Conveying a sense of urgency is a time honored sales strategy. However, that is not the same as a 'hard' sell.


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## swoop_ds (Nov 17, 2010)

Just did some digging, this site topofthefirstpage.com is a scam.  It's a new domain name for an old scam "USA SEO pros".  I'm glad that I didn't get sucked in!


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## VujayPrabhakaran (Nov 18, 2010)

i think it is worth


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## photoseo (Dec 13, 2011)

To rank for global terms 2-4k is pretty reasonable but there's also consideration of how competitive the niche is too so while that 2-4k might be reasonable in one niche it may be VERY cheap in another. Every business needs clients to survive. Thankfully you didn't get sucked into that, however the larger picture is what is your long term objective ?? Spend that kind of money on ppc and once the money is gone so is your listing or spend it on organic which is, btw, far more difficult but has a far longer shelf life than any ppc campaign. Just something to consider. PPC is a easyyyy way to get top listings and a great option for those looking for something short term with a good return, however if you have more a long term outlook you'd be better inclined to seek out services that can improve your serp/ranking positioning instead.


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## Alpha (Dec 13, 2011)

This thread is nearly a year old. Quit spamming.


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## cgipson1 (Mar 7, 2012)

alex_jones said:


> Hi Dave,
> 
> Edit -- admin -- don't quote the spammers please, makes it harder to clean up!



Reported as spam!


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## mavrik (Mar 19, 2012)

SEO is worth it.  SEO companies that call you generally aren't.   Just for the record, the $2-4k is probably above the average for photographers but it's not out of the realm of what people charge.  This company is a scam, as pointed out, though.

(Disclaimer: I do seo for photographers. I don't charge 1/2 that and don't call people to ask them to book me, though.)


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## RoyWilson (Mar 20, 2012)

I`ve decided to my Seo myself. It takes ages to build links but I`ll just do a little each day. I think the key is in the anchor tags from external sites


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## akwildshots (Mar 20, 2012)

Me 2 - it is definitely worth it: the whole point of creating a web presence is that it is personalised. Unless you are a business, you should avoid using your credit card for anything other than features on your site (like a domain). If you are building for a business, especially services orientated ones, Google AdWords or any other contextual service is the only place you should spend.


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## TimGilbertson (Apr 2, 2012)

SEO >> AdWords, in my experience. 

SEO is very easy to do yourself IF you have some knowledge of HTML/Java/PHP or you're very willing to learn, and have a lot of time to spend on it.

I taught myself SEO over the last 6 months, and got my company to #4 on the 1st page for VERY competitive keywords. I also had to learn PHP in order to design programs to help me out, and think of how I could get some amazing backlinks and optimize my website. It's not just meta tags (do nothing in 2012) and submitting your sitemap anymore, it's an organized program to optimize every aspect of your site.

Never trust anyone trying to sell YOU SEO services, or saying they can get you to #1 for any keyword within weeks. It will take months to get your website to the top, and #1 is out of reach for a lot of sites without some semi-underhanded techniques.


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