Lot of people seems to struggle when it’s time to hire an SEO. In fact, since the (in comparison of others) and because the , it becomes quite difficult to know exactly where to start in the process of hiring someone responsible of search engine optimization.

Why do you need an SEO?
Based on all the SEO requests that I’m receiving (way more than you would probably imagine) , I can say that while everyone wants to be on the top results of Google, only few have a very specific goal on mind when calling for SEO services. I would say that the identification of your needs would probably be the first logical thing to identify before calling anybody. Please remember that SEO should always be seen as part of a global marketing strategy. So what are you looking for exactly: more traffic? increase online sales? lead generation? getting people subscribe to your newsletter? There are many goals that we can achieve (sometimes more than one) but we still need to know .

Do I need a consultant or a company?
What type of customer are you? Do you already have a marketing department? Who’s responsible of managing your website? Do you have a budget allowed to SEO? According to your previous answers you can select either a consultant or a company. Besides of the princing, the main differences are that a consultant will focus on SEO issues while companies will sometimes be able to provide a full range of services supporting the SEO effort.

Where do I start my selection of SEO prospects?

I would definitely start based on referrals and then go online. Few months ago I wrote a piece about Who cares about SEO Montreal, the article was an attemp to determine who was targeting that specific term on Google. A little bit later I’ve published another post on the same topic to update the exercise (in french that time). By taking a look at my results, I’ve quickly found out that the front page for SEO Montreal is still owned by the same people. Because I’ve used the 1st page of Google in the previous exercises, I’ll go with this time because I like the fact that it merges the results from Google, Yahoo and MSN Live. So here’s the top 10 as of today:

1. Montreal SEO Company | NVI -
2. Agence de Référencement Montréal SEO Specialist
3. Montreal Search Engine Optimization Company
4. SEO Search Engine Optimization Company SEO Expert
5. Search Engine Watch Forums : profile SEO Montreal
6. montrealseo.ca
7. Gabriel Goldenberg - LinkedIn
8. Search Engine Optimization Montreal
9. SEO Internet Marketing Company in Montreal | NVI -
10. seo montreal

Which questions to ask before hiring?
Many great posts has been made on what you should look for before hiring an internet marketing strategist. Please read and this one from Entrepreneur.com on .

SEO Vendor Considerations ()

1) Strong keyword research strategy. How will they determine KW’s you will show up for?
2) Strong copywriting and link building.
3) Optimization plan for organic pages.
4) Measure organic conversion and ROI.
5) Proven results. Ask about failure, success, and referrals.

Where to get further information concerning SEO in Montreal?
list of SEO people in Montreal: (please help me complete the list)
Adviso ()
Ressac Média ()
K3 Média ()
NVI ()
Skooiz ()
Gabriel Goldenberg ()
Uniseo
SEO Expert
Strategic Marketing Montreal ()
Onéroque ()
Eric Bailllargeon ()

En décembre passé, j’écrivais un article intitulé Who cares about SEO Montreal. À l’époque, je concluais que le terme n’était pas encore très concurrentiel et que les conversions n’étaient pas si bonnes que ça. Pour faire exprès, dans les mois qui suivirent, nous commencions à obtenir quelques prospects intéressants dirigés par ce terme. Voici une mise à jour de l’exercice car depuis la dernière fois, il y eu quelques changements intéressants.

En date du 15 février 2008, voici le top 10 des gens qui se classent sur le terme SEO Montreal sur google.ca :

1. SEO ROI - (+)
2. Montreal Media - (+)
3. NVI - (=)
4. Internet Marketing Inc - (-)
5. Or Rouge - (+)
6. Groupe Media Synaxiom - (+)
7. Solutions Media 4 - (+)
8. Vortex Solutions - (+)
9. Vortex Solutions - (+)
10. Onéroque Intéractif - (+)
11. Modulis - (+)

Conclusions:

• Premier important constat, le résultat local sur la carte prend vraiment de la place, dommage qu’il nous dirige vers un blog qui n’est plus mis a jour… Notez que dans le cas de requêtes différentes, la place prise par les résultats locaux accaparent encore plus d’espace (voir les résultats pour montreal internet marketing sur l’image qui suit)

• Autres constats: 9 joueurs ont amélioré leur classement par rapport a en decembre dernier.
• 3 compagnies (Onéroque, NVI et 4media) se classent aussi pour le terme en français, soit référencement Montréal
• Seuls Internet Marketing Inc et Onéroque se classent dans les résultats locaux (voir carte ci-haut) en plus d’être du top 10 pour SEO Montreal.
• A noter: l’absence d’agences marketing connue, firmes et autres boîtes traditionnelles de communications.

En somme, loin d’être une analyse exhaustive (pas de comparaison de linkdomain, de backlink, de on-site strategies et autres), mon but était de prendre quelques minutes afin de voir l’intérêt et les firmes ayant les habiletés pour se classer sur ces termes liés a l’indexation web. Ce processus a aussi toujours cela d’insidieux qu’il ne focus que sur le classement plutôt que les conversions et ultimement les ventes faites. De fait, SEO montreal n’est qu’un keyword choisi au hasard, mais devant un client ça parrait toujours mieux quand tu te classe en premier (surout si c’est ça que tu veux lui vendre).

As of december 3rd 2007 : who ranks for seo montreal on Google.ca ?

1. Internet Marketing Inc -
2. NVI -
3. NVI -
4. Montreal Media -
5. no company name -
6. Strategic Marketing Montreal -
7. Redstonex -
8. DNCOM Marketing -
9. MediaMarcom -
10. Groupe Media Synaxiom -

 

I was having this discussion with last week at Yulbiz and we were talking about the value of the term. While Gabriel , he doesn’t appear on the rankings on google.ca. But the main question was more: Is there any real value to rank on seo montreal ? As for my experience , we aren’t receiving quality traffic through this specific term, probably because of the fact that people are not yet aware of seo services, so they are not searching for it. Gab then added that within a year or few, the term should gain value, that does make sense.

I decided today to do a little check up on people who care about ranking on seo montreal. It’s fun to see that the person in the spot #5 has the same phone number as the #1 company. Note also that the montreal seo search gives you almost the same results that you have for seo montreal. There is also this Strategic Marketing Montreal company (based in BC ???) in the spot #6. Anyway, I will try to redo the exercice in few months to see if there is any chages.