Do you know how Google works?

Only the people at ‘Google’ know exactly how Google works. However, we know a lot about Google, how it will probably see your site and generally what you need to achieve and the changes you might need to make to rank higher in SERPS. We know the rules on ranking well and we know what you are definitely going to get penalised for. We do a LOT of research. But do we know the inner workings of Google? No - No SEO company does.

We’re thinking of appointing Hobo for SEO. What return on investment can we expect?

This is a very hard question to quantify! At the moment, we don’t know you, your business, it’s resources, your competition or your product. All we know is that we’ll help make your website better and you’ll get more visitors to your site and that you should get more leads for your site. Nothing is absolute in SEO. There are no guarantees.

How much will it cost?

As per the answer to the previous question this cannot be answered until some analysis work has been carried out? To estimate campaign costs you need to tell us a few things!

Is SEO Rocket Science?

Nope! It’s logical and linear. It involves a lot of thinking, creativity, a lot of hours and a lot of hard work. That, and our knowledge and experience, is what you pay for. You get a friendly transparent service for free, though.

What Pagerank will you get me?

What’s the PR of the top 10 sites for the phrases you’re targeting? We expect you’d be somewhere in that range. Page Rank is not the be and end all of ranking better in Google. In fact many think PR is useless in 2007. From our experience your Page Rank should increase (sometime significantly so depending on your starting position) during our campaign, although this ultimately depends on whether or not Google tweaks it’s algorithm which it regularly does!

How many links each month will you get for me?

As many as we can get for the time you’re paying us for. This is done manually, it’s not automatic. It’s not a numbers game anyway, it’s a quality game. If you’re focused on numbers of back-links we can generate for you, we’re not the seo company for you as we prefer quality links.

How long will it take to be in the top 10?

We honestly don’t know as it depends on many factors. How old is your site compared to the top 10 sites? How many back-links do you have compared to them? How is their quality of back-links compared to yours? What the history of people linking to you (what words have people been using to link to your site?) How good of a resource is your site? Can your site attract natural back-links (ie you have good content) or are you 100% relying on your SEO agency for back-links? How much unique content do you have? Do we have to pay everyone to link to you, or do you have a “natural” reason why people might link to you? A SEO company is only part of your solution - how much are you helping?

How long will it be until I get to the top of Google?

…again, this cannot be estimated! That not might be the answer you’re expecting, but it’s the answer you should get from any ‘reputable’ SEO company because not one of them knows!

How much will it take to get to Number 1 in Google?

…..hmph! Still going on about number 1? Again, we might not be the company for you. You see it is impossible for us (and any reputable, ethical, professional seo company in Scotland) to guarantee you can reach number one. KNOW THIS - Google changes every day and the top results are never the same. One minute your up the next minute you are down. In fact, the same keyword search from two computers in the same office at exactly the same time could and probably will yeild although similar completely different results.

We aim for page one results. We cannot promise no.1 results (neither should any reputable SEO company)but we don’t aim to be second best and can achieve them as you can see from some of our results.

Another Scottish SEO agency promised to get me to the top. Why won’t you?

If you feel that they can deliver this then go with them! But be advised, we’re only trying to be honest and transparent and you should seek more than one opinion. If you need a Google expert, phone Google. If you want guaranteed 1st place in Google, join Adwords and pay through the nose. If a seo promises or guarantees anything apart from working hard, be wary.

What exactly do you do?

Well, we optimise your site to make it “Google friendly” and then promote it. Through social networking sites, directories, related sites and forums. We try to find you quality links to your site and offer advice on how you can add quality content to your site and complete our seo efforts. Eventually our efforts lead to higher rankings in search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN because basically the better your content is and the more quality links to your site that you have the higher in Google your site appears for certain terms.

How long will it take to see results?

How long is a piece of string that you can’t see? The simple answer is we don’t know. Typically we see improvements in search engine results pages within about six weeks of the completion of the initial site optimisation process.

How long will you seo for us?

As long as you employ us. And unlike some seo agencies in Scotland (and everywhere else) when our contract is up the seo campaign we delivered will not disappear overnight leaving you back in the position you started with! We have numerous long term clients and see this as the ideal situation for both parties.

I’m in England and Hobo is in Scotland.

We don’t ever have to meet to run a campaign - that’s the wonder of the internet! There’s something called the phone, too! We have clients all over the UK - communication is the key to a good working relationship and the client blogs that we install to keep you up to date seem very popular with our clients.

If you’re good at seo why do you advertise on Google Adwords?

…we don’t. In fact, we do not advertise ANYWHERE. We don’t pay for advertising ANYWHERE. Offline, or online. We’re a SEO company, for pete’s sake. We get our leads from Google of course, and we don’t pay a penny for it. There’s an arguement of course all our eggs are in one basket…. it’s lucky we work with many other design companies and advertising agencies in the UK to deliver white label seo servies, then! When we can’t get free traffic from search engines, we’ll open up a garden centre. We’ll certainly stop selling seo services!

Money Back Guarantee? That sounds good!

And so it should! Our fee is based in the end on results agreed by us and the client. If we do not hit the mark with your campaign you’ll receive a cash back to compensate on our miserable failure. To date we have never been asked for a cash-back because we know what we are doing.

Any Hidden Costs?

No, but if you want to get into directories, for instance, you’ll need to pick up the registration fees, for instance. If we have to buy links for you (which we try and avoid) you’ll pick up the costs. All costs are discussed and agreed before implementation. You absolutely will not receive any surprise invoices!

No set-up Fee? Sign Me Up!

No doubt one of the reasons we’re appointed by many smaller clients. Unlike many other search engine optimisation companies in the UK we don’t charge you a massive “set-up” fee. You pay a set monthly fee. That’s it.

Why aren’t you top for SEO in Google?

We’re only 1 year old with a lot of clients to keep happy. Every now and again we push for this keyword and other very competitive keywords (which then we stop pushing for). Who knows, we might get it, we might not. At the moment, we’re on the first page - for us at this time, that is good enough for us as it is not our main keywords. What you must realises is that all of our MAIN keywords are no 1 or thereabouts.

Which sites will Hobo not optimise?

If your involved in any kind of unethical business - we don’t want to hear from you.

Hat -Tip To Jim Boykin :)

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