Written by Tina Johnson

If you have attempted to work on your own SEO campaign, you probably have realized how difficult it is to achieve a page one ranking on Google for competitive search terms.  You can go out and read the “how to” books, keep up on the great SEO sites out there such as SEOmoz & SEObook, you can even purchase some SEO tools to help manage your campaign but in the end  you will realize just how time consuming a SEO campaign really is.

If you are a business owner, chances are you are very busy; you may want to consider hiring a Denver SEO company to do the work for you. With so many SEO companies out there, you can't complain that you have no choice.

Choosing the right SEO company for you and your business is important not only for the success of your internet marketing campaign but to prevent any problems in the future.  The process is much easier if you yourself have a respectable knowledge of SEO and can easily decide if they promise you the stars in the sky or their goals are realistic but even if you are not quite familiar with SEO practices, here is a list of questions with some key points to look for when choosing a Denver SEO company:

• Do they promise to guarantee #1 ranking? If any company out there promises you a #1 ranking you should immediately be suspicious.  No one has the power to guarantee a top listing even for non competitive keywords.  Google even states no one can guarantee this spot.  There is a difference in being confident in obtaining a top 3 ranking and guaranteeing a #1 spot. 
• Get recommendation from friends, business partners, etc. There couldn’t be a better indication that a SEO company will be good to work with than a solid recommendation from a friend or business partner.  If they were happy with the results chances are you will too.  A lot of our clients come as referrals so we rely heavily on our customer’s satisfaction.
• Research the company name. If the company is a known fake, chances are that you will find a lot of information about it on the Web. Whether is it individuals blogging or posting on a forum about their negative experience with the company, an online news article or negative reviews you should be able to find it.  Don’t just look at the first page of results, dig deeper.  Type in the company’s name + “scam”, “your city name”, “rip off”, “negative experience” or “fraud”.  If someone out there is unhappy with the company you should be able to find something. Remember lack of negative publicity does not mean automatically that the company is great, nor do some subjective negative opinions mean that the company is a scammer. 
• Ask for examples of sites they have optimized. Happy customers are the best form of promotion, so feel free to ask your potential SEO company about the sites they have optimized as well as what keywords they optimized for.  If you get a rejection because of confidentiality reasons, this may ring a bell about the credibility of the SEO company - former customers are not supposed to be a secret.
• Where do they get their backlinks from? Backlinks are very important in any SEO campaign and the quality of links help determine the success of your campaign. If your SEO company collects links from places such as link farms or other similar sites, this can cause a lot of trouble. So, make sure the SEO firm collects links from reputable sites.
• Get some personal impressions, if possible. Gut instinct or your impressions after meeting are also a good way to judge a potential company.  If you do not have a good time at one of your meetings, you probably will not enjoy working with them in the future.
• A steep price doesn’t always guarantee high quality. Just because a SEO company costs more than the firm down the street does not make them better at search engine optimization.  You will want to be more concerned with the hours put in your project than the total expense.
• Cheap is more expensive. This is also true. If you think you can pay peanuts for a professional SEO campaign, then you need to rethink your company’s marketing plan. Professional SEO companies offer realistic prices.
• Do they offer subscription services? SEO is a constant process and if you want to rank well at all, you will want someone to continuously putting in an honest effort. Without putting up a giant lump sum of cash, it is better to find a company that will collect on a monthly or quarterly basis. This way you will be allow yourself to maintain your rank once on the first page instead of quickly getting to the top and watching your site fall day by day.

I’ve mentioned some of the most important things to consider when selecting a SEO company. There are other things that come into play but I feel these are the most important to address.  An internet marketing campaign could help you take your business to the next level.  Make sure you have the right SEO company working on your search engine optimization.