SA programmers and web coders too expensive

[daveob]

OK. I have just posted the bid request. I'll give you feedback when done.

[Chatmaster]

Just a note. India has amongst the world's best SEO's in their midst, but they also have some of the worst. On our SEO forum we have several members from India that are really worth while. Another thing to keep in mind when you ask for a quote on SEO, is if it is a site that are not within a competitive industry, e.g. "panel beater in Edenvale" this should mainly include initial keyword research, correcting the current on page factors, addition/modification of content and initial link building like directory listings etc.

[Dave A]

This is why I reckon evaluating the bids is going to be the tough part of this. With website design you can see the results immediately. The effects of SEO are less obvious.

[Chatmaster]

SEO can be a real money waster if you do not deal wit the right people. I see so many web design companies locally offering SEO as part of their service, even saw advertising agencies offering it to. Then when you contact them they actually meant SE advertising on Google ad words.

[Dave A]

Then when you contact them they actually meant SE advertising on Google ad words.

They must keep it up. That's how this site is funded

[Chatmaster]

Sorry for being serious about this topic but the problem is that those experts that are really worth their bucks have to deal with the damage made to the SEO industry's reputation. Although I do not provide SEO services myself it is very frustrating when training people in online marketing to see how they have been mislead by SEO add-on services and so called SEO companies.

[RKS Computer Solutions]

SEO needs to be researched by the site owner and applied to his site with knowledge gained by experience, don't ever pay for SEO!!!

ps... I know a great web-designer, CMS sites for R2500, if anyone wants the details, PM me

[Dave A]

don't ever pay for SEO!!!

This could get the party started

It's OK to hire someone to put together a CMS site, but not to hire someone for the SEO

[Chatmaster]

don't ever pay for SEO!!!

Riaan, sorry to disagree with you here. I would rather suggest that there are levels required for SEO to be done on your website.

First of all, SEO is not a simple task, you need both technical, marketing and experience to be an SEO. Very few site owners actually have the time or ability to have an understanding of SEO.

On the surface SEO seems simple and easy, but it is far from it. I would recommend to site owners to do only this little bit.

Research your competition online, if you do not know how simply ask on any SEO forum and they will quickly tell you.

If you are targeting SA only results SEO could be a simple task. At least get an SEO involved with evaluating the basic site design and hosting to ensure that the basics are correct. This SEO should also make recommendations on the keywords that should be targeted. This will mean that you pay a once of fee and that is it. Thereafter you simply maintain frequent updates, maintain the integrity of the original SEO review and frequent content additions based on how competitive your keywords are.

If you are targeting the global market and competitive keywords. Rather outsource your SEO, there is no chance in hell that you will be able to compete man alone. SEO in the global market is a whole different ballgame and is so technical you need several years of experience and contacts within the SEO industry to even stand a chance to rank for targeted 3 word phrases.

[RKS Computer Solutions]

ok, maybe my wording was wrong, and in afterthought, I'm glad Roelof didn't take me on anymore than he did maybe Chathead took the night off...

Let's change my wording: Never pay money for SEO services which cannot prove themselves and seems to good to be true.

I still stand by my point that SEO starts with the owner/admin of the site, there is no point in hiring someone to do your SEO if you are unable to give clear examples of what you want to achieve with SEO and for the purpose of your site. Unless you are willing to spend a fortune on paying your SEO guru a research fee to go do research on all your competitors, gather information on your target market and decide for you where your company wants to go, I can't see why the owner wouldn't do this research himself.

In any business, there are certain points which you have to research and gather information on, before you can make an informed decision on whether or not your business is viable. These should include at least some basic ideas on the presentation of your company, which should be portrayed by your website and thus form the basis of your start to internet glory.

Stupid but simple example, I didn't go and call my company Joe Soap's Little Helpers, because that is not what my company represents and certainly not what I want to portray to the public. Thus, RKS Computer Solutions portrays the name of my company, says what the company deals with, and bringing in the simpleminded beginning to seo (owner/admin research / info gathering) my website is located at http://www.rkscomputersolutions.co.za and not at http://www.joe-soap-little-helpers-g...-help-with.biz

.co.za point to SA site, to do with computers and solutions thereof.
.biz joe soap is going to have one hell of a time getting market specific customers to his site based purely on his website name, hopefully based in their search area, and hoping to heck his offering is something which would actually help them.

Yup, I agree, keyword,metatags,decent urls, all the rest can make any site name stand out from the crowds on certains SERPS, but when relevancy comes into play, you'd be disadvantaged right from the moment your purchase your domain name...

I never proclaimed myself an SEO expert, but Roelof I hope you agree with me that I have proven myself in previous posts regarding web design and so forth...

I will take your word on SEO any day above some of the other muppets out there, but doing my own reseach as owner/admin of my site on SEO, has given me a distinct advantage I belief: One of learning from my own mistakes and growing and learning from them.

I was devistated when my webhost lost my .com domain, but after getting the online shop (most important) backend sorted on the new .co.za domain, and going through points learned from getting my .com domain on SERPS, I had a hit to my shop which came from Google within 3 days of letting them know I was back online, and following the ref link, I was #1 listed in Google for the keyword, specific to one of my products, which brought a new customer (4k sale) directly to where he wanted to be...

I agree that SEO is not easy, that there are different levels to SEO and that you need multiple backgrounds to be able to do SEO to a industry based standard. But everything I know about SEO today has been self taught, research, research, research, o and more research. You yourself posted in another thread regarding a well respected SEO making an elimentary mistake in his posting, and you wondering if you should take him on about his mistake. Go for it! Self-obtained knowledge is what drives us to be better at what we do, and if we do not use our own knowledge, what worth do we have for the world?

**This is not a personal attact on anyone, just the comments of a hothead who believes in working hard for something you believe in and not wasting money on unscrupilous members of society whose only purpose in life is to get your money and not offer you anything in return**