Clueless Site Owner Looking for Systematic Guide

Hello you.

I'm a small business owner managing two main sites, one for a service based business, another a shopify store.

Over the years we've engaged a number of SEO Agencies with decent success with some, but mostly I've come to realise does little to our site.

I've tried reading up on any and every SEO books I can find. Many are saying the same things. i.e. Keyword research, On page, off page, link building.

Ultimately I've not made much progress with my own learning and implementation. For anyone reading this, are there any recommendation for courses or mentorship that specifically guides user on what to do with a progress tracker on their work?

E.G.
Week 1. Overall Advice on Specific Business
Week 2. Keyword Research (Identifying 3 topics, 10 keywords)
Week 3. Build 5 x Web 2.0
Week 4. Engage Link / Content creator

etc

You can hire an agency here in the forum to take care of everything. I know you have tried to hire agencies in the past, but there are some services in BHW which are far better than anything you find in other places. You need to improve your domain metrics to rank better.

Starblazer said:

You can hire an agency here in the forum to take care of everything. I know you have tried to hire agencies in the past, but there are some services in BHW which are far better than anything you find in other places. You need to improve your domain metrics to rank better.

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Thank you for your reply. I've come to realise that a lot of people in the market place doesn't have a proper website, and it seems to focus mainly on link building.

The only few I've shortlisted with a website would be crowdo and lucky digitals. Are those whom you are referring to? Other than those few, the rest seems to lack a proper site. Even lucky digital seem to have a dodgy site.

Is there somewhere on the form with a full list of TRUSTED agencies that people work with for their business SEO needs? So many around seem to request work on sites on gambling, adult, afflitate or dropping shipping pages.

Comparatively my livelihood is dependent on my site which makes it a bit harder to decide on which to "test water" on.

LOYALOVER said:

Thank you for your reply. I've come to realise that a lot of people in the market place doesn't have a proper website, and it seems to focus mainly on link building.

The only few I've shortlisted with a website would be crowdo and lucky digitals. Are those whom you are referring to? Other than those few, the rest seems to lack a proper site. Even lucky digital seem to have a dodgy site.

Is there somewhere on the form with a full list of TRUSTED agencies that people work with for their business SEO needs? So many around seem to request work on sites on gambling, adult, afflitate or dropping shipping pages.

Comparatively my livelihood is dependent on my site which makes it a bit harder to decide on which to "test water" on.

Click to expand...

There are a lot of sketchy agencies and services on the internet that it becomes difficult to identify the legit ones. BHW has a rigorous moderation as this is like a closed community. If the sellers don't deliver results, you can shit list them. Most of them get sales from their Marketplace threads which are like landing pages, so they usually don't have websites.

You can get individual services like on-page SEO, keyword research, content, and backlinks. Your site should be fine as long as you don't build a ton of cheap backlinks. You can ask the sellers for samples to check the quality of these services. You can also post your requirements in WTB section to hire someone to handle everything.

To be fair, the services on this forum are mostly geared towards white label. The service providers here are mostly servicing the agencies that deal with the end client (you). However, if you know exactly what you need you can save a ton of money by piecing the campaign together yourself.

I know some really high level SEOs that either don't have a website or have a website from 1999, so don't let that be the primary way in which you judge a vendor. A lot of smaller service providers don't have time to work on their own sites and get most of their business via forums like this one.

I'm not aware of any courses that have a progress tracker, but you could probably make one yourself with a spreadsheet or free project mgmt tool.

It's honestly a cesspool of services, some good and some bad. If you ask the seller, they will tell you whatever you want to hear. If something is really cheap, it's probably not good or at least not high quality.

Maybe your best bet is to find someone in your own country who is just starting out with SEO. Give them a plan and have them do the tasks. At least then you will have higher quality work. Or, figure out a plan that will get you to rank and piece together the elements from the a la carte services in this forum. Focus on 1-2 pages at a time. Remember that links are not necessarily a replacement for really good content. Web 2.0 links have very little power compared to editorial links or links inside of other websites (like PBN links).

SEO services are sort of a bad proposition for a business owner. Think about it.. There are no guarantees, it can take 6 months depending on your keywords, it's almost totally unverifiable, and you need a real budget to move the needle. You obviously have to do it and there's not really a better solution in many cases. It's just a grind.

Good luck!

Thank you for both your reply guys.

While I have you here, could you maybe share your thoughts on a couple of the SEO agencies / services I shortlisted? I know it might be a lot to ask, but it does sound like you guys have been around long enough to know what works.

1. https://wolfofblogstreet.com/

2. https://www.luckydigitals.com

3. https://crowdo.net/

Crowdo and Luckydigitals seem to both provide a full range of services starting from audit to keyword research etc. Wolfofblogstreet seem to be the best place to consider for reliable link building, but doesn't seem to provide a full range of SEO services such as on page / off page improvements.

In general what are your thoughts on these 3 vendors above for my situation?