Anyone use SEO by Compass Internet Systems? (agents, sellers, broker)

[Alexis_Jones]

Does anyone use SEO by Compass through Blackwater Consulting Group? Anything good or bad to say about it?

[Jamesww]

Originally Posted by Alexis_Jones

Does anyone use SEO by Compass through Blackwater Consulting Group? Anything good or bad to say about it?

Just be careful when you hire someone else to do your SEO. You want to have an idea of what they are going to be doing. Make sure they dont use any "black hat" SEO tricks or "gray" for that matter. As the search engine algorithms evolve more and more of the on the fringe type things that SEO consulting firms have been using to get higher rankings are getting penalized.
If you hire a SEO firm that uses these tricks eventually you will see your web page end up in the sand box or even delisted from the index.

[Alexis_Jones]

Originally Posted by Jamesww

Just be careful when you hire someone else to do your SEO. You want to have an idea of what they are going to be doing. Make sure they dont use any "black hat" SEO tricks or "gray" for that matter. As the search engine algorithms evolve more and more of the on the fringe type things that SEO consulting firms have been using to get higher rankings are getting penalized.
If you hire a SEO firm that uses these tricks eventually you will see your web page end up in the sand box or even delisted from the index.

Thanks for the tip James. Any idea how I can find out if this firm uses these "tricks"?

[Charlottean]

Alexis


They do a lot of SEO for people with Point 2 agent websites. I'm assuming that's where you found them. There is a message board over there with a ton of positive reviews. Even a few agents who signed up with them that are seeing immediate increases in results and directly related sales.

I've considered contacting them myself at some point as well.

[Jamesww]

Originally Posted by Alexis_Jones

Thanks for the tip James. Any idea how I can find out if this firm uses these "tricks"?

First of all ask them some direct questions on how they opperate.

1. Do you use link farms in your SEO efforts?
2. Do you pay for links?
3. How fast will you add to the backlinks to my page?
4. How many links out from my page will you add?
5. To what sites will the links you add away from my page go?
6. Will you give me three agents sites that you are currently running the SEO for?
7. What search terms do you use for these agents key word meta tags?
8. For these key words what are these sites average ranking in the three major search engines?

Gather this information from them and post to the forum and I will help you sort through it. We can do some research on the other agents sites to find out what they do in their SEO.

If they use link farms or pay for links dont use them or you will end up like me very ecstatic about the great placement you have on the search engines in such a short time and then one day boom you cant even be found in search results. Then you try to find out what happen and they stop returning your emails. So, you go do some research and find out you can ask google whats going on and they tell you that you have been removed from the index for practices that undermined the internets democratic nature. So, you tell them you had some company doing SEO for you and they tell you that if you remove all the garbage links that run to your webpage they will index your page again. Then they give you a link to a link analyzer and tell you which ones they want you to remove. You spend the next year trying to get those pages to remove the link to you with no avail. Oh, sorry I dont sound bitter do I.

[Alexis_Jones]

Charlottean-
I actually found them through articles in Broker Agent News, and RisMedia. I did check out some of the message boards at Point2, and you're right, there is a ton of positive stuff there.

James-
I just sent an email asking the questions you have suggested. I had already asked for some references, and will be calling them today. I'll post replies when I have them. I really appreciate your help!

[Alexis_Jones]

James-
This is their response so far:

[SIZE=2]Hi Alexis,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]I will find out some of the info on Monday.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]What I can tell you is that we purchase a links bundle at the beginning. These are called Inbound Relevant Links. These advertise to the directories on the internet that a clients sites search by someone is relevant. After 90 days if we need to adjust, we do it then.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]No out bound links. We don’t want people being distracted away from your site. What you want is people coming to your site.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]I don’t know what a link farm is.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]I will check on the 2 sites and get back to you.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]James-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2] Is it always bad to purchase links? Even if they are relevant? I'll post other answers when I receive them.[/SIZE]

[Jamesww]

Originally Posted by Alexis_Jones

James-
This is their response so far:

[SIZE=2]Hi Alexis,[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]I will find out some of the info on Monday.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]What I can tell you is that we purchase a links bundle at the beginning. These are called Inbound Relevant Links. These advertise to the directories on the internet that a clients sites search by someone is relevant. After 90 days if we need to adjust, we do it then.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]No out bound links. We don’t want people being distracted away from your site. What you want is people coming to your site.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2]I don’t know what a link farm is.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=2]I will check on the 2 sites and get back to you.[/SIZE]


[SIZE=2]James-[/SIZE]
[SIZE=2] Is it always bad to purchase links? Even if they are relevant? I'll post other answers when I receive them.[/SIZE]

Yes, it is always bad to purchase links. Google is on a "man hunt" for web pages that sell links and web sites that have links from these link sellers are being pushed down into what has been coined "the sand box." The methods that SEO's have been using are being figured out by human researchers and then the sites that are breaking these rules are being either moved way down in the rankins or being removed from the index altogether. If those guys use link farms run. That is how I had my site delisted from google and after a year have still not been able to get these links removed so google wont re-index my page.

Make sure you get the actual website addresses of the referals so we can check if they have purchased links from link farms.

[palmcoasting]

Alexis, did you email the guy I emailed you about? If you spend that kind of money, IMO, you're crazy. You do not need to do that...At all, what so ever. Just my opinion and I wish you the best with whatever direction you choose.

[Gretchen B]

Originally Posted by palmcoasting

Alexis, did you email the guy I emailed you about? If you spend that kind of money, IMO, you're crazy. You do not need to do that...At all, what so ever. Just my opinion and I wish you the best with whatever direction you choose.

What kind of $$ are we talking for SEO? I'm just curious - I've never considered it. A person can get by pretty economically using Google Adwords if you choose the right keywords for your market. At least then you can get the top placement you pay for. If you want to take the time, you can also do some SEO on your own. I've quit using Adwords for the time being because my website usually comes up on the first page in a natural (organic) search. . . . And that's free, which is much easier on the ol' pocketbook.