Your best bet is to simply follow the recommendation of a trusted business associate. Failing that, I advise you to ask the following questions while evaluating proposals.

Some of the following questions reveal more than is immediately evident. I’ve provided brief explanations below. If you have further questions, get in touch.

Social media metrics are being used now more than ever before in order to judge the relevancy of websites. How has your strategy adapted to accommodate this? How has your general strategy changed in the past six weeks? How about the past six months? The past six years?
Google releases a major algorithm update weekly at the most infrequent. Many big companies are stuck in the stone age and, as a result, provide little value. Incompetency is the norm, not the exception.

Does this company use white-hat link building or black-hat link building methods?
By the typical definition, all link building is black-hat. You’re likely to get a cookie-cutter, feel-good lie.

Does your company build links in any ways that Google does not condone?
Google does not condone effective link building. It is fundamentally a manipulation of their algorithm. You’re likely to get a cookie-cutter, feel-good lie.

How much of your link building is done by automated programs?
How much is done by outsourced labor?
Automation and outsourcing allow for immeasurable cost savings and should be largely embraced. You’re likely to get a cookie-cutter, feel-good lie.

What are the most competitive terms your company has ranked for?
If they brag about terms that are more than 2 words in length, run. These are invariably unimpressive.
Are they failing to protect client privacy and in doing so putting their clients at risk of being targeted by negative SEOs?

How many links will you be building for me every month?
Links are not a commodity.
If they respond with a fixed number, it’s likely that they’re simply providing you with a (false) cookie-cutter customer-pleaser.

1. Best Possible ROI – Once you’ve obtained a ranking you no longer pay for clicks. Dollar-for-Dollar, SEO offers a much better ROI than PPC.
2. SEO is Zero-sum – Customers are always searching the top 10. The question is: Who will greet them? You or your competitors?
3. Your Website is an Asset – #1 Rankings for competitive terms are worth millions. SEO is to PPC as owning is to renting.
4. Don’t Be a “Sponsor” – 4-to-1: buyers trust unpaid results more; naturally ranking sites convert better.

Remember, SEO is a zero-sum game; there are going to be 10 results on the first page regardless of whether or not you decide to make an intelligent investment in SEO. This means that if you’re not receiving these leads and turning them into sales, then your competitors are.

If you walk into a beer store or supermarket, you’ll see a single visible six pack of each of your favorite microbrews. I’d argue that nearly all are better beers than whatever rice-water InBev has decided to make popular where you live, but they don’t get near the shelf space. Of course they don’t – Budweiser is a much better seller.

And that’s true – but consumer demand is not directly the reason Budweiser gets so much shelf space. If our nation had a single beer store, Budweiser would sell 8 oz, 10 oz, 12 oz, 16 oz, 22 oz, and 24 oz 4-packs, 6-packs, 8-packs, 12-packs, and 24-packs, with lime or without, all in cans or bottles with or without specialized pouring lips for faster drinking; find me a consumer who refuses to drink a 24 oz bottle and instead demands a 22 oz bottle and I’ll take this post down.

InBev is allowed to hog all shelf space because they contractually demand it. If you want to sell Budweiser, you’ve got to sell them all.

The result of this effort is called the billboard effect. It’s, among other things, a form of advertising; today’s perception creates tomorrow’s reality.

My first point: while sub-par SEO consultants and online marketing consultants will tell you that the ultimate goal of an SEO campaign is to achieve a #1 ranking for your company’s website (shamopener.com), the most meaningful measure of campaign success is ROI. If you’re selling your product through other merchants (such as Amazon or Overstock, then ranking one-out-of-ten – in my opinion – just means you’re only 10% done (35-45% according to overemphasized CTR data). Why settle for prime shelf space when you could own it all?

Had this post simply ended abruptly rather than continuing into the previous paragraph, you probably would have Googled “billboard effect” to learn more. My second point: These days, if someone doesn’t know the definition of a word, or what a specific product is, they Google it. Utilizing the Billboard effect with SEO – in this context – can literally redefine what a “can opener” is, like how tissues became kleenex.

Fuzzy marketing, as it’s often called, should be a collateral benefit of hiring a talented, ROI-driven online marketing consultant, not an allotted expense in a modest marketing budget.