Is this too good to be true?

[hairycornflakes]

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iv been contacted via pm on another forum about seo, by someone who is interested in seo'ing my site for free in return for a testimonial for his new site that he will be launching soon.

here's part of the email...

"Saw your post about needing help with SEO. I'm in the process of starting my own search marketing/ optimization company. I've been studying different techniques for the last year and have been building niche sites and optimizing them for organic traffic.

I've just taken on my first consultancy job and I'm hoping the business will grow over the next few years.

The reason I'm getting in touch is that I'm considering offering a limited SEO consultation free of charge to interested clients. This is so that I have some real world testimonials to post on my site.

If you are interested I am wiling to provide a site audit, competitive analysis, keyword advice, and a link building strategy to get the ball rolling. The other important aspect is reporting which I can advise you how to setup.

I'm a self starter and a bit of a geek so I would be happy to help you out in return for some positive feedback on my site (when I've launched it)"

what ye's think?

im tempted!

hc

[jezaff]

Of course I have no idea for sure, but fyi there is an old scam where people review your site and give you a nice list of whats wrong. The list will be quite scary and will be full of doom.

Of course if you want it fixed, guess who will be able to do it. This time, for a fee!

Personally, Id get reading about SEO myself. There is a nice intro article in PC Pro this month (the first tip is actually "watch out for people who promise you number 1 rankings!). But if you dont want to splash out th £4 or so then there is so much info on the net. Subscribe to a couple of SEO blogs and after a couple of weeks you will know as much as anyone.

The first thing to remember is that, a few google employees aside, no one knows for sure what the algorithms are.

The second thing to remember is that none of this is difficult!! Optimising your own site really isnt hard. After that its about getting good links to your site but to do that you need people to want to link to it. That takes time and content. Paying for links could get you knocked off google alltogether so there's no short cut on that one!

GL!

[morleymouse]

personally id take it.

If they are willing to put the work in for free to go through your site, list whats wrong or where could be improved its got to be a good thing.

They send yo uthe reprot and then you work through ti when you can, use your own common sense on what to change and how far to take their changes. By having a fresh pair of eyes go through the site it could unearth pages you forgot you had, or at least give a valid opinion on some of the techniques your currently using.

What harm is there in letting someone do it?

Unless they start asking you to include various bits on your site, just slip some obscure external javascript file in all your pages etc then no harm can be done,

Plus a testimonial on their site should also get you a free link

[gadget]

Ask them for an example of what they've done in the past. Try it on a site that's low risk to you first.

[sgpratley]

I'd take it, there's no obligation for the ongoing service and it might throw up a few ideas for you. Don't give them access to any back-end stuff or stats though.

Just because the report is full of doom and gloom doesn't mean you have to go to them for the solution.