NationalPositions.com

[Brandon91502]

Has anyone hired NationalPositions.com or heard how good their SEO services are? I have been researching a lot of different SEO companies lately and this is the best one I can find in terms of the most bang for your buck.

I know not to get my hopes up, as there are a lot of shady companies out there, so I am doing as much research as I can. I am getting references right now. I do see a listing or two on ripoff report due to what seems like an outsourcing job gone wrong a few years ago, which seems to have been fixed.

They claim to have over 700 employees and offices all over the world. They are #14 fastest growing company in Los Angeles according to Forbes. Trustlink.org reviews seem good, they have been BBB accredited since 2009 with an A+ rating and 6 complaints over the last 3 years, and 2,000 clients.

I have an SEO company now but they are too expensive, $2500 a month and you need to enter some sort of a contract. This has no contract and the base package is $1000/mo which looks like it will do the same as my $2500/mo company did.

Any advice? Anyone have experience with nationalpositions.com?

[subzero27]

I don't know but if they claim to be amongst inc 500 companies then there must have been a link to forbes.com. But the link is absent ! If i would have been a Inc 500 company i would have proudly displayed my badge.

If you check the internet marketing page. They talk about stuff that has very little or no value.

WC3 website code optimization - Useless
Social media bookmarking - Useless
Social media profile development - SPAM
Article marketing - Useless


I doubt that you will get any value for the $2500 that you spend.

If you are willing to share your domain name i can do a quick analysis of the the current state of SEO for your website.

[Test-ok]

I've not heard of em, some additional information Here
There's some good and bad, mainly bad, go a couple of pages deep. You make the decision. After what I read I wouldn't use em. But then again I don't need what their offering.

I'm thinkin their using their own link networks and have either got caught or are about to. I'm assuming you got an email or did you find them through a search?

[KernelPanic]

700 employees and I would wager you can't get a hold of a single one without going through voice mail and leaving a message. There are good SEOs in this forum that will pick up their phone when it rings and do an outstanding job for you. I would advise you to contact one of them.

(Not me, buried)

[Test-ok]

Humm...Something about the original post has a funny smell to it.

Seems it has all kinds of good things mentioned about the company, but after I checked out the link I added above they seem to be famous for creating kudos about and for themselves to overtake the bad reviews.
This I believe is another one of those attempts.
And it didn't work. Lets see if they come back and try and save face.

[Brandon91502]

I don't know but if they claim to be amongst inc 500 companies then there must have been a link to forbes.com. But the link is absent ! If i would have been a Inc 500 company i would have proudly displayed my badge.

If you check the internet marketing page. They talk about stuff that has very little or no value.

WC3 website code optimization - Useless
Social media bookmarking - Useless
Social media profile development - SPAM
Article marketing - Useless


I doubt that you will get any value for the $2500 that you spend.

If you are willing to share your domain name i can do a quick analysis of the the current state of SEO for your website.

Just to make sure we all know, I am a potential customer, not a rep of this company. I wouldn't have listed the bad about the company in the first post if that was the case.

I am too new here to post URLS, but if you Google 'inc 5000 national positions' their profile will come up.

This company starts a $1,000 a month, the $2500 was my previous SEO company. To find my company, Google 'Trans Supply' I should be the first result, if not I'm the one selling traffic safety products.

[Test-ok]

I think you have all the information you need to make a good decision, if you look at it, it does seem they do quite a bit of rep management...things that make ya go humm!

Just curious...what does this base package include?

[Brandon91502]

I think you have all the information you need to make a good decision, if you look at it, it does seem they do quite a bit of rep management...things that make ya go humm!

Just curious...what does this base package include?

Sorry...not sure what you mean about rep management?

Base package includes 75 links guaranteed per month, links come from looking at my competitors links, industry-related websites etc.

Also includes onsite optimization, 5 pages onsite content optimization or 3 web pages written per month, and 3 blog posts per month on my company blog.

So it seems the 3 web pages written per month would help me build out my content, and hopefully create link bait.

[subzero27]

I saw your website and did a check on the backlinks....Most of the backlinks are from web directories , blog comments and cleverly disguised blog networks. I couldn't find a single "relevant and trustworthy" link

Here is are a few places where your links have been posted.

http://public.sitejot.com/whiterangel.html

http://travelguidereviewstrip.com/

http://www.em-dash.org/

http://2right.com/safest-places-to-travel-in-the-world/

http://phonecardsinter.com/car-charger-pouch/

http://fajarseraya.com/trafficcones ( Indonesian blog network)

http://www.prezzivantaggiosi.it/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1286 ( Reported attack site )

http://www.nxepi.com/eco-friendly-transportation-of-the-future - ( Site banned , Part of a blog network )

A link profile like that is next to nothing. A couple of months ago spamming was still tolerant to some extent but after the penguin update spamming is a sureshot way to get your website banned.

3 blog posts and 3 web pages/ month doesn't speak of results. I could write 100 pages a month without any real seo benefit OR i could write just one piece of content that goes viral. It all depends on the research and quality.

I would suggest you not to go by package deals of any kind. SEO packages are one of the most useless, meaningless and the crapiest of all seo selling schemes.

SEO is an ongoing tweaking process and seo package deals fail to address this basic fact. Your seo should be able to understand this....

[joshz]

I would suggest you not to go by package deals of any kind. SEO packages are one of the most useless, meaningless and the crapiest of all seo selling schemes.

COOKIE CUTTER PLANS DO NOT WORK IN SEO!!!!

YOU NEED A FIRM/PERSON WHO CAN CUSTOM BUILD A PLAN TO YOUR SITE AND NEEDS.

[terriwells]

This will probably seem a little off-topic, but...I am beginning to think there is a market for the equivalent of a paid "personal trainer" in SEO. Basically this person would talk with a client, one on one, but rather than doing the actual work, they'd explain how SEO works, tell the client how it applies to their business, let the client do the work, and then check in regularly to make sure the client isn't making any stupid/dangerous mistakes.

Of course, a lot of folks get that kind of thing for free here in our forums, thanks to all of you.

Why do I think there's a "personal SEO trainer" niche? Whoever this company is that's taking the $1,000, they don't sound like they're doing very much. For the amount of time that kind of money represents, a person could learn how to do the same kind of SEO, or better, for their own business -- and they'll probably be more effective because they know their own niche so well.

Comments?

[joshz]

This will probably seem a little off-topic, but...I am beginning to think there is a market for the equivalent of a paid "personal trainer" in SEO. Basically this person would talk with a client, one on one, but rather than doing the actual work, they'd explain how SEO works, tell the client how it applies to their business, let the client do the work, and then check in regularly to make sure the client isn't making any stupid/dangerous mistakes.

Of course, a lot of folks get that kind of thing for free here in our forums, thanks to all of you.

Why do I think there's a "personal SEO trainer" niche? Whoever this company is that's taking the $1,000, they don't sound like they're doing very much. For the amount of time that kind of money represents, a person could learn how to do the same kind of SEO, or better, for their own business -- and they'll probably be more effective because they know their own niche so well.

Comments?

You mean SEO consulting/training?

It's about 15% of my business. I know a few members on here specialize in said services as well, I think Nick is the top one that pops into my head.

Your latter assessment is spot on though. Assuming that the work is of low quality.

What I've found is that most clients are too nervous, paranoid (or rather pay off somebody else to yell at) than do it themselves. It takes a type of brain/thought process (IMHO) to do successful SEO and as we can tell from this company and some of our members here, it's not all that common.

[terriwells]

LOL! Guess I reinvented the wheel there.

What I've found is that most clients are too nervous, paranoid (or rather pay off somebody else to yell at) than do it themselves. It takes a type of brain/thought process (IMHO) to do successful SEO and as we can tell from this company and some of our members here, it's not all that common.

I think you're right about that, or at least partly right. I think it takes a certain attitude to *want* to do your own SEO for your own business. I'm guessing some folks may make a start, and then when they realize just how much is involved, they hit a sort of decision point: do they want to focus more on building their traffic to the site (and therefore building up their business), or actually doing the parts of their business that got them into it in the first place? (Or maybe I'm living in my own ideal world here for thinking this up...)

There's a third path, of course: find the balance between business promotion (which includes SEO) and doing the business. I guess this is one reason (of many!) that I haven't started my own business: you HAVE to promote it, and I have a feeling I'd be one of those folks who'd rather be busy making product than marketing it. Don't get me wrong; the marketing side fascinates me, but...yeah. I'd probably fall into the "too nervous" or "can't be bothered" categories. Thus proving your point.

[joshz]

LOL! Guess I reinvented the wheel there.



I think you're right about that, or at least partly right. I think it takes a certain attitude to *want* to do your own SEO for your own business. I'm guessing some folks may make a start, and then when they realize just how much is involved, they hit a sort of decision point: do they want to focus more on building their traffic to the site (and therefore building up their business), or actually doing the parts of their business that got them into it in the first place? (Or maybe I'm living in my own ideal world here for thinking this up...)

There's a third path, of course: find the balance between business promotion (which includes SEO) and doing the business. I guess this is one reason (of many!) that I haven't started my own business: you HAVE to promote it, and I have a feeling I'd be one of those folks who'd rather be busy making product than marketing it. Don't get me wrong; the marketing side fascinates me, but...yeah. I'd probably fall into the "too nervous" or "can't be bothered" categories. Thus proving your point.

Aw, c'mon, Terri... You know I'd give you family rate discounts

It really depends on the client though. Smaller mom and pops will NEVER want to touch SEO. But a larger company with an I.T. or web department might be more fitting.

[terriwells]

Sorry...not sure what you mean about rep management?

Rep management is when a company sees search results relating to their brand that are negative (i.e. disgruntled customers posting reviews, shady legal stuff relating to their principals, etc.) and creates positive content which it then tries to rank above the negative stuff in the search engines. It's short for "reputation management." It can be used to deceive (and often is) but sometimes is done in a more, ah, reputable way; the company might try to reach out to those disgruntled customers and make things right, for instance, and the customers might in turn withdraw or modify their review. I hope that helps.