Who/How the frick do I hire people?

[Novice]

Hey Team,
Hope you are all well!
(Sorry for the RANT below).

So as per my (old) title “Who/How the frick do I hire people?”, I am struggling with finding people to do "internet things"!
Where to start, well I have two websites selling a health supplement, one for humans and one for dogs. My goal is to have two sites running, ranking and selling well (like the other 90% of the world...lol).
I am not the richest man on the planet, so need to spend wisely. I am also not the most efficient google/website/awords/SEO/online brain, but I know a little bit and learn well. The problem I am facing is hiring people that are the above and it is killing me slowly.

So far I have hired “Adwords Guns”, “SEO Guns” and “Website Guns” (all self proclaimed) and none have done what I want.
I have used agencies at $800 a month, odesk at $200 a month etc, spoken with companies that will happily charge $400 a month to “manage” my adwords and expect a national (Australia) spend to be around $3,000 a month. One company explained a national adwords campaign will be a minimum of $3-4,000 a month (at the time my avg CPC was around .57c for position 1.2-5.5 over all the groups. That is over 5k clicks on keywords that only had around 6-7k total broad searches).
I have asked for guarantees and all I get is “well it is hard because umm, well umm, Goggle might not umm, blah, blah, blah”. None of the companies were willing to stand behind their work.
I understand things change, panda etc, but I am not happy knowing that half of these companies outsource anyway.
I am happy to pay for a service, but only a service that works!

So what am I looking for........... I am looking for someone who knows this game, who can open an adwords campaign and see 10 changes without flinching. I am looking for someone who can look at a site and see where we can convert better, see what meta data etc needs to be changed. Someone who can help the sites rank better through good SEO practises. I am looking for someone who knows Google, websites and everything in-between! (Just a real internet savvy bugger)
Although “am I looking for a lot”, I don’t think it is too much! I dare say that there would be a large number of people on here that could do this in their sleep. I am not asking to become Nike, I would just like to rank top 3 for 4-5 keywords, have 6-8 for my quality scores and have two sites that work well to the public. (Again, this might be what 90% of the world want)

The other thing is, I am more than happy to do any work needed to help this. I am willing to change images, write pages, test campaigns, do back linking, etc. I just need someone to direct me!
All in I think I need a smart consultant that does 60% of the work and gets me to do the other 40%.

So long and short of this is, where the hell do I find this/these people?

Disclaimer – I am not a prick, just very overwhelmed by all that needs to be done!
Disclaimer 2 – HELP!

Thanks in advanced for any help given,
J.

[NewDelhiSEO]

There is only one answer to your question.
QUESTION

Question the people you short-list. Question them what steps they would take to make your campaign successful.
Set your expectation and set your budget; then cross question the short-listed candidates how they are going to match the expectation and the budget.
You might need to adjust your expectation-budget combo to fit the best candidate. Because what you expect from your budget may not be humanely possible for any Internet Marketeer to achieve.
Set Goals and discuss ROI before you seal the deal.
Anyone who agrees to your terms without question is a scammer. Avoid those.
Build a relationship with your SEO guy that will take you long together on the tough road of internet marketing.
You have to be actively involved in the process. Track all progress, suggest ideas to implement. Share industry news with your SEO so that he can make the best use of it. It is not always easy to find a SEO expert in your Industry. But that is an important thing to consider. But constant communication can crack that ice. Your Hired guy will learn the industry through you if they are smart enough. But there you have to lead.

I started from the Travel Industry, I had no Idea what it was to promote a Manpower company. But with dedication and education from the client we successfully broke to the top in each of our target markets. Since then I have three clients in that niche.

[Novice]

Thanks NDSEO!

I always question the people I work with, but at some point I just need to trust them I guess.
Also, where do I find these "pros"?

Cheers,
J.

[NewDelhiSEO]

You are already in the right place. Look around if you can find someone from your city.
SEO Chat is a great place to hire Pros. I grew up here so I know there are Pros around.
Else there is ODesk, Elance, Freelance etc etc. But they are mostly super cheapos. Chances of hiring a PRO there is 1/10.
*If you are willing to work with Indians .......errr No self promotions here

[tstolber]

Hi

Unfortunately this industry is filled with a lot of people who claim to know things that they plainly don't and unfortunately, they get hired a lot. Finding good people is tough in any industry, but particularly hard in this industry. Good SEOs cost a lot, bad ones don't but their net effect is usually negative, not just only a small amount positive.

From what you have out lined it seems like you need a game plan, and audit or overview and definitely some keyword research. There is no reason to spend big money on AdWords. In fact some of the best ROI terms are the very cheap low searched ones - it is finding them that is the trick. Its very easy to spend a lot on AdWords by targeting the top level terms that everyone else is shooting for, but that doesn't usually represent value.

I think you need a general site / strategy Audit, someone to generate you an SEO plan and as part of the some keyword research. Then you probably need some consulting and or someone on a retainer for you.

As NewDelhiSEO said, this place is one of the best value resources around. If you are prepared to put in some work, try things and ask questions you will get some very good value out of it.

Feel free to post links like mysite (dot) com and list any particular areas or things you are specifically concerned with.

[Novice]

NewDelhiSEO - Thanks again for the advice.
I have been here for a few years now, but have not spent enough time I guess.
Yes I have tried odesk, but it wasn't the best for me. I am happy to work with anyone, as long as I can get the job done.

tstolber - Thanks for taking the time, much appreciated!
Yes there are a few cowboys in this industry indeed and after reading more and more about Panda etc I am concerned about who I work with.
Yes and yes, I need a game plan and an audit........... Big time!
Well the money I am spending per click seems low, an average of .60c for "high" competition keywords, but getting more lower searched keywords would be great!

You are correct, I need an audit of my sites. I need someone to access my google, look over my sites and give me a huge list of things they think can be done to improve the whole thing. Then I can look at the list and decide what I can do and what I can't. Once that is done we can sort a price for said changes and look at moving forward.
I think my problem is I don't have a solid foundation yet with the sites and how they are set.
I need someone to tell me to "move that image there", "change that title", "add products to that page" etc, etc.

There is so much to know though; panda, adwords, seo, re-marketing, webmaster, etc, etc, etc and I just don't know it.
So yes, I need a consultant that can take some time to look at everything, make a 6 month plan with me, recommend changes and then just work with me for two hours (or more/less) a week to make sure I am on-track.

I guess I am on the hunt then....lol.

Thanks again!

[eddyf]

Novice - I don't have a direct answer for you, but I feel your pain. In general, I've not had good luck hiring ANYBODY to help with my on-line business - programmers, copywriters, photographers, SEO "experts", etc. As a result I've become a jack of all trades over the last 10 years. The passion to succeed drives me to learn. There are good people out there, but I don't have the budget of a Fortune 500 company to hire them. If you don't have the time to learn a skill, at least learn enough to ask the tough questions. I guess the one thing I have learned the hard way is to write a complete set of specs/expectations for any work you hire out. Don't accept vague answers when you shell out good money. Get references and follow up. Even in the uncertain world of SEO, you should expect tangible results.

Ed

[Test-ok]

I need someone to access my google, look over my sites and give me a huge list of things they think can be done to improve the whole thing.

A quick look at your site (in your profile) and it doesn't look like you need a 'huge list" of changes. There are some obvious issues, like titles, content.
Your # 1 for what your targeting. Can I ask if your trying to target Kingly or the product? Because the few I looked at, your doing fine, in fact real well.
Here's some more:
Your blog is weak and your internal linking is inadequate , links should be higher in the content, most of yours are in the last couple of words.
I take it back, it might be a huge list, in terms of work not items.

[owenprescott]

I am currently learning SEO but after reading your OP, perhaps the design of your website is not working?It is great having SEO but if you have one of those sites filled with clip art and sparkling animated backgrounds then customers might not be interested regardless of whether your reach the top pages or the quality of your products. I have not seen the site though but it might be worth thinking about.

[Novice]

Hey Eddyf, thanks for the reply!
Yeah I know enough to know when someone is pulling my leg (to a certain degree I guess), but at what point do I say yes and just get on with it......lol.
Unfortunately I don't have the time to learn all things google, so I need to find that "pro".
Again, thanks for your reply!

[Novice]

Hey Test-ok, thanks for the reply!
I think the list will be huge once started....lol. The issue is each website - antlervelvet com and kinglypet com -, I need to simplify the antler velvet site so it is more user/conversion friendly and change meta/code so it is more google friendly.
And I just need to ad a few things to the Kingly Pet site to fill the space (and meta etc).
I am not only after top rankings though, I need sites that convert well. I just don't have the "inside knowledge" on what converts a customer when it comes to design of a site. I guess traffic is still king, so that is still important too.

So I am going after the product (deer velvet), not Kingly.
Thanks again test-ok

[tstolber]

Your sites do look fairly good. You don't need to do anything to meta data or code to be more Google friendly.

Set up some AB Split testing with Google Website Optimizer, it is amazing how powerful a tool this is. You will quickly find things that make a difference and things that don't. For example, it is amazing how much effect a heading title can have on conversion.

[lcffufly]

[joshz]

Your best option, IMHO - would be to get a proper audit/outline of your current site and see what needs to be done onpage first. Once that is done, the process of link building will be a bit more clear and could prove more beneficial.

[Highland]

So many people treat SEO like a black box. Ask people what they are doing and why. If they give you the runaround, the "magic sauce" speech, or the "you wouldn't understand" speech, fire them. They work for you.

People who hire SEO gurus and then leave them to do their thing typically come back here and ask "My ranking dropped! Why?"
That's usually where fathom points at you and laughs.