I was hesitant for the longest time about companies which provided search engine optimization but about a year ago, on one site I owned, I used the services of
http://www.activenation.com, because they were local. I read about a lot of companies out of the U.S. or far away and being new to the ecommerce scene, I wanted somebody near me...
Active Nation charged me a ton of money up front to complete the overall optimization (I had a ton of pages) and every month or two, I have to send them a hefty check for supposedly keeping me above the competition. They call it their service fee.
I'm not sure what it is that they exactly do (I have no clue) and just how important it is but I have continually rank very well in Google.
Thing is, I want to invest in a search optimization service again on another site but I don't want to be stuck with a huge year long contract. Active Nation is a longterm commitment.
I hear a lot about these ONE TIME SEO companies that optimize your site and hit the road once their done and I
think that is what I want. One fee. One job. Done.
I am getting many different quotes. Some places just give a set price like $1800 but I find that odd because you'd think they'd charge more for a site with 10 pages then a site with 200. BUT $1800 as a flat rate...
Has anybody used one time SEO services before? I've heard of people finding folks on Craigslist and Getafreelancer.com to optimize their sites and have had mixed results. I want to hire a professional, but just don't want to be stuck with a longterm commitment and huge bills that never seem to end. Especially on a site that's new and different and I'm still skeptical about how much money I want to invest in it...