Today I received emails from two different SEO firm ranking lists that have ranked my SEO firm, TopRank in the top 5.
One from topseos.com where TopRank was ranked #4 and the other from PromotionWorld.com where we were ranked #4 again. Bruce Clay did quite well in both as well.
At first this seems pretty cool, but I am wondering how potential clients preceive it? I know it pisses some SEOs off, which most lists are prone to do. But I really don’t care what other SEO firms think. What comes to mind is how subjective such rankings are. Here are the editorial/review policies for both lists:
Promotion World:
“The Top 10 SEO Company Awards are based on the offered services, package diversity, value, customer service, feedback and website popularity of the selected companies.
The Top 10 SEO Company award initiative is aimed to list the best companies in the industry. PromotionWorld provides the users the opportunity to learn more about the company leaders and their services.”
topseos.com:
Current estimates put the total number of Internet Marketing Firms at over 10,000 world-wide! The Top Firms are chosen on a monthly basis. Our review panel will sort through numerous applications from companies. This combined with the user feedback that visit topseos.com will serve as a basis for granting an award.
Every firm that is considered for inclusion into the Top 30 Directory is put through these set of questions.
Customer feedback is a criteria that is evaluated in determining the rankings. In evaluating each applicant, Topseos.com considers the following key factors:
1. What are the applicant firm’s competitive advantages?
2. How are the applicant’s services and pricing levels superior to the competition?
3. What is the availability of customer and technical support?
4. What is the average response time and time-to-resolution for client problems?
5. What SLA does the applicant provide?
6. What other attributes/innovations does the applicant provide to set it apart from the competition?
7. What is the average rating for the firm in terms of customer service?
8. What is the average rating for the firm in terms of efficiency?
9. What is the average rating for the firm in terms of overall performance?
I guess readers can make their own judgement, but I’m certainly not going to write to these sites and ask to be removed. There is a certain value to any kind of exposure so I will put this into the bucket of being a good thing. That said, I think personal recommendations are the best form of recognition. For example, being one of the first companies listed on Rand’s list of recommended SEO firms is pretty cool.
The problem with SEO rankings and lists is that they can never truly be comprehensive. There are so many talented SEO firms and consultants that don’t do any type of promotion, yet are best-in-class at the craft and science of search engine optimization. However this is a marketing discipline, so to some degree, shouldn’t a SEO firm be able to get exposure for itself in rankings, the media, blogs, and ratings like they should be able to do with their clients?
Lee Odden is President and Founder of
TopRank Online Marketing, specializing in organic SEO, blog
marketing and online public relations. He’s been cited as a search
marketing expert by publications including U.S. News & World Report and
The Economist and has implemented successful search marketing programs
with top BtoB companies of all sizes. Odden shares his marketing
expertise at Online Marketing Blog offering
daily news, interviews and best practices.
