There are a lot of SEO experts on the web and before you hire an SEO professional or company to optimize your website for you there are some things you need to consider. This is because there are a lot of companies have expanded the definition of SEO to include things that you don't need (but they will sell them to you anyway.)

Before hiring a professional or a company to do your SEO for you it is a good idea to get a list of their previous clients and also find out how big this company is. Is it just a guy in a basement or is it a big agency. Sometimes the guy in the basement is actually better and cheaper ? the key thing is to get references and do a little research on the company's background. A reputable SEO service will give you a list of clients that you can call.

Another thing to ask them is if they practice black hat SEO. Almost every company will say no so they can get your business but basically make sure that they are not using cloaking, portal pages or redirects to get you to number one in the search engine page rankings.

You should also carefully examine the cost of the service. The average going price for SEO services is about $10,000 even for a very small site. If you find a cheaper rate it may or may not be a reputable company.

As this is a newer and shifting business to business service on the Internet in some ways make sure you get at least three quotes from three different companies before you make a decision about who to go with. This will give you a good idea of your options and help you make a good decision.