Today Rand Fishkin wrote an interesting post about 10 questions you should ask to determine your value as an SEO. It is a good read, especially the comments.

It’s no secret that I’ve been frequently dissapointed by the level of knowledge of many SEO companies, even those who have a big presence in the industry. In fact, I believe that in the current search marketing environment, less than 30% of companies that spend money on organic search ranking services are getting a good deal.

Rand makes an unfortunate error in the way he addresses the problem of value in Search Marketing. He doesn’t look at it from a customer perspective. His questions are largely technical and make an assumption that understanding technicalities produce value. I disagree. There are plenty of people who can answer most, or all, of those question and still not provide value.

Here is something a little more appropriate for a customer:

1. Is there a difference between internal links and external links?
2. Do you do link building?
3. Do you build websites?
4. What search engines does it make sense for me to target?
5. What languages can you code in?
6. What types of analytics do you use?
7. Do you have preferred vendors for the things you don’t do?
8. What social media sites do you use?
9. What blogs do you read?
10. Do you have any questions for me?

One through four = Can you speak intelligently about this subject with someone who has a beginners understanding? The answer should be easy for them to give and accessible.

Five and Six = What can you do for me?

Seven = Can you make sure the things I need get done? This is very important.

Eight and Nine = Are you learning new ways to help me? Do you love the Internet? If they aren’t involved in the internet you will quickly see your value diminish.

Ten = Do you want my business? If they don’t really want you as a client you will get little from them.

If your provider can’t answer my 10 questions it doesn’t matter how many of Rand’s questions they can answer.