Is it getting harder to run an SEO / digital marketing agency?

My boss asked me to find an SEO company. Out of all the ones I spoke to, there were only 2 I really liked. Why? Because all the other ones acted like they were big shots. Their quotations did not match the type of work they were doing. We all know that SEO is really all in the hands of Google automotrons. No one really has the magic formula. All the information you need is out there, the only thing is the implementation. Either 1) you do it in-house, and it takes a really long time, or 2) you hire an SEO firm, and it takes a really long time. If a company knows what they're doing, then they can reallocate resources, or hire a few people for link building and content creation along with working with a good technical person overseas, and you've got your SEO team right there. If an SEO firm wants to get hired you 1) humble yourself, 2) provide a free audit, and 3) tell us EXACTLY what you plan to do for us.

On this one I'd have to say that over the last 5 years (especially the last 3) there have been a lot of companies that have started up and that the majority of them were using links as the main SEO tactic.  Many of them couldn't even do this in a Whitehat manner as the lure of easy money from buying links and getting fast rankings and happy customers has all but dried up leaving these companies and consultants not only desperate as they don't know anything else about SEO other than links but it's left also a ton of now very angry clients.  The same goes for auto-generated or purchased content. If an SEO never got into the core of onsite, valid rich content, natural online PR and promotion/marketing, etc, then they were relying only on spam and although Penguin and Panda have done a lot to make things harder they've made it much much harder for these low-quality companies.  This I think is a great thing. When seeking an SEO company I recommend that you look at how many years they've been in business, read posts by them, check their own site's rankings and those of their clients.  Grill them on what they're going to do and don't take the "it's our super secret SEO formula" answer.

If you have a high quality SEO agency with a strong reputation and the trust of your clients then you have nothing to fear. There will always be competition. There has always been someone that will do it quicker or cheaper than you. The in house professionals at Google et al will always give advice which will never be impartial. Off shoring your work can be cheaper but it is still not the same as having a team of skilled professionals.If price is the only factor to compete on, then you are doing it wrong. :-)

I don't think it's necessarily getting harder— http://www.sarojads.com/ it's that SEO and online-marketing companies and agencies are just realizing more and more what they really need to be doing to succeed for themselves and their clients. http://www.sarojads.com/digital-marketing-services.html and companies that have started up and that the majority of them were using links as the main SEO tactic. When seeking an SEO company I recommend that you look at how many years they've been in business, read posts by them, check their own site's rankings and those of their clients.