When it comes to choosing a good SEO company, you want to make sure you know what you’re looking for. Many agencies offer SEO services but not all of them are ready to meet your needs.
As a 10+year veteran in this industry, I’ve seen it all.
A few times, I was even hired by other agencies that didn’t have a clue how to do the work after their team sold SEO to an existing client.
Sometimes it worked out, but in other cases it didn’t because I was brought in too late or was unable to communicate directly with clients.
SEO is complicated business, but it’s easy to make people believe you’re an expert after you’ve read a few blogs. That’s especially true of digital agencies that are already working in a similar field like PPC management and conversion optimization.
It’s hard to find out who’s real and who isn’t in SEO, and there’s a reason for that.
We’re working in a new industry…So, how do you choose an SEO company that has any level of experience?
SEO has only been a thing for about 20 years and there’s no formal schools teaching it. It’s just a patchwork of free and paid online courses. So, who can you trust when you’re trying to find help?
It’s beyond frustrating.
My goal for this article is to cut through all the BS for you. We’ll explore how to pick out a good SEO company and steer clear of all the people that oversell and under-deliver.
If you’d like to learn how you can pick the best SEO company for your business, read on.
How Can an SEO Company Help Your Business?
Before we find out how to choose the right SEO company, let’s discuss what an SEO company can do for you. A reliable SEO company can help you:
- Create brand awareness online
- Improve, stabilize and maintain rankings in search engines
- Increase monthly site visitors
- Create a better user experience and website performance
- Get more leads and grow revenue
- Beat the competition
The work done by a professional SEO company can provide you with many benefits. But like we mentioned earlier, choosing the right one may not be as easy as it seems.
SEO is both a crowded space and a new, unregulated industry. It changes every few years and that makes it easy for agencies to stagnate, become complacent and fall behind.
Good SEO companies understand that it’s innovate or die…that’s who you want to work with.
How to Pick a Good SEO Company?
Now that you know how you can benefit from a good SEO company let’s talk about how to choose the best one out there.
Here’s 10 Tips to Help you Pick the Right Team for Your Business
Check off all these boxes when you’re searching for an agency and you’re sure to pick from one of the best in the industry. But first you need to figure out what your expectations are.
Start by Defining Your SEO Goals
If you don’t know what your business needs, how can an SEO company help? Start by defining what your goals are. Identify what areas of your online presence need help. Begin with a comprehensive marketing analysis to get the whole picture. Once you know what needs work, you can then find an SEO company that’ll be able to deliver the types of services you need.
Find Out if They Have Experience Marketing What You Do
Many companies claim to be experts when it comes to search engine optimization but how can you really know? Look for a company that has a strong background in your industry. It will be easier for them to understand what you do and how they can help you better market yourself online if they have experience in the same field you’re in.
At Webology, we specialize in these industries so that we’re able to maximize client success:
- Home Services
- Roofing
- HVAC
- Plumbing
- Electrical
- Dental
- Medical
- Dermatology
- Physical Therapy
- eCommerce
- Consumer Packaged Goods
- Health and Beauty Brands
- Tobacco Products
If you have a local customer base, we’re experts at bringing them to you. We also work with online brands to sell nationally and globally.
Check Out Past Work and Client Reviews.
How do their previous clients feel about them? Do a little digging on your own by checking company testimonials, browsing through online forums, or just use an advanced Google Search Operator to see all their reviews. Here’s how you’d do it to check us out:
- Go to google.com
- Type in Webology AND reviews
- Browse through all the review sites Google finds on our brand
This way, you’ll get a better idea of past work and client reviews. Of course, you can always ask them directly about what kind of results they’ve provided to previous clients and the time frame these changes took place.
Make Sure Your SEO Company is an Expert in the Field
It’s important that the SEO company has thought leadership and extensive experience, even if it’s not in your niche. If they’re genuinely knowledgeable, they’ll be able to provide you with valuable advice on how to improve the ranking of your website while learning about what you do.
Since we offer free audits, I get the chance to do this for new niches all the time and our insights are usually spot-on because we know SEO.
Any good SEO should be able to explain things clearly without “jargonizing” or using complicated words that only an industry insider would understand.
The best SEOs are business people versed in the language of profits and losses, who also understand machine learning and complicated algorithms.
Make Sure their SEO Services are Affordable and Within Budget
Nowadays, a lot of SEO companies offer fixed packages. They just need to know how much you can afford and then it all fits neatly into a pre-packaged proposal.
While that sounds good and it makes your job of collecting several proposals easier, it’s not always in your best interest.
Many times, it’s a race to the bottom…
How cheap can we be with the services we provide in our fixed packages and how much can we charge?
Pre-packaged SEO deals aren’t always bad, but you need to make sure that the agency is going to take the time to understand your brand and match their work to whatever’s in your best interests.
Check their Communication Skills
How good are they at explaining things? You need an expert who is willing to explain all of this in a way you can easily understand. If they are not able or willing to hop on a quick call and go over strategy, it’s probably best to look for another company.
Unwillingness to communicate strategy is a sure sign of an agency that provides cookie-cutter services so they can keep their margins high. True SEO professionals always deliver custom strategy and we pivot often to stay ahead.
Make Sure There’s Transparency with Processes
Ensure the SEO company you hire has an open line of communication by asking them how they’ll report on and achieve your goals. They should have a clear idea of what needs improvement, including the steps needed to meet business objectives.
Check Out References and Examples of Previous Work
Before signing any contract with an SEO company, find out if they’re willing to share case studies of previous work. That way, you can see what they are capable of. If the company is not willing to give references, then chances are either their services were unsatisfactory, or it’s too early to judge and they haven’t completed enough projects yet.
Be Cautious About SEO Guarantees
In SEO, showing positive results is important. However, you must know that there is no way to predict website ranking precisely. You should watch out for SEO companies that promise specific outcomes. If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
Having said that, we [cautiously] offer guarantees based on our past experience. If you hire Webology, I will personally offer up metrics we can guarantee to your brand and I’ll stand behind them as a veteran in this industry.
What sets us apart is that I’m cautious about what we can guarantee and it’s something I always decide on after I audit your website.
Let’s be real, SEO doesn’t always work in a couple of months. If you’re in a tough niche, your agency needs to be honest about expectations.
Expert SEO agencies definitely know how to create amazing results for your business. But be aware that Google’s algorithms are constantly changing and it’s a constant battle to stay on top of the search results. We all need time to adjust our strategies when ‘Big G’ upends the whole game.
There’s Nothing Fast about SEO and Activity Doesn’t Always Lead to Success
Don’t be mesmerized by promises and guarantees of quick wins. SEO is a long game that pays dividends the longer you work on your website, but you have to make sure you’re doing the right work, or you’re just spinning your wheels.
Many times, people will decide between one agency or another based on the proposed scope of work, and that’s not always the best way to look at things.
While it’s nice to know your agency is keeping busy, consider deliverables as the least important factor when choosing an SEO agency for your business.
Results are more important than activity.
Ask About the Additional Services They Offer
Finally, don’t forget to ask them if they provide any other services aside from SEO because some companies have a lot more under their belt than just search engine optimization.
Webology is a marketing company with experience in:
- Social Media Management
- Social Media Ads
- Content Creation
- Digital PR and Link Building
- WordPress Website Design
And more.
These services include many other things you need for your business’s online presence and they all help your SEO team to be more effective at what we do. Are you interested in working with Webology? Choose an SEO company that’s constantly adjusting strategies for our clients. Reach out to Blake by email to set up your audit today.
Conclusion
Choosing a good SEO company is a crucial decision for your business because SEO requires a significant investment.
You can use your own time to learn this stuff, but is it really worth it?
Stick to what you do best and let the SEO nerds do their thing, but don’t just pick any agency.
Do your research armed with what you’ve learned today and you can rest assured that you made the best call possible.
