There are as much companies on the market saying ‘we’re the best SEO agency in the world’ as there are SEO agencies on earth! How are you going to know which one is actually the best qualified and suitable for your needs with many of these claims out on the web?
As with all things available world, what your organization needs will be different from what another one will need. The more backlinks a website has It could even vary between competitors in the same industry. Your first task for selecting a great SEO agency is to look at yourself.
Looking at your company to determine your SEO needs
Your first task is to think about what it really is you want to accomplish with your SEO campaign. Unless you have an obvious goal, with measurable successes, your campaign is more prone to fail. This responsibility is on you, not who you hire, so make sure that you are ready to hire on an SEO company before you achieve this.
Your next task is to think beyond just those three words – seo. Yes, you need to bring more visitors to your website by getting a higher search rank, but how will this happen? Does the company you are considering offer other services such as for example social media consultation, link building, design and copywriting? Having a company on hand that may handle all of this eases your needs to have to shop around for web related companies again and again.
Talk to your business associates
OK, you know what you want to do with your website and you know what services you intend to have provided for you. Now you should start getting real data and information from individuals who really matter: your business contacts.
If you know whoever has already hired an SEO agency, and gotten great results, you must talk to them and discover what worked, what didn’t and any challenges they faced. This first hand data is more important than any claim you’ll find randomly online.
Get examples of past success
Once you have found a great SEO agency you should get yourself a quote from them and see what they have actually accomplished. A portfolio of past clients, who it is possible to contact if you wish, is the most effective thing that any reputable SEO firm must offer you.
The last point I would like to bring up is to be wary of outrageous claims made at any stage of the process such as:
“We guarantee a number one ranking” – this is impossible to guarantee, regardless of how good an SEO agency it is.
“We won’t alter your site” – then how will they improve SEO? This claim is too good to be true and likely only involves some link building of questionable intent.
“We’ll submit your website to hundreds of se’s.” Who cares? Everyone uses Google anyway! Being placed on a few core directories is essential, but hundreds? You’re just creating spam.