How to Hire an SEO Company?

Hiring the right SEO agency is the most important task in today’s times. It’s hard because they all look good at first glance. Irrespective of the level of services, each company has designed their websites to look most convincing. All their websites are packed with the buzzwords like:

• Proven
• Ethical
• Honest
• Leading
• Recommended

The market is full of SEO companies, which makes finding the right SEO consultant extremely difficult. By the time you find out whether or not the company is working out for you, it can be too late.

By that time, you will have lost your precious time and money. This means that choosing the right SEO company is imperative. You need to differentiate a company with credible experience from a company that is just winging it.

Here are essential questions for hiring an SEO company:

How can an SEO company grow your business?

An SEO company is made up of experts and specialists in different areas of Search Engine Optimization. The SEO company will provide you with a strategy to boost your rank on search engines, attract leads, and increase revenues. Some can even help develop a content strategy for your blogs, content creation, SEO website audit, on-page SEO, web design, etc. The strategies adopted and their implementation will decide your business’ online growth. In general, you may expect the following results from your SEO services:

• Create and boost brand awareness
• Improve rankings
• Get an improved & targeted marketing strategy
• Increase organic website traffic
• Better user experience and website performance
• Higher conversion rates
• Improved e-commerce sales
• Reputation management
• Better overall customer service
• Boosts the possibility of receiving more footfall in the physical stores
• Market sustainability

Know what you want from SEO Company

If you’re wondering how to find the right SEO company, then your first step should be defining your goals. You need to know why you’re hiring an SEO agency and what exactly you are trying to gain from it. Whether you want your business to rank for a specific keyword or you wish to increase your visibility, your expectations from SEO should be clear. From that, you can also determine whether you need a one-time SEO audit, an ongoing SEO, pay-per-click management, or any other service. If your goals are clear to you, then you can communicate these with your potential SEO service provider. You’ll be able to find the SEO agency that aligns with your goals. Moreover, this will also help you in measuring the return on investment (ROI) from the efforts made by your service provider.

The rank of SEO company’s website

Although “word-of-mouth” is a good idea, it is not the best. If your search for an SEO agency only includes professional networking, then you do not understand SEO well. Searching on “SEO + Location” or “best SEO companies for small business” will not take much time. The companies that rank first are the companies that know how SEO works. This is because getting a good rank in SEO industries is an extremely challenging task in today’s times. If you’re choosing an SEO agency through any other means because you don’t trust Google trawling, then maybe you should stop wondering “how to choose an SEO company.” A legitimate SEO company is proving you its worth by working dedicatedly to rank itself well. Only this company will work just as hard to optimize yours and achieve you the same or better level of an online presence.

Discuss your SEO campaign

Every business is different, and so, SEO strategy varies as per that. When you’re out & about to find an SEO agency, look for a company that will ask about your business. They should be able to explain how SEO will benefit your business and how they can make it work in layman terms. When you sit for consultation with your potential SEO agency, they should be able to explain your SEO campaign. If they’re able to explain the basics without causing any confusion, good. Else, they’re themselves confused about what they’re doing.

Check References & Reviews

SEO service is fairly subjective. Therefore, it is better to look into the SEO company and its past and current clients to better understand its services. You can check reviews on the company on various review websites. Look into portfolios and case studies and look into the specifics of what all they’ve done for their customers. This will tell you about the company’s working style and the type of results they can achieve. You’ll also know the way they integrate SEO with other services. You can ask for the company’s previous clients for references. Get in touch with them to confirm that you’re provided with the right information.

Their Competency Levels Should Meet the Goals

In your discussion with the potential SEO agency, discuss and agree upon the key performance indicators (KPI) to measure the progress of the process. You need to find the KPIs that align with your business. A few KPIs to consider are:

• Organic sessions: how much traffic you receive via organic search.
• Conversion rate: how many people are subscribing or buying your services?
• Keyword rankings: which keyword you wish to rank for and how much improvement the SEO firm has brought you.>
• Google crawling mistakes: the google bot should not struggle to read your website content to index it.
• Page load time: if the page load time is more, then people will leave the site quickly.

Check the team & company’s ethics

Ethics and integrity are the most important factors to consider when you look for an SEO company. The frontline workers in the team should be enthusiastic about their work and should be aligned with the company’s vision. Else, it is unlikely that they will provide you as a client any exemplary services.

Look out for red flags

If an SEO agency is promising you “guaranteed results,” walkout. SEO is a process where no one can tell you where the site will rank after optimization. Search engines don’t tell the way or algorithms they use to rank websites. So no one knows what exactly will place your website over another.

Check the SEO Services Charges

In SEO, it’s not about how much you’re paying but how much you’re getting in return. So you need to make sure that the chosen company will provide you with results. Now, every SEO agency is structured differently. Some may charge you on an hourly basis, while others may put you on monthly or yearly contracts. Get an idea of the estimated charges required for the services you’re demanding. Compare it with the narrowed list of companies to make your final decision.

What Mistakes People do for Hiring an SEO Company?

Making a mistake is not a big deal, that’s how one learns. But making a mistake while choosing an SEO company can be a disaster. SEO is a long and continuous process. By the time you’ll realize that the SEO company you chose is not bringing you any results or has caused you more harm, it can be too late. A few mistakes that you should be wary of when you look for the best SEO companies for small businesses are:

1. Going for a cheap SEO Agency: Cheap prices almost always means wasted money. You get what you pay for, so if you’re going for a cheap package, realize you’ll get substandard results.
2. Selecting Black-Hat SEO Agency: SEO is a slow process and can lead to frustration. This leads to many companies falling for companies providing black-hat SEO strategies. These are unethical practices that can lead to a ban on your website.

Conclusion

SEO is the very crucial part for your business growth, so hiring an SEO company even more difficult. Many of these SEO companies make commitments that they cannot keep or they use malpractices that could harm your business. Therefore, when you hiring an SEO company, you should narrow down companies based on your goals. Then see which of these can provide you evidence of successful past experiences. Check the entire background of the company before hiring, and make sure they provide you with customized SEO services. Once you’ve chosen, be patient to see the results. The right SEO company will win you the best results.