3 Tips for Selecting The Right SEO Firm
Categorized in: SEO
There are hundreds of SEO firms, consultants, experts and agencies out there to choose from. Some specialize in local SEO, others prefer to work with B2B firms, and still others do nothing but international SEO. With so many options all-clamoring for your business, how is a site owner to know they are choosing the right SEO firm? Here are three things to consider:
1. Clearly define what you need from your SEO firm.
What exactly do you need from your SEO firm? Obviously you want onsite SEO recommendations and advice, but will you also need them to implement those changes or is that something you can handle in-house? Not every SEO firm or consultant has a developer ready to go. Do you need help with content creation? SEOs understand the importance of content but great writers can be hard to find, and depending on your industry it might take a while to overcome the learning curve. If you want them to write for your company blog how many posts a week do you want? Do you need help with social media management? If so, how much access are you willing to give your SEO firm?
By defining exactly what you need from your SEO firm you’ll be in a better position to find the right one that can give you all the help in the areas you need it the most. And when you clearly outline your expectations it’s much easier for your SEO partner to live up to them!
2. Take a look at their SEO and organic presence.
The SEO industry is very competitive, and while you don’t have to work with the biggest SEO firm around to see great results, you do want to make sure you work with an SEO firm that practices what they preach! After all, if they can’t do a good job with their own SEO how can you trust they’ll do well by you? Do your due diligence and look at your potential SEO firm’s organic presence—can you find them on other industry sites as writers or frequent commenters? Do they have a strong social media presence? Run a quick report on their back link profile and see what kind of links they build for themselves—are they quality links or just quick links? If you do a search for various keywords like “SEO firm,” “SEO provider,” or “white hat SEO company” do they show up somewhere (anywhere!) in the SERPs? Even a newer SEO firm should have some kind of positive organic presence, even if they aren’t the biggest firm on the block.
3. What kind of reports do they offer?
Now you want to be careful to not report your SEO to death, but a good SEO firm understands they have to show value in some way, shape, or form. Will they provide SEO reports each month that clearly show what links they’ve built? What other kinds of reports will they create using Google Analytics, Moz, or other reporting software? At the end of the day everything this SEO firm does for your site is information that you need to know! If they are engaging in black hat tactics that could land your website in hot water you need to find out sooner rather than later because you’ll be the one left dealing with a penalty.
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