Select the Right SEO Agency For Your Business

Search Engine Optimization is barely just an option for your company today.

With competitors in every niche striving to snatch the top spots in the SERPs, you will disappear if you don’t do the same.

Why?

If your company doesn’t even show up in search engine results when a potential client searches for a relevant keyword, how on earth are people going to know your brand exists, let alone approach it for a solution?

Top-notch SEO is the answer.

Before we can talk about how to hire an SEO company perfect for your needs, answer this question:

Do I need an SEO company in the first place?

We are not going to debate whether or not your need search engine optimization – if you are on this page, it’s because you already know you need top-notch SEO moving forward.

But how do you decide whether you need to outsource your SEO efforts?

Would you be better off building your own team instead?

Or do you need to rely on the expertise of the professionals who can guarantee results?

We’ll help you answer this question through a quick comparison of in-house and outsourced SEO services.

In-house SEO vs Outsourced – When Do I Need to Pick the Latter?

To make this easy for you to understand, we will break it down into multiple factors.

Let’s begin!

Budget restraints

This is often the first and most important thing you have to consider – how much are you willing or able to spend on SEO?

If you have a huge budget and need not shy away from spending a large portion of it, you can build an in-house team to take care of search engine optimization.

If, on the other hand, you have to take every step keeping in mind the balance in your bank account, you are much better off outsourcing the task to an agency that can offer you various custom-tailored packages.

Why?

Because you are bound to find one that meets your need without putting a hole in your pocket.

And if you can’t, well, then the best option for you is to start small by yourself and build it up from there. Once you obtain the capital you can use for SEO services, you can consider outsourcing again.

Skill Set

It is quite likely that you have your own social media executive or a copywriter creating all the content you need, whether it is for your website or your social channels.

The mistake many people make is in assuming that just because these individuals are involved with certain aspects of digital marketing, they can take over the SEO of your site too.

That, unfortunately, is not how it works.

In-house is only an option for you if have an official who specializes in SEO or you can hire one. If not, you definitely need to outsource.

Experience

Building on the last point, the experience your SEO expert has will affect how well they will be able to rank your site.

SEO isn’t just about some on-page optimization or writing the occasional guest post – there is much more to it than that.

And the more experience your ‘SEO guy (or gal)’ has with the more technical stuff, the better they will be able to implement it.

Now, coming to the point, who do you think will have more experience, a firm who has dealt with and provided similar services to hundreds of clients, or an SEO professional you hire?

Unless you hire a top SEO expert (who will cost you more money than you can probably afford), going with an agency is your best bet when it comes to experience and, hence, expertise.

Resources

A professional whose job is to provide SEO services to clients day in and day out has all the resources needed to excel at what they do.

They know about every single tool there is to use and are aware of every new update as it comes out.

But that’s not all.

Knowledge isn’t all they have – they also have access to all these resources, which are often paid.

Think about it: getting subscriptions for tools you are going to get minimal use out of (only for your website) isn’t going to do your budget any favors.

That is another reason why sticking to an SEO company is the better option for you.

If SEO is at the core of your strategies, however, and you know you will get a lot of use out of the tools, then you may consider an in-house arrangement too.

Now:

We have likely established that you need to outsource your SEO services. It is not time to come to the real stuff:

How to hire an SEO company that’s right for your firm

There are thousands of digital marketing agencies out there, all claiming to offer you the best possible optimization solutions that are guaranteed to rank your website at the top of the SERPs!

How do you go about selecting the best company for the SEO of your company?

You need to ask yourself certain questions about what you want to see in the company.

What goals does the company need to help me meet?

How do I know they’re competent?

Are they the right fit for my niche?

Here are some tips you can follow – keeping these concerns mind – that can help you make an informed decision.

What to look for in an SEO agency

Service offering packages

Look for a company that has multiple SEO packages you can choose from.

What’s even better is if you choose one that promises to custom-tailor a package, especially for you.

What this does is that it makes sure all the services you need are included in the package while the ones you don’t need are excluded, so that you get value for your money.

Wide array of services

From keyword research to link building activities, from integration of content marketing to analytics and reporting, you are looking for a firm that offers you the A to Z of SEO.

Why?

Because you want an SEO service provider that offers you an all-round solution, not one which forces you to look for another firm for a particular service.

After all, why would you work with three firms when you can easily find all the services you need in one place?

Experience

The best way, as we will discuss in more detail later is to go for an agency that has been referred to you by a friend or family.

These are people you know have had a good experience working with the company.

In addition, look at the portfolio of the firm in question – if they have worked with big players in the industry, then they are probably worth their mettle.

Certifications

The skillset or expertise of the employees of a firm can be judged by the amount of experience they have, among other things.

Another thing that certifies their expertise is that they have all the relevant training and certifications there are to obtain in the field of SEO.

This tells you two things:

1. They know all there is to know about bringing your website to the top.
2. They like to learn more and more as they are passionate about their work.

White hat SEO techniques

White hat SEO includes practices that can be seen as healthy SEO practices.

They include all the right aspects of SEO that drive traffic to your site.

They are also things that are the opposite of black hat SEO.

The best way to determine this is to ask the company about the strategies they use. If there are any red flags you should be wary of, they will become evident at this point.

But that is only possible if YOU know all about white hat and black hat SEO. So do your own research beforehand!

Communication

Always remember: you need to choose a company you are comfortable working with.

You should always be on the same page as your SEO services provider. This ensures that they are aware of exactly what you need and you are aware of the progress of the SEO efforts.

And all this is possible through open, honest, and timely communication.

Look for a firm that promotes this culture, not the opposite.

Choose a firm that can meet your EXACT goals

There is a very important step before selecting the best company for SEO that is perfect for meeting your company’s aims.

You guessed it: You need to actually establish what your goals are.

And we’re not talking about your general goals with regard to the growth of your company – we’re talking about specific SEO goals.

For example, your aim shouldn’t be to ‘get more traffic.’ You should be aiming to get ‘x number of followers of y demographic in z amount of time.’

The best goals are the ones that are very specific – they give you something solid to work toward.

In short, your goals should be:

• Specific, not vague
• Achievable – non-realistic goals are a massive no.
• SEO-related only

When you have these goals in front of you, you will be able to better find a company that can help you achieve them.

You should discuss them with potential SEO companies during the first few meetings and welcome their suggestions. The strategies that are most aligned with your goals will belong to the companies you should definitely shortlist.

Another thing that can help you in this regard is selecting a firm that has worked with other clients in your niche and has results to show for it. This would tell you that the firm has the relevant experience and a comparatively sound understanding of what a company like yours needs.

Always go for a well-reputed firm

Word of mouth can go a long way.

While we initially wanted to say, “Check the reviews before you choose a firm,” the truth is that reviews aren’t always reliable. They can be fake, biased, on inaccurate in any other way.

Imagine you pick a company based on 5-star reviews but it turns out they were all by friends because the team you outsourced to is doing a shoddy job.

Or you pick a company that people reviewed very highly but it turns out they indulge in black hat SEO, meaning you see a short-term advantage but pay for it heavily in the long run.

One way in which you can avoid these problems is by going for companies that are very well-reputed and known for delivering results.

Put the word out in your circle that you are looking for reliable SEO services. Ask friends and family to recommend SEO agencies they have personally have experience with.

Needless to say, take the advice of those who you know have your best interests at heart – that’s one of the keys to selecting the best company for SEO.

There are no ‘magic recipes’ – don’t fall for it.

While on your search, you will come across many companies that will make very tall claims.

They will have a lot to say but if you analyze what their claims critically, there will be very little substance in what they say.

They will talk all about the secrets they have learned during their time in the business and how they have tricks to bring you to the top in very little time.

And they may actually have tips and tricks based on their years of experience in the industry. But here’s the thing: If they do, they won’t hesitate in giving you an overview of exactly the strategy they will employ for your needs.

If a company tries to avoid answering specific questions about their methods and the techniques they employ, warning bells should start going off in your head immediately.

If they say they can’t share the reasons for whatever reason, they probably don’t know what they are doing.

If they try to dodge the question, maybe they’re trying to hide the fact that they use techniques that will ultimately cause your company more harm than good.

Always go for a company that can outline a strategy for you and can give you direct, detailed answers as opposed to ambiguous responses.

So, are you ready to make the pick of the century?

Choosing the right partner, whether it is an SEO agency in San Diego, New York, or any other part of the United States can make the difference between success and failure.

And we mean that quite literally.

The amount of traffic you manage to generate to your site impacts leads, and, eventually, your sales.

This trick, though, is in selecting the best company for SEO that you can with the information you have at hand.

Are there any other tips you would like to share with our readers? Share them in the comments section and help out fellow business owners!