If you’re reading this, then you’re ready to jump on the SEO bandwagon. Congratulations! It’s a great first step in helping your business soar to success. We’re going to show you how to choose seo company that will give the best results for your business.
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How Does an SEO Agency Help Companies?
Before you learn how to choose seo company, it’s important to understand how an SEO agency can help your business. By knowing the benefits, you will choose a company that can fulfill your needs. A reputable seo company, such as a marketing network like etribal can provide you with the following results:
- Create brand awareness.
- Increase website traffic.
- Develop brand credibility.
- Increase conversion rates and sales.
- Improve user experience and various areas of your website, such as speed and mobile friendliness.
- SEO can be the main source for leads and conversions.
- Be one step ahead of the competition.
Of course, you can try to achieve these results on your own; however, the right seo agency like etribal will use their expertise and knowledge to produce the right results as efficiently as possible.
1. Identify Your SEO Goals and Outcomes
In the beginning, you’ll be browsing various seo agencies. While doing so, look at the services they offer and see which ones you believe you’ll need for your business. Think about which areas of your online presence need work? Do you need an overall website facelift, or does your existing one function optimally?
These are important questions to ask yourself to understand your company’s needs and when learning how to choose seo company. A marketing network will look at all aspects of your marketing, seeing which areas need optimization and additional attention.
2. Ask for Case Studies and Examples of Clients
When learning how to choose seo company, it’s important you find out how effective they actually are at achieving their customer’s goals. Any company can tell you they’re good at what they do, but you need evidence of it. Ask for examples of websites they’re optimized and improve rankings on from your industry.
The examples should be as current as possible, as they’ll reflect relevant SEO trends. SEO marketing networks like etribal focus on demonstrating their skills to potential clients through relevant case studies and previous clients.
3. Understand the SEO Techniques They Use
For additional evidence of the agency’s effectiveness, ask to see the numbers of key SEO performance indicators. While they may not be able to provide all the details due to client confidentiality, they can provide some proof of how effective they actually are.
All SEO agencies track and measure campaigns, so they have that information available. The SEO metrics that should be tracked are as followed:
- Organic traffic
- Backlinks
- Rankings
- Leads and sales
- Bounce rate
- Organic Click Through Rate (CTR)
- Average page loading time
- Keyword rankings
- Pages per session
4. Go Beyond SEO
Most companies typically focus on sales and conversion when analyzing their data. But there’s much more to a successful website than that. To keep a healthy flow of traffic to your website, conversion optimization needs to be at the forefront.
This means your website needs to constantly be updated and maintained to ensure your website is receiving the right traffic for leads and conversions. Conversion rate optimization typically includes AB testing of headlines, colors/element placement, landing pages, and button copy. A marketing network will test and update your website for the best results.
5. Understand the Risks of Low Cost SEO
You may not have the budget for seo marketing or want to cut corners and save some money. While that may seem like a good idea now, you do get what you pay for. Choosing a low-end company to reduce marketing costs can greatly affect your website and domain.
If they lack experience, they will not provide you the results you want and can damage your site via poor link building and content. In other words, you’ll have to invest more money to undo the damage that has been done to your website.
6. Visit the SEO Company or Have a Consultation
When learning how to choose seo company, it’s important you take additional steps to make sure they’re the right fit for you. While you may think all you need to do is view their numbers and browse their website, go beyond that.
Schedule a meeting with the team, spend time getting to know them and see if they’ll walk you through their marketing strategy. It’ll help build the relationship and determine whether they’re the right fit for your business.
Marketing networks like etribal will invest the time in getting to know you and your needs – and that’s a very good indicator that they’re a reputable and genuine company.
7. Watch Out for SEO Guarantees
Even though you want to hear it, no seo company can guarantee you a specific goal or outcome. Many people who don’t learn how to choose seo company quickly fall into this trap. Be wary when a seo company makes any guarantees because there’s no way for them to predict the results.
Search engine algorithms are constantly changing, so predicting the outcome is unlikely. Rule of thumb, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. You don’t want to be disappointed with broken promises.
8. SEO Pricing vs Your Budget
Here’s the question everyone wants an answer to. When it comes to knowing how to choose seo company, it’s important you know what you need and your budget. That way, you can select a seo agency that fits your needs. However, SEO pricing isn’t about how much you’re paying but about what you get for your money.
See what you’ll receive for the price of service and decide whether it fits your company. What’s important is you choose a seo agency that will produce results. A marketing network have best in class experts that use the right seo tools to ensure your website receives the results it needs.
9. Check or Ask for SEO Reviews
If you approach a seo agency and they cannot answer any of your questions and use the excuse, “it’s our secret strategy,” – run. This is a huge red flag. If the seo agency is eager to answer all your questions and clarify any concerns, that’s the company you want to choose.
When knowing how to choose seo company, it’s important you select one that’s transparent and willing to let you see their process. The moment you feel that they’re hiding something from you, go with your gut instinct and turn the other way. There’s no secret for SEO optimization; it just takes a lot of work and knowledge.
10. Make Sure There is Transparency
Transparency is key when knowing how to choose seo company. A good and reputable seo agency like etribal will go through the process with you, explain their strategy and why they do things a certain way. They’ll also introduce you to the staff who will be involved in the process.
Now, of course, there’s some information they will not be able to provide you due to their client’s confidentiality; however, aside from that, there should be no problem receiving the answers to understanding how they work. In other words, they’re not going to hide who they are.
11. Work Out SEO Metrics that Work For You
Once you’ve made a general outline of your goals and selected a couple of companies you’d like to work with, it’s time to see if you’re on the same page with the seo agency on how you’ll chart your site’s progress. What’s your end goal with your chosen keywords?
For this, you need a seo agency that has a very good understanding of analytics and which ones your site needs so that they can measure and analyze the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Important KPIs to consider are:
- Organic sessions
- Keyword rankings
- Google crawling mistakes
- Conversion rates
- Page load time
12. Make Sure the SEO Firm Communicates
This is an important thing to look for. When knowing how to choose seo company, it’s crucial you select one that can communicate. You won’t be able to check your metrics constantly, and that’s where the seo agency comes into play.
They should communicate what’s going on with your site and if any changes or improvements need to be made. Ask the potential seo agency how they communicate and when you’ll have routine meetings and updates. If they struggle with this area, that’s a red flag.
What Mistakes to Avoid Choosing an SEO Agency
When learning how to choose seo company you’re going to make some mistakes. But now you can know them and avoid them from happening to you.
1. Black hat
SEO takes time, around three to six months, before you see progress. Black hat SEO will have you quickly appearing in seo results, Google will ban your website from appearing.
2. Google as Filter
The best seo companies are through referrals, not via search engines. Ask around the industry and connect with the referrals you receive before going to Google.
3. Trusted Top SEO Lists
Most of us would search “best SEO” and we’ll get a website called bestSEO.com. These websites aren’t necessarily the best; rather they’re focused on ranking for these types of search terms.
4. Believe in a Secret Sauce
There is no secret sauce! SEO isn’t rocket science; it simply takes knowledge and effort to receive the desired results.
5. Choosing a Cheap Agency
Give yourself a budget and look for a seo agency within that budget. However, if the rates are just a little too cheap, the odds are the seo agency will not deliver the results you want.
6. Choosing a Local Agency
Location shouldn’t be your top priority. The right seo agency will be able to provide you the results you want regardless of location.
Wrap Up
Knowing how to choose seo company isn’t easy, and it can be stressful to give your website into the hands of strangers. However, reputable marketing networks like etribal will understand your company’s needs and use its expertise to provide you with positive results.
