Gaining organic search traffic to a website is the lifeline and hope for most businesses. It has created a need for proper SEO tools that help businesses compete with each other.
But it’s never easy getting a good search ranking, especially at the beginning.
For most, getting the content isn’t their biggest worry: how to choose an SEO company is where things can get tricky.
What must you consider as a business person? What should you avoid? Can your business afford the SEO process, maintain good standing and increase its Google search results rank?
These are questions we’re going to answer and address in detail.
If you’re starting a new SEO course and wondering where to look for insights, you’re in the right place.
Benefits of Getting Help from an SEO Company
You could choose to handle SEO if you know what it entails with little guidelines and explanations. However, that may not deliver you the results you need for your SEO project.
To get the best value out of SEO, you should look to hire the services of a good SEO company. Some of the good things that you get from this are outlined below.
- SEO companies know how to operate and have a more comprehensive industry range that supports creation. They have an entire team dedicated to specific aspects of SEO, from link building, managing every blog post, among other businesses related to SEO. It’s like having an account manager that helps you avoid spammy PPC practices.
- Many companies in the SEO industry will get you the best search engine results and traffic, and this can be backed up by past works they have handled. The best search engine companies evaluate your goals in detail to develop a goal-achieving plan that suits them perfectly for the best service.
- When you outsource SEO work to an SEO company, this frees you from operating some duties, allowing you more time to focus on other areas of your business without worrying about SEO – a relationship that helps you not waste time.
- SEO companies do more than boosting your website ranking online. They bring invaluable SEO expert skills that help your business grow.
How to Choose an SEO Company: 9 Factors To Consider Before Commit To Any SEO Agency
Having decided to go with an SEO company, you’ll need to talk to the successful ones to increase revenue.
This isn’t easy. But to help you with choosing an SEO company, the following are the factors to consider in making the right decision.
1. Go Through Past Portfolio
Partnering with a company that has a bad history is not ideal in most cases. By the time an SEO agency comes recommended, that’s a sign they have a stellar record.
As a company, even clients come to you based on what you have done in the past. Apply the same principle when scouting for an SEO agency.
Once you have identified a reputable agency you’d love to work with, ask for proof of their work.
This could be in the form of a portfolio, client testimonials, industry awards, AB testing, or case studies on the latest trends. The secret sauce that shows results should be a good way of deciding who to go with.
You have to dig deeper than just online reviews in your selection process because certain companies pay people to write good reviews to get more leads. The best way is to look for proven and verifiable results and case studies before settling on an SEO agency.
2. Identify the Metrics
The most telling aspect of any Search Engine Optimization company is the technique and process used to get the work done. You can request to look at the SEO metrics that the company tracks to understand their scope.
These key SEO performance indicators range from keyword rankings, bounce rates, Google Analytics, organic traffic, organic click-through rates, backlinks, conversion rate optimization, pages per session, Google analytics, among many others.
You should also focus on the platforms the company has access to. Attractive niche content must take advantage of mobile SEO and YouTube SEO as well. People use smart devices to access the internet for free, and tapping into this demographic is vital.
You may not be given the full report due to client confidentiality. But a quick look at the main points should give you the information you need to land the right company with the right strategies. Be on the lookout for their customer-driven marketing strategy.
3. Check For Ability to Rank Competitive Keywords
Not all keywords are the same. Some would make experienced professionals sweat. If it comes down to ranking easy keywords for example, then anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of SEO can do it.
But when aiming for the top, you may need the best SEO agency team in the game. Considering the huge number of SEO agencies active in the market, narrowing down the list depends on various things.
The most important one is the ability to rank the most complicated keywords. The SEO world is rife with competition. Finding a company that can rise above the basics could be the difference between success and failure.
Therefore, it’d serve you better to find an SEO company that can rank the hardest keywords. You’ll be surprised at how much most SEO agencies that promise heaven struggle to rank some words.
4. Do a Background Check
It helps to be ahead in terms of information when choosing an SEO company. Conducting a background check is a protocol in every type of business, and the same applies when it comes to choosing an SEO agency team.
There are various sources that you can get hard data regarding the SEO agency you have in mind. This ranges from reviews from other companies, case studies, and unbiased opinions from past clients. Get in the habit of reading all of them to get the essential bits to help you make the right call.
You can start by looking the agency up on Yelp or Google to see their search engine performances. This way, you’ll understand what the industry expectations are to gauge what you need to do to attain your goals.
Thorough research will save you a lot of pain as you’ll get all the data you need to make the right decision. Trust your intuition and compare it with the available data or anything you may have heard to avoid the wrong agency. Do your homework.
5. Evaluate Your Goals
What do you want to achieve with SEO? Who is your target audience? What are your advertising needs? These are the questions you should be exploring in search of the right SEO company that guarantees results.
Why are you getting into SEO? It has to be driven by a goal that makes sense. Otherwise, you’ll be another company turning to SEO because everybody else is doing it.
Take a step back and look at the services your company is offering. Measure that against what the SEO company you wish to partner with is offering. You and the SEO agency have to be on the same page even as things around you keep constantly changing.
Identify the main service areas where your online presence and practices would work best for your customers, from leveraging social media to digital marketing.
With this, finding a reliable and good SEO company that handles all that process on your behalf would be ideal in transforming you into business leaders.
6. Do a Physical Meetup
It’s easy to handle everything through phone calls. However, a physical meetup is important when choosing the right SEO agency. You can deduce many things from a physical meeting with your would-be SEO team compared to a virtual consultation or internet research.
A physical meetup is an important factor as you’ll determine the capacity and expertise of the agency to produce results by looking at the team members involved.
Additionally, you get the benefit of asking the team involved in hard sales and project questions. It’s harder for agencies to dodge hard questions or claim unreachable outcomes in a physical meeting.
7. Plan Your Budget
Getting quality and helpful exposure for your business via SEO doesn’t come cheap. You have to be very clear about your budget when courting the right SEO company.
This helps you manage funds to avoid overspending on basic search engines and SEO tools that can’t get you the sales ROI you need.
SEO pricing goes up depending on the established needs and nature of SEO practices. A simple and cheap SEO may cost hundreds of dollars. If you choose to go with an aggressive SEO campaign, you may spend thousands.
You must have the funds to back a proper SEO campaign run by the right SEO firm. Be aware that the best SEO agencies will cost you top dollar, and cutting SEO costs is a risk that’ll bite back on your expected sales later.
Have a sit down with the SEO agency and explore transparency guidelines about your budget before signing a contract.
This is the first step that helps agency employees develop good SEO strategies with the help of Google marketing tools that fit your needs, for example.
But you should be wary of getting into contracts with low-cost SEO agencies. Cheap SEO always translates to shoddy work that employs black hat SEO tactics and spam leads.
8. Ask Past Clients
It pays a lot to ask the hard questions that matter and not just the SEO company itself, but the past clients to get the right SEO partnership and a better user experience. There’s a lot of vital information you can skim via communication with satisfied and dissatisfied clients of any digital marketing agency you’re eyeing.
Having both sets of information is a good sign, and it gives you a better understanding of exactly what to expect, allowing you to make money with SEO.
For instance, a dissatisfied review may tell you more about the client and the SEO company. A simple word from a past client can so that you don’t fall into the same pitfalls past clients fell into.
On the other hand, positive reviews create an image of how the SEO company will help your business and boost your sales through genuine leads. Using all the information you can get is a sign that should help you choose the best SEO company.
Getting to talk with a number of past clients within your local area shouldn’t be that complicated. These are people you come in contact with and speak with every day. Direct recommendations are often used where SEO agencies are involved.
This shouldn’t be limited to past clients only; you can even contact current clients to get their input, investment advice, and company details if you are really interested.
9. Avoid SEO Guarantees
In most businesses, making grand marketing promises and guarantees do help seal the deal. However, where SEO is involved, promises don’t always pan out. Therefore, avoid any SEO agency that tries to guarantee traffic for websites or promises impossible overnight rankings on Google search engines.
SEO is full of risks from the get-go, and nothing ever pans out according to plan as it’s always an ongoing process that can change at any time to fit different consumer expectations.
You may have a knowledgeable SEO strategy that ends up with a bad performance by the end of the scheduled timelines if you choose an SEO company that doesn’t fit your needs.
The bottom line here is that no one can predict the outcome of any SEO strategy, not even the best SEO company.
It’s all about working with what is available and being flexible along the way to boost your business web presence, get you more traffic, optimize Google search results, attain relevant SEO goals, and make actual sales.
Common Mistakes People Make When Choosing an SEO Company
Figuring how to choose an SEO company is just like hiring, you have to invest in and spend time and effort when searching. It’s easy to get sidetracked and end up with a bad SEO firm that falls below your expected marketing performance.
To help you avoid these pitfalls when you choose a good SEO company, the following are some common mistakes a person may make that should be avoided at all costs.
Going with Price Alone
Saving money is good when sourcing for professional SEO services. However, cutting down the cost undermines crucial performance. Pay for quality to get reliable and beneficial solutions from a qualified specialist that can better define your goals.
Going Only with Local SEO Companies
When you partner with local SEO companies, you reduce the information range that search engines have about your business.
If you plan to achieve global expansion or boost revenue, you may lack the ability to scale up your marketing conversions properly or attract visitors, losing to your competitors.
Going With an Inexperienced Company
New may be affordable, but you shouldn’t completely trust a new company with your SEO needs. Good SEO companies have the needed experience and creativity that helps even a small business with consultation and long-term SEO techniques and processes.
Linking Up With a Black Hat SEO Agency
A black hat SEO company cuts corners to get the job done. You may be hit by a Google penalty to begin with. Black hat SEO companies do this dozens of times by spamming words, using hidden links.
You’ll incur a hefty Google penalty. Analyze every company well before submitting to any business relationship.
Neglecting Your Own Website
Everything has to link back to your website to reap the full benefits of SEO. Keep your website in the loop of any new marketing lead advancements that you make to avoid diminishing your online presence.
Conclusion
A good SEO marketing campaign is necessary for the growth and ranking process of any business, and working with the right and wrong companies may make or break you.
At One Search Pro, we value results. This is why we’re the right fit for all businesses and users looking to integrate valuable SEO marketing services and solutions for their websites and other resources in the market.
The next-level SEO Malaysia services that we offer you and business owners include website design and development, digital marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, and social media marketing.
Feel free to contact us at any time of the day, and we’ll be ready to handle any questions you may have.
