There are as many companies out there saying ‘we’re the best SEO agency in the world’ as there are SEO agencies on the globe! How will you know which one is actually the best qualified and suitable for your needs with many of these claims out on the internet?
As with all things in the business world, what your business needs will be different from what a different one will need. It could even vary between competitors in the same industry. Your first task for selecting a great SEO agency is to look at yourself.
Looking at your company to determine your SEO needs
Your first task would be to think about what it is you want to accomplish with your SEO campaign. Unless you have an obvious goal, with measurable successes, your campaign is more prone to fail. This responsibility is on you, not who you hire, so be sure that you are prepared to hire on an SEO company before you do so.
Your next task would be to think beyond just those three words – search engine optimization. Yes, you would like to bring more visitors to your website by getting a higher search rank, but how will this happen? Does seo companies are looking at offer other services such as for example social media consultation, link constructing, design and copywriting? Having an organization on hand that may handle all of this eases your needs to possess to go searching for web related companies again and again.
Speak to your business associates
OK, you know what you want to do with your website and you know what services you need to have provided for you. Now you should start getting real data and information from people who really matter: your organization contacts.
If you know anyone who has already hired an SEO agency, and gotten great results, you have to talk to them and discover what worked, what didn’t and any challenges they faced. This first hand data is more important than any claim you will discover randomly online.
Get examples of past success
Once you have found an excellent SEO agency you should get a quote from them and see what they will have actually accomplished. A portfolio of past clients, who you can contact if you wish, may be the most valuable thing that any reputable SEO firm will have to offer you.
The last point I would like to bring up is usually to be cautious with outrageous claims made at any stage of the procedure such as:
“We guarantee a number one ranking” – this is impossible to guarantee, no matter how good an SEO agency it is.
“We won’t alter your site” – then how will they improve SEO? This claim is too good to be true and likely only involves some link constructing of questionable intent.
“We’ll submit your website to hundreds of se’s.” Who cares? Everyone uses Google anyway! Being put on a few core directories is important, but hundreds? You’re just creating spam.