How to Choose the Best SEO Company

The way the world works has evolved over the past few decades. Today, no one walks up to a store to buy their daily purchase. No one uses a library to find the best read. With the advent of digitalization, we have everything within our palm’s reach.  Life is so much easier when you can simply Google what you need. Right? 

To put things into perspective, people search for a query online and the search engines respond with thousands of answers within seconds. But do we even look beyond the first page of the search results? 

Anecdotal evidence suggests that for a business to get the best traction, it needs to rank 5 or higher on SERPs. While we know SEO is a good investment even in today’s competitive market for every business to stand out online on search, we shouldn’t be deterred away from good SEO practices because there are opportunities for every business to be successful online. Yet for some, it’s difficult to find the right SEO company and we’ve listed some of the industry’s best practices that can line up with your business.

Consequently, for your business to rank higher on Google and other search engine rankings, you need to hire an SEO company. Fortunately and unfortunately there are hundreds of SEO companies that help businesses get successful. And each one of them is good in their own right. 

So, the question is how to choose the SEO company that is right for your business? 

Imagine you have to fly to California on short notice for an appointment. You booked your flight hurriedly. Thankfully the aircraft flew fast without any delays and managed to reach on time. As you land safely at the airport, you hear this announcement, 

“Welcome to Beverly Hills, Texas.”  Your destination was supposed to be Beverly Hills, California but instead, you ended up in Texas.  What a waste of time would that be, right? 

Hiring an SEO company is similar to boarding a flight. The aircraft may be quick and good enough for the journey but if your destination is different from that of the airplane’s then it’s nothing but a waste of time. 

So, your first job is to find the right plane that can take you to the right place. 

SET A: 

• Local SEO
• E-Commerce SEO
• Content Marketing (Search Engine Optimized)
• Link Building
• Voice SEO

SET B: 

• Improve Traffic
• Rank for specific keywords
• Drive sales

When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, there is no one size that fits all. That is why picking what you want from these two sets will help you decide the right SEO company for you. 

Narrowing down on the right SEO agency will still require you to know if the company walks the talk. Here are some of the characteristics that will help you vet an SEO company for your business.

A Diverse Team of Professionals

One of the most important things to look at when you are choosing an SEO company is the team that will be working for you. Executing an SEO strategy is not easy. It requires a lot of thought and effort. 

Just like hiring any other executive in your company, you need to know the team you will be working with to achieve the goals. From the smallest of tasks to the biggest, ask for the team that resonates with you and your business’ ideologies. Most good and experienced SEO agencies make their team public. Investigate their website or LinkedIn profile to learn more about their team. Also, we recommend asking the following questions found in the Youtube video below prior to working with any SEO agency.

A Curated Strategy and Process

For any organization to carry out its services with finesse they need a streamlined approach and strategy. A successful SEO company follows a tested strategy and processes that have achieved results over the test of time. If the agency has worked with different clients and has a proven record of delivering desired results, they provide their potential clients a peek into their winning formula. 

Every SEO company has its own process of delivering results. As for us, we start by analyzing our client’s website. Then we move on to understanding our audience. When we have a good grip over who we want to sell our service to, we move forward to competitor analysis. For the final analysis, we check the content and then we begin building links and promote the content. That is how our process works. If you want to know why your competitor’s website outranks you organically, we suggest seeing the video below.

Testimonials and Reviews

Like any service client relationship, if an SEO company delivers the desired traffic, ranking, and sales, the client will give them a good review, right? 

Especially when it comes to marketing, if an agency has helped a business grow and increase sales, they will oblige and give them a testimonial. That is why, before hiring any SEO agency, it is best to have a look at their testimonials and reviews. A good SEO company takes pride in the results they’ve delivered and the partnerships they’ve formed over the years. They display what their proud customers think about them on their website. 

Company Culture

If you want to grow your business and achieve success, associate with people and businesses that have the same values as you. An SEO agency may have exceptional expertise, experience, and almost all the attributes that you are seeking in a company, but if it does not fit in with your company culture it is best to not have such a partnership.

You and your SEO company should be on the same page from the beginning. A successful SEO company does not build relations with clients that do not resonate with them. Neither should you. For this purpose, most good SEO companies showcase their company culture on their website. This way clients like you can understand their culture and if your values align with theirs or not. 

Portfolio

SEO is not something that you do today and you can expect the results tomorrow. It takes time and commitment. For you to trust a company and give them the time to deliver results, you need to be sure if they can deliver the desired results. The only way you can be sure is by looking at their client portfolios and how they plan to achieve success – with reasons backing up their decision. Today, most SEO companies which reputable and have been in this business for years, and are open to displaying their success for their potential clients to look at. This eventually helps you in learning whether they are experienced or not. Also, you get to know what type of clients they’ve worked with and the benchmark they’ve set. We’ve set some key SEO scams you want to avoid in the video below which highlights two very important points any business should look out for before hiring a digital marketing SEO freelancer or company. 

Thought Leadership 

The success of any SEO campaign depends on the strategy and work that goes behind making quality content. That is precisely why a lot of SEO companies use thought leadership to showcase their knowledge, expertise, proficiency, conversions, and strength. It is a way to earn credibility and build a reputation. 

Having said that, thought leadership is much more complex and intense than standard marketing. That is why if an agency is using thought leadership and is delivering quality content, it gives you an idea that they are good at what they do and you can trust them to help you grow your business.

So far, I’ve outlined the attributes of a good SEO company. These points above will help you determine which SEO agency is right for you and can deliver you the results that you are looking for. 

Once you’ve finalized the one company that you will be hiring, here are some tips that will help you successfully collaborate with an SEO company. 

Prepare to Engage

Before you begin collaborating with an SEO agency, it is best to make a team that will communicate and engage with the company directly. This way, your in-house team will help you communicate with your SEO team more effectively. This not only helps bridge the communication gap between your business and the SEO agency but also helps both you and the SEO company remain in sync with each other’s culture, goals, expectations, and timeline. 

Custom Strategy Through Discussions

When you work with an SEO company, it has to be in unison. No two businesses have the same issues and needs. Coordinate with the SEO agency and discuss different strategies to grow the business. You must already know that there is no hard and fast rule in search engine optimization. That is why it is best for your in-house team to have discovery sessions and share their concerns and ideas with the agency to come up with better and more efficient strategies for your business. 

Research, Onboarding, and Management

Once you’ve made an in-house team, a good SEO agency will begin by analyzing and researching your business, growth, and target audience. They will not directly jump into invoices or quotes. They delve into research and gain the context and only afterward will demand a price for their services. Once that is done, they will require digital assets and will take you through a complete onboarding process where they will share with you the scope of your business and how they can help you achieve your goals within a set timeline. Over this session, you and the SEO agency will come to an understanding of how the work will be curated and communicated.  

Now that you’ve understood how to choose and then work with an SEO company, do not dare to believe that it is a rich-quick scheme. Finding an SEO company that is perfect for you may be a little daunting, but the points discussed above will help you make your decision. 

Although results take some time, the wait is worth it. When things kick off, you will see the number of organic leads increasing rapidly helping you generate more revenue and sales. That is the power of SEO. 

So, the important thing is to remain patient. 

Just make sure that you hire an SEO company that is good for you. One that believes in your values, has a diverse team and has a zeal and potential to deliver the results they promise. And once you do find an SEO company, give them time to show results.