So, you’re looking for the best SEO company for your business? What should you look for and what should you avoid when trying to find the right partner to help you improve your website’s visibility in search engines?
We’ve had many clients come to us after spending thousands of dollars PER MONTH on “Search Engine Optimization” and not seeing any ROI.
These clients typically reported having the same experiences. They aren’t even sure what their money bought them! They’ve got SEO reports that they don’t understand and no change to their revenue or profit margins.
Furthermore, they were typically signed into a 12-month commitment and paid thousands of dollars in set-up fees. These aren’t small investments!
Occasionally, clients tell us they were having some success with their former SEO agency. For 6 months, or even a year, their sites ranked well in Google. Then, Google’s algorithm changed and, unbeknownst to said clients, their SEO agencies were using “black hat” SEO techniques. Black hat SEO is against Google policies and used to manipulate rankings. Use of these techniques resulted in the client’s website being “punished” by Google. Therefore, all of the money and effort spent on SEO efforts were wasted and their websites were put in “Google jail.” Double ouch.
However, there are SEO agencies that don’t overcharge and underperform … and there are legit SEO experts who don’t use keyword stuffing, link spamming, link farms and other underhanded techniques in an attempt to game Google and other search engines. These experts actually understand the rules of the SEO game, play by them and succeed.
So, how do you find the best SEO company for your business?
Check Out Their Online Reviews
Digital marketing firms and SEO companies claim to be experts at online marketing. Therefore, why would any successful SEO company or internet marketing firm NOT have positive online reviews? Look for firms that have more than 5 positive ratings and closer to 10 or more is ideal.
If you’re considering an agency that has 1 or 2 five star reviews on Google then you need to rethink your strategy. The best SEO company will have more positive reviews than that.
Consider How You Found The Company
Were you searching for information about marketing your business and found yourself on a SEO company’s website?
Or, maybe you weren’t even looking for information about marketing initially, but yet somehow you’ve landed on a digital marketing firm’s website reading an interesting article about internet marketing and now you’re thinking that maybe you should get a Free SEO Evaluation.
If you were using a search engine and you somehow landed on the agency’s site then that’s a good indication that you’re dealing with a company that knows how to effectively market online.
Ask For Proof of Performance
Most Search Engine Optimization gurus are not going to hand you a list of websites that they’ve ranked. And, they definitely aren’t going to show you specifically how they did it.
Some agencies are under non-disclosure agreements with their clients. But, more commonly, these agencies are protecting their work and their methods.
Additionally, a lot of SEO work is just plain boring. Do you really want the full rundown of what keyword density is required for your page to rank? Do you want to learn how Google Search Console is utilized to determine what pages are indexed? Oh, and then there’s that long list of inbound links that’s extremely riveting.
All of that aside, most agencies should be able to share a few charts or generic data that shows that they’ve had success. The best SEO company will have a way to show you that they’ve had success improving customer rank and position in search.
This is a SEMRush organic traffic report for a SEO client. We began their Search Engine Optimization campaign in January 2018. Their organic traffic has doubled!!
Ask If They’ve Worked in Your Vertical And Locality
SEO isn’t necessarily “one size fits” all. Yes, we all want to achieve first page positions in Google, Bing and Yahoo. However, the amount of competition in your particular niche or industry may differ greatly from the competition in other industries. And, with SEO … competition matters. When there is a lot of competition for your keywords, it will take more work for you to see results.
For example, if you are a personal injury attorney in Tampa, FL then your keywords are highly competitive because there are so many personal injury attorneys in your locality. Additionally, there are large firms with millions of dollars to spend on SEO and SEM. So, you might be competing against businesses with deeper pockets and therefore the ability to dominate the market.
However, there is some good news! Just because you’re in a competitive market does not mean that your competition is using competent SEO specialists. Yaaaaay! Also, even the best SEO firms don’t always figure out every single way to rank a client in search results, so there are undoubtedly still some “rocks that can be turned over” in your niche.
Regardless, digital marketing is heavily content-based. So, ask any firm you’re considering if they’ve worked with similar businesses. If they are already familiar with your industry then they’ll have an advantage over other agencies that aren’t.
Are you ready to get started with SEO? Still not sure you’ve found the best SEO company?
At ClickFirst Marketing we’ve got what it takes to get your site ranked in search results.
Check our customer reviews and ask for more information about our fully managed SEO packages. Contact us today for a free evaluation and quote.
