Tips on Hiring An SEO Agency

hire seo agency

Most companies don’t realize the importance of investing in online marketing until they start seeing their competitors succeeding. There are several approaches that can be taken for digital marketing and SEO is one of them. As much as it takes time, it has the best ROI compared to all your other marketing endeavors.

If you’re serious about taking your online presence to the next level, you will be caught in the dilemma of hiring in-house staff or outsourcing the work. Outsourcing will be the better alternative because you will be working with experienced professionals. There are so many SEO agencies out there and it can be overwhelming to make a decision. There are a couple of things to consider when hiring an SEO agency and we will highlight them here:

Portfolio

Never work with an agency that doesn’t have a portfolio. Ideally, you should be asking for references for companies that are in the same industry. An agency that has nothing to hide will be more than willing to provide references for their work. The case study will highlight the problems and how the SEO agency produced results for the client. You also want to make sure that the agency knows what they’re doing.

Past performance is an easy way of separating the good from the bad. There are a lot of agencies that will claim to be experienced but there will be nothing to back up their work when it comes down to the real stuff.

Value

As they say, you get what you pay for and this is particularly true in the SEO industry. There are agencies that use blackhat techniques. Such techniques could produce results but not for the long-term. Make sure to ask the agency what they’ll be providing and how they intend to tackle your project.

Experience

Experience is crucial when working with an SEO agency. A company that has been around for some time will have processes that improve efficiency. They’re also likely to be aware of the common challenges that you will face when you’re trying to rank your search terms. You can depend on an experienced SEO agency to provide a solution when you’re faced with a Google penalty and don’t know what to do.

Be Specific With Your Goals

You need to first determine what you intend to achieve with SEO before you go out looking for an agency. The goal of any business is to make profits. For your business, you might be looking to improve the ranking for commercial terms and the SEO agency should come up with a strategy on how they intend to achieve your goals and objectives.

To ensure that there are no ambiguities, your marketing team should clearly outline what you hope to achieve with SEO. This will ensure that you’re on the same page with the SEO agency in terms of expectations.

Don’t Just Trust the Google Results

There are companies that have perfected the art of manipulating search results. You might think you’ve got the best agency since they’re already ranking and that is the kind of result that you’re looking for. Even though Google’s search algorithm has gotten smarter over the years, there are blackhat SEOs that will use unethical tactics for ranking. Your website could also be subjected to the same tactics. The best SEO agency will have a long-term strategy for their clients.  There are also companies that will spend thousands of dollars on advertising but will leave a lot to be desired when it comes to the actual work.

Actionable Metrics

You need to look for an SEO agency that has actionable metrics when it comes to measuring results and they can actually work for you. The company that you’re working with needs to have a clear method of work processes. Ideally, you should be on the same page when it comes to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

The good thing with SEO, just like other digital marketing endeavors, is that it is measurable. Everything that can be tracked and you’re able to see improvements on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.

To sum it up, getting the right SEO agency is going to be crucial to the success of your ranking plans. SEO takes time and you shouldn’t expect to see results in the first few months. That means you can’t hold the SEO accountable. A good SEO agency will provide monthly reports on the progress so that you know exactly where you’re at on campaigns. Getting the right search engine optimization professional shouldn’t be too big of a challenge if you know what you’re looking for.