SEO is the bread and butter of digital marketing, and the key to driving engaged traffic to your website. As such, it’s no wonder that so many businesses are making the wise choice to work with an SEO agency.
These agencies handle the nuances of SEO for you so that you can focus on your business. Here are five steps to finding the best SEO agency for your company.
Identify Your Goals and Needs
Before you start your search for an SEO agency, you need to do some strategic planning. Take the time to identify why your business wants to engage in this project and what goals you hope to accomplish. Consider how driving traffic to your site plays into your overall conversion goals, and what steps you’ll take to bridge the gap.
To be successful in working with an agency, you need to have a basic understanding of how SEO works. This basic knowledge will help you identify long-term business goals and which agency can deliver what’s promised.
Read Reviews and Case Studies
Once you know what your business needs, take some time to read reviews and case studies. Look at information regarding the top blogger outreach services, SEO writing services, and technical SEO experts.
Reviews and recommendations will give you valuable insights from other businesses that have used these services. Case studies are also helpful, as they showcase the data points and efficacy of an SEO agency’s approach over time. Experienced SEO agencies will readily provide case studies and social proof. For instance, Minneapolis SEO agencies are among the most successful local service providers. On their main page, you will find interesting insights about improving the engaging capacity of your site and valuable information about hands-on projects with excellent results they have worked on.
Look for Clarity and Transparency
While SEO may sound like a complex and abstract topic, the reality is that anyone can learn it. Steer away from SEO agencies that make it sound like they have a magic formula that will fix everything or are unwilling to show you how they accomplish success.
For companies, the value of working with an SEO agency is that they can dedicate time and resources to developing and implementing a strategy. Their expertise and experience have shown them what works best— information they should readily share with you.
Evaluate the Offerings
SEO is a broad and diverse mechanism with various moving parts. Some agencies take a sweeping approach to handling SEO, while others specialize in specific focuses. For example, blogger outreach and link-building are different than handling on-page and technical SEO.
Based on the research you conducted in step one, you’ll be able to determine which aspect of SEO offers the highest ROI. Use the scope you’ve created to cross-reference the offerings of various agencies and determine which one has the experience you need.
Evaluate Integrity and Methods
There are two terms you need to know when searching for an SEO agency: black hat and white hat. Black hat SEO is the use of unethical practices to boost traffic fast. Know that SEO is a long game; it can take months to see tangible results. The problem with using an agency that engages in black hat SEO is that Google is constantly on the outlook for sites that use these and could permanently flag and penalize your site.
One of the challenges with understanding the differences between black hat SEO and white hat SEO is that many of the practices look similar. Take link-building, for example. Building backlinks through blogger outreach is one of the most effective ways to boost SEO. This means posting high-quality content to relevant sites with a link back to your page.
The black hat approach would be to pay numerous low-quality sites to litter your links through their content. It may yield results quickly, but the tables will turn in a hurry.
Finding the SEO Agency for Your Business
Take your time when vetting SEO agencies and deciding which one can help you reach your goals. Remember that cheaper isn’t always better and that this project is an investment in your business’s future.
