choosing-an-seo-agency

7 Tips for Choosing a Trustworthy SEO Agency

If you’re reading this blog, congratulations! You have just embarked on your SEO journey. 

Knowing what benefits an effective SEO campaign can bring to the table is the first step towards success. So that means you have done your homework. And by the looks of it, you’ve done a great job. 

How do I know? 

Simply because you are in search of tips on how to choose an SEO agency, and it shows that you understand that SEO is a full-time job. 

It requires dedication, commitment, resources, and continuous revisions to ensure efforts are producing top-notch results. And you all of these responsibilities can keep you away from doing what you love the most- running your business. Handing over SEO to professionals can help your business reach greater heights.

Moreover, they are experts in this digital campaign. So they are up to date with the latest trends. This ensures that an effective strategy is devised to drive the most suitable results specifically for your brand.

How can an SEO agency help companies?

But before we go any further, let’s do a short recap of the benefits an SEO company can create for your brand. If done correctly, you can expect SEO to produce the following results:

  • Creates brand awareness 
  • Improves rankings
  • Increases traffic to your site
  • Leads to better user experience and website performance
  • Builds the credibility of your brand
  • Can become the primary source of leads
  • Promotes higher conversion rates and sales
  • Boosts the chances of local users visiting a physical store after searching online
  • Improves various aspects of your site such as mobile-friendliness and speed
  • Helps you sustain a share of the market
  • Get ahead of the competition

Whether you attempt to handle SEO on your own or hire an agency to deal with it, you need to monitor the efficiency of your campaign. 

Therefore, plan on using SEO monitoring tools to track the results in order to improve your rankings and organic traffic. Moreover, if you are not getting the right outcomes from your current SEO tactics, then it’s time to revisit your activities.

We all agree that hiring an SEO specialist is the right thing to do 

But the critical question is which SEO agency should I work with? If you are contemplating which company to select, you are not alone. With the internet flooded with top SEO companies, how do you know which is the best one for you?

Moreover, choosing an SEO agency is serious stuff. Signing a contract with an SEO agency is the beginning of a long-term relationship. And just like all other successful relationships, you need to be able to trust and depend on one another. 

How to Choose The Right SEO Agency for your Business?

So you can’t simply select a name that merely looks good enough. You need to do your research and proceed with your eyes open. Here are seven tips to get you headed in the right direction.

1. Define your SEO goals

Look at what services each agency is offering. Which of them align with your goals? This will help narrow your search and single out the best SEO agencies for your needs.

Identify which areas of your online presence need work. So begin with a digital marketing competitive analysis. Do you need a new website or simply tweak your current SEO tactics? 

For instance, if a business decides that they need a new website, they need to know how that’s going to be done. Currently, a popular option is WordPress. But before deciding on a WordPress theme, consider the following factors:

  • Loading speed
  • Theme compatibility with devices
  • Browser performance
  • Plugin integrations
  • SEO friendliness
  • Ease of customization
  • Availability of updates

But merely designing a website is not enough to make your brand profitable. You are going to need additional help from the SEO agency. Therefore, select a theme that facilitates their efforts.

2. Gather all the relevant information 

Can the company back its claims with facts? 

For that, you need unbiased opinions about the SEO agency. There are tons of data that you need to look into, such as online reviews, case studies, and customer testimonials of the SEO Agency. And you should read all of them, starting with the most recent ones. This is a relevant indicator of how much the company is on top of current SEO trends.

Begin by searching for them on Google and Yelp. And because each industry has unique modules as well as different consumer expectations, you should be thorough with your research. A reputable agency will be more than willing to supply you with all the information you need.

3. Identify the techniques they utilize

To get proof of how effective an agency is, ask to see the numbers of key SEO performance indicators.

Even though they may not be able to provide all the details due to customer confidentiality clauses, they can show some proof of how good they are at their job. After all, professional SEO firms typically track and measure campaign results. This allows them to refine strategies until optimal results are obtained.

Top SEO metrics that should be tracked are:

  • Rankings
  • Leads and sales
  • Organic traffic
  • Keyword rankings
  • Backlinks
  • Bounce rate
  • Pages per session
  • Average page loading time 
  • Organic Click Through Rate (CTR)

4. Visit the SEO Company

As mentioned before, this is a relationship. So get to know the people involved. It’s one thing to talk to them over the phone, but it’s entirely different meeting the team face to face. That way, you’ll get a feel for the people involved. 

This is your opportunity to connect with the entire team. Both of you need to be able to relate and understand one another from the get-go. Bringing all members onto the same page from the beginning saves time and resources. Moreover, this is the part where the agency will walk you through some of their tactics. Not only does it bring their passion and creativity to the table, but it also shows their attitude towards you and your business. 

5. Be clear about the budget

Before investing in an SEO agency, consider your budget. How much can you afford to spend? 

A non-competitive local service campaign can cost a couple of hundred dollars per month, while a more aggressive competitive national product can cost thousands. Do you have the funds to back your SEO campaign for the long haul? We can all agree that the budget is important factor before choosing an SEO agency.

searching-on-google-budget-for-seo

You need to inquire about SEO packages that fall into your budget. But remember, there are risks associated with low-cost SEO agencies. If they do not properly follow proper Google guidelines, they can damage your brand’s reputation. Or worse, incur Google penalties on your site.

6. Watch out for SEO guarantees

It’s one thing to show positive results, but it’s quite another to guarantee specific outcomes. Be suspicious if an SEO company guarantees them because there is no way to predict website SERPs precisely.

While SEO agencies have a good idea about how to produce optimum results, Google algorithms are constantly changing. Therefore, the experience and number of years that an agency has been in the business are determining factors of how effective an agency’s strategies are.

7. Think beyond SEO

It’s great that you are taking SEO seriously. But think of the bigger picture. What else does your website need to get ahead of the competition? More importantly, focus on how to drive revenue with actual sales and conversions. 

Many SEO agencies offer advanced SEO campaigns. You need to select one that has adequate knowledge and experience in taking your brand to greater heights. For that, you will need to ask about conversion rate optimization and AB testing.

One last thought

Remember that SEO is a complex process. It involves a lot of details and nuances. However, they all have the same goal: to make your website easier to understand by search engines, to increase online visibility, and to make your site friendlier for users. 

Some SEO types are:

  • Technical SEO
  • On-Page SEO
  • Content SEO
  • Off-Page SEO
  • Local SEO
  • Mobile SEO

These subsets of SEO are not different processes. It’s merely a way of breaking down SEO into smaller portions so that it is easier to manage.

There are other kinds of SEO, depending on the size of your business. For example, a B2B SEO agency can help customize strategies for your company so you can reap the benefits of SEO. It can help you outrank your competitors, capture more leads, raise sales, hold more market share in your industry, and take ROI to the next level.

Similarly, an enterprise SEO agency can help attract, convert, and nurture leads to improve sales pipelines. They aim at enhancing the growth of the enterprise so that other businesses won’t outrank you. 

And with the increase in online businesses, an eCommerce SEO agency can help optimize various aspects of an e-commerce website, such as the home page, product pages, visual elements, blog content, social media marketing, and much more.

Wrapping up

SEO is a valuable investment that you shouldn’t pass off as another technical jargon. Rather, it’s something you should start sooner than later. In fact, consider this as the ideal opportunity to build your brand’s awareness and equity. With the right campaign, your website can gain quantitative and qualitative visits.

If your marketing budget permits, hiring an SEO company is a great way to expand your business. But finding the perfect one is probably the hardest part. You want to work alongside a team of experts that are just as vested in the prosperity of your business as you are. You’re trusting them to build the right image of your brand.

It’s time you chose the right SEO agency in the UK for success. And a reliable partner can do just that- and more.




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