You want to move up in Google’s rankings, so you’ve decided to spend money on SEO. You may discover an SEO agency to acquire the results you desire if you don’t want to do it yourself or employ someone for your agency.
But let’s be honest: there are a lot of marketing SEO agencies out there. There are so many to choose from, and they all have different services and prices.
I’ve worked in marketing for 17 years, and from what I’ve seen, there are a few important things to think about when choosing an SEO strategy.
Know your goals and how you will measure ROI before you start.
Before you meet with an agency, you should know exactly what you want to accomplish with SEO and how much you’re willing to spend. Once you know the answers, think about how you will measure the return on investment (ROI). Think about what you need to do to break even or make money. Maybe you need more direct sales or leads? Maybe you want more ways for people to interact with your website. Tell the seo agencies you’re interviewing about your budget and how you’ll measure return on investment (ROI).
Choose an SEO agency of the right size
Working with SEO agencies of all sizes has its pros and cons. Small boutique agencies are often less expensive and scrappy. They are willing to go the extra mile to give a personalized marketing experience. But they might not offer everything. This means you might need to hire other experts to help you with some parts of your marketing campaign.
On the other hand, big agencies tend to cost more, but they can usually handle big campaigns in more industries. Also, they probably have web developers and other marketing pros on staff, so working with them is more like going to one place for everything. Still, they have a bigger pool of people to hire. So, your SEO campaign might be done by people you’ve never met. Also, they have a lot of other clients, so you might not get individual care.
Consider the kind of service you want. Then, look for a company whose size fits your budget and your specific needs.
Look for the truth
You should know who is working on your campaign and what is being done on your site. When you talk to SEO companies, you might want to ask things like, “How much communication can I expect?”
- What information will the organization give out?
- What’s your plan for SEO?
- Does your agency know what’s new?
- How long have you been working with clients in the same kind of business?
Find out who you’re going to work with.
It’s common for SEO agencies to work with outside partners on things like SEO. This is not a bad thing, and it doesn’t mean you’ll get bad service or results that aren’t as good as they could be. But you should know exactly who you’ll be working with.
Find out if your campaign will be handled by an in-house SEO agency and ask if you will be given a lead strategist. Also, find out if you’ll be working with an account manager who will help you and your SEO agency talk to each other.
Know what you need to do
There will be times when your SEO agency needs your help, but how often they ask for it will vary a lot. Sometimes, they’ll ask for a check-in call to talk about your campaign and its KPIs. Sometimes, they may ask you to write a blog post or content for a page on your site. It all depends on your needs and goals for the campaign.
Find out what you can
Ask the local SEO agencies you’re interviewing for a list of clients they’ve worked with in the past. Contact these businesses again. Ask about the quality of the work this agency did and how much attention they got while they were working together. Make sure that the SEO campaigns that the agencies you’re thinking about have been successful in situations like yours.
Learn all you can about pricing
SEO is an investment for the long term. It can take months before you see results that matter. So, it’s important to know what SEO tasks are included in the price you’re being given.
Often, the fee includes strategy, research, execution, reporting, and analysis. But you might need more than this to get good SEO. Copywriting, web development/coding, UI/UX work, and other things might also be needed. Ask an agency how they charge for tasks that aren’t in the initial scope of work and try to get a sense of if and how often these extra tasks may be suggested.
Set goals that are reasonable
You put a lot of money into marketing, so you want great results. But you have to be realistic about what SEO work can do for you.
SEO strategists can’t do anything magical. A good SEO agency will do everything it can to get you the best results possible, but it might not be able to get you to the top of Google right away.
Be careful if a company says you’ll get results or backlinks right away. Most of the time, these are signs of a marketing scam. Big changes in your data may not show up for months.
Make sure you are tracking the right SEO metrics
Before you agree to work with an agency, you should find out how they analyze SEO data and what metrics they are keeping track of.
SEOs often keep track of visits, impressions, and the average position. But this could be different depending on the goals of your campaign and how you measure your ROI. Most importantly, make sure that your tracking and goals are detailed enough to help you reach your business goals through conversions that matter.
Choosing an SEO agency is, in the end, an important business choice. To find one you’re comfortable with, you need to give it some thought and gather information. Use this list of things to think about when choosing an SEO agency to guide your conversations with the local SEO agencies you’re interviewing. The answers you get will tell you a lot about the agency and make you feel better about making this big choice.