Upgrading your SEO marketing strategies can help modernize your business presence online and bring more traffic to your website. To this end, an SEO agency can help you grow your company.
We’ll help you demystify SEO services, what they can do for you, and what you should look for when you hire.
Why Does SEO Matter?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential to any online business. Generally, it refers to practices and strategies designed to make your website—and, by proxy, your company—stand out to potential customers.
SEO involves customizing your website content to match popular search queries and aims to make your content reliable, authoritative, and relevant. Websites that consistently perform well in Google’s AI-driven algorithm rank higher in organic searches and are thus more likely to get business from internet users.
Because Google and other search engines adjust and update their algorithm occasionally. Having an SEO agency can save you a lot of time, ensuring your website performs optimally.
Of course, not all agencies will cater to your specific goals, share your interests, or align with your ethical standard. As such, here’s what you should look for when hiring an agency.
6 Signs of a Worthwhile SEO Agency
When considering which candidate is best for your needs, you should consider the following factors:
They Never Rely on Unscrupulous Methods
One of the most critical aspects of an SEO agency is its methodology. If you’ve done a query on Google and seen a website at the top of Google that’s filled with nonsensical or irrelevant information, then you’ve seen just how easy it can be to cheat the system.
One example is keyword stuffing, a technique wherein relevant keywords are “stuffed” into meta tags, content, or anchor text, giving the site a rank advantage.
While these webpages may have a short-term stay in the spotlight, Google heavily punishes algorithms that take advantage of backdoors and unscrupulous techniques—so much so that websites using them may never recover.
As such, it’s crucial to discuss and define the company’s methodology since it can be tempting for agencies to rely on these backdoor techniques, ultimately heavily penalizing your webpage.
Any business promising to hit the top spot on Google within a month is a scam. Google reports that sites using unethical SEO strategies suffer hefty penalties.
They Have a History of Positive Reviews from Other Clients
One of the most basic rules of finding reputable businesses online also applies to SEO agencies. Always check that the company has positive feedback on third-party sites—don’t trust what’s on their website.
You can also inquire about verifiable case studies and testimonials they can share. These, more than anything else, are a testament to their services and trustworthiness.
They Have Link Earning Plans
Another important marker of an SEO agency that will benefit you is an emphasis on link-earning plans. This point hearkens back to ethical versus unethical SEO strategies. Some companies emphasize buying, trading, or keyword anchoring as link-building strategies.
Google themselves have spoken out against this strategy, iterating that “The best way to get other sites to create high-quality, relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can naturally gain popularity in the Internet community.”
Earning links is always better than building or buying links, so you should ensure that your SEO agency has a plan for developing and delivering robust, relevant links that grow naturally in your niche.
They Focus on Generating Leads
Generating leads is a significant factor in business growth.
Businesses that emphasize building solid connections to facilitate client interactions and sales will naturally become more relevant, and testimonials from happy customers will lend more credence to the site and the product/service.
The more you build your leads, the better your website will rank naturally. Building your business through SEO marketing is lengthy and laborious, and it may take months—even years—for your site to stand out in your niche.
Any SEO company that exclusively focuses on ranking high on Google isn’t worth your time. You should ensure that they are transparent and approachable when discussing lead-building strategies.
Their Website Ranks Well on Google
Another good sign for an SEO agency is its website design. You might consider the following questions when you peruse the landing pages of different agencies:
- Did their site show up in the niche you searched for?
- Is their webpage design intuitive and well-organized?
- Are there credible backlinks from other pages leading to their website?
These questions can help you assess whether the SEO agency has put its expertise to good use in building its site. After all, if they can’t stand out to you as a potential client, how will they make you stand out to prospective customers?
Their Goals Match Your Own
Lastly, on a more personal note, it’s worth finding an SEO agency that matches your goals. If they’re passionate about helping you grow your business, they should happily take on your feedback about business goals, expansion, and other aspirations.
The only way to assess this is to discuss your intentions with the agency and gauge their responsiveness. SEO companies are making you look good online; you should expect that they treat your ideas and suggestions with responsiveness and consideration.
Similarly, if you can find an agency with testimonials for businesses like yours, that’s a big plus.
Run a cold storage construction company and note that an SEO agency has helped boost a competitor in a similar niche. You may have a company worth its salt.
The Bottom Line
SEO isn’t an optional part of the business; you need to incorporate it if you want your business to have an online presence.
SEO agencies can be excellent in helping align cutting-edge SEO strategies with your plans for business growth. By watching for these six things, you’re well on your way to partnering with the best SEO agency!
Also, Read English Tuition Made Easy: Boost Your Child’s Confidence.
