SEO is vital.
Of course we’d say that, we’re an SEO agency after all.
But in all seriousness, it’s a vital part of the marketing strategy of any business.
Developing and maintaining this in-house, however, can be time consuming, costly, and difficult without any expert knowledge.
That’s where an SEO agency comes in!
Today, we’ve put together our guide on how to hire an SEO agency, what to look out for, what to avoid, and so much more.
Buckle in, and let’s get down to business!
What is SEO?
Look, chances are, you already have base-level knowledge on what SEO is.But for those who don’t, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of making improvements and adjustments to your website, resulting in higher ranks on search engine results pages (SERPs) and higher visibility online.SEO also has an impact on your user experience, making it easier for users to navigate your website and complete preferred actions, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
How can I hire an SEO agency?
If you’re planning to hire an SEO agency, we’ve put together some of the key considerations to keep in mind when doing so.
There are no shortcuts
With SEO, there are no tricks or secret tactics that will make your site skyrocket to number one very quickly.Long term results rely on implementing best practices to make your website both search friendly and easy for visitors to use.This takes time to build this up, so there’s no way that a reputable, best practice SEO agency with a long-term strategy in mind would find success this quickly.Once you have optimized your website and gained some traction in your site down the line, however, these optimisations will continuously drive benefits for your site.Agencies that get you quick results are more than likely using black hat SEO techniques, which is doomed to fail thanks to Google’s continuous updates to combat these techniques.
Be realistic with your SEO budget
As a business owner, your budget might be relatively tight.Paying ‘cheap’ prices for SEO might work well with your budget, but definitely won’t get you the results that you’re looking for.A professional SEO agency, for example, will likely charge a competitive rate for their time - and you’d be spending money for time managing your SEO campaigns.As a general rule of thumb, the time you need and in turn the price you pay will depend on your business goals, online competition for your specific industry, and how quickly you want to be seeing results.Some important things to remember are:
- The quicker you want results, the more you’ll need to pay
- Competitive keywords and markets will typically need larger budgets
- Long-term results from SEO will greatly depend on the quality of your SEO
Understand SEO within your wider marketing strategy
The success of SEO is largely dependent on integration with a wider marketing strategy.Your SEO strategy will cover lots of marketing essentials related to your site, but integrating SEO into your social media, email marketing, and paid media will help magnify results even more.This is particularly the case with content marketing, especially in instances such as sharing any articles provided to you through your SEO agency.Sharing this content on socials and linking it to EDMs will help grow your organic audience, amplify your SEO strategies, and direct traffic to your website.SEO can’t make up for poor business or marketing practices, so before reaching out to an SEO agency, look at your current marketing strategy and see where you can make improvements.
Ask about previous clients and experiences
When researching an SEO agency, it’s important to take into account their experience working with specific businesses.Ask for case studies, look at testimonial videos, and talk to the potential agency about other similar clients they’ve done work for.Because the landscape is constantly changing, it’s also important to show that your SEO agency has an understanding of current trends, as well as committing to ongoing learning.
Know that amazing rankings aren’t guaranteed
A reputable SEO agency will never promise amazing search engine rankings.It is impossible to tell the potential of a site ranking within a set period - even Google advises to steer clear from providers who make promises like this.Rankings are an important metric to gauge whether or not your SEO campaign is succeeding, but it is unwise to place too much focus on this.Overall, your goals should be to build targeted traffic to your site, increase brand awareness, and see a sufficient return on investment (ROI).
Measure your SEO activity
One of the best benefits of SEO is being able to both measure and collect data about different levels of activity on your website, whilst using that information to help shape business tactics.Your SEO provider uses tools like Google Analytics to gather information about who visits your website, how long they stay, and what actions they perform.Work with your SEO provider to determine which goals equate to real value for your business - regular reporting will help demonstrate which SEO activities are driving the most conversions.It is reasonable to expect regular reports from your SEO agency - we, for example, provide you with monthly reports - you’ll never be confused again!
Content marketing & SEO go hand in hand
There are so many techniques that an SEO agency can employ to improve your online presence and meet your business goals.Content marketing is the process of creating engaging, high-value content that can drive traffic to your website and encourage customer action.Overall, producing engaging and high quality content is essential to run a successful online marketing campaign.Incorporating a content marketing strategy into your SEO efforts will greatly help to achieve your business goals.
So, how will you choose your SEO agency?
At the end of the day, choose your SEO agency based on their ability to work with your business to meet your goals, and setting realistic expectations for you.Not to toot our own horn, but we are a team of digital strategists and conversion specialists that are dedicated to growing your business online. Get a free proposal with us today to see what exactly we bring to the table.
