Search engine optimization, to those who don’t know much about it, may seem like magic. However, it’s not, and there are tried and true guidelines to improving your website’s rankings on the search results page.
It’s a big time investment, though, and most companies simply do not have the skillset or the manpower to take it entirely into their own hands. For this reason, hiring a reputable SEO company is the best way to allow your business to focus on its core competencies.
But hiring the right SEO company can seem difficult. After all, hiring the wrong SEO company could seriously damage your business’s rankings! So how do you choose the right company?
Find Companies With Good Results For Companies Like Yours
Of course, if you’re an HVAC contractor in Dallas, you’re not going to be able to hire the SEO company who got their client the #1 spot. That’s a major conflict of interest. But maybe you can find the SEO company that got a similar company in another location the #1 spot.
You find these companies by talking to people who have worked with them. See the results for yourself, and listen to what their customers have to say about their services.
Any company can “promise” results and then lock you into a contract. But not every company can legitimately show results. And make sure you corroborate the story with the client, as many companies have gotten caught using case studies from freelancers to sell their product.
Don’t Look For Companies With “Secrets”
SEO is NOT some arcane art. It’s a procedure that good SEO firms follow and use to help Google figure out how to rank your site among the many that might be relevant for the keyword. The SEO company’s goal is to make sure the site is the most relevant for the keyword. That is, it follows Google’s procedures for good on-page optimization and assists in the creation of highly relevant content.
Good SEO companies also follow white hat link building practices, as link building is important but using black hat tools can actually harm the site’s SEO.
Look For A Company With Good Communication
With so many SEO companies out there, you want to work with the one that provides the best possible experience. Communication is a big part of that experience. You don’t want to work with someone who is reluctant to communicate with you, and you don’t want to work with a company that isn’t reporting everything.
Ask for specific metrics in your reports, including bounce rate, organic traffic, page ranking for the target keywords, and changes that occur from period to period.
Reputable SEO companies keep track of the changes that happen and do everything in their power to make sure it’s an upward trend.
