Have you ever tried to hire a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm but you’re not sure about how to choose the best SEO Agency because each of these companies are all claiming to be the best and you can’t really figure out which one of them is the right fit for your project?
As a brand, before you close a deal with any SEO company, you want to be sure that you have convincingly picked a company that can drive visibility, website traffic and growth for your business, regardless of whatever promises they are making to you. But, getting this right can be risky for most brands.
Some SEO Companies will over promise but deliver below expectations at the end of the project. Others may also look fit for your project in terms of cost and experience but end up not being the best choice to trust with your project due to geographical location and other important limitations.
As an SEO expert who’s worked with brands in different industries, in this guide I’ll be listing out some of the key questions clients have asked, their specific requests and some of the things you should also look out for before choosing an SEO agency for your search engine optimization projects.
Understand Your Goals
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One of the first steps to choose an SEO company is to define your goals or identify the key things you want to achieve with the search engine optimization project you plan to embark on.
Defining your goal before the onset of the project is very crucial because it allows you to find out or gives you an idea about your expected outcomes at the end of the project. And as soon as this is sorted out from the beginning, it makes it even easier for you to align your search for an SEO expert that can actually create these specific outcomes.
Without a very clear goal, it can get very difficult to find an expert that is best fit for your project or even measure the achievement of your specific outcomes, at the completion of the project.
I have seen situations where companies come up with a very vague idea about generally appearing on the search engine even when search optimization is more than appearing on search.
Before you initiate any SEO project, you want to identify clearly the outcomes you want to achieve, and then match your search for experts that can deliver on these.
Outside this, you also want to ask your preferred experts questions in this line so you can be properly guided. And based on their answers, assess their capacity to create results that will be satisfactory for you.
Evaluate Experience & Expertise
Search engine optimization is very practical. It is one job that is not just result driven but one that needs a decent demonstration of experience, expertise and track record.
Without doubt, you’re going to meet a lot of expert while trying to choose the best SEO Company for your project. And most of them will show you their portfolio and previous projects but one of the key things you’ll have to look out for is their expertise, experience and pedigree.
This is one thing that will differentiate one SEO expert from the other. And even after being presented with a verifiable track record and experience, you have to still go ahead to match it with your goals as laid out in step one above. Does this expert fit in as someone that can deliver on your goals?
Where you feel in doubt, you can further request for a proposal with estimated timelines and a clear demonstration of how those timelines will be realistically achieved.
Doing this gets you to not just choose from the best of best but go all out for the right expertise that will deliver on your project goals more convincingly.
Assess Industry Based Expertise
While an all-rounder SEO expert is a great fit for most SEO projects, in some cases, finding someone with very specific experience in your industry can make your work easier and more effective.
Take for example; publishing and ecommerce are two industries that have a little bit of difference in their search engine optimization and ranking processes.
To choose the best SEO company in this kind of industry, you want to look out for an industry expert that has an understanding of the nitty gritty that makes the specific industry stand out and how to use this to create the best results for your business.
Similarly, for someone in a unique industry like the legal industry, law firms etc., with its own unique rules and professional ethics, while shopping for an SEO expert in such fields, you want to go out for someone that has an understanding of the industry and how it works so you don’t get into issues or breach your professional ethics in the cause of implementing your search engine optimization project.
Request for Case Studies & References
Do they have a clear case study examples and references they can refer to so you can have an understanding of how they work? This is one of the questions you have to ask before you can get to choose the best SEO Company for your project.
So while interfacing with them for the job, ask about their track records and or references. Ask specific questions about where the company was as at when the project started, where they were able to get to after the search engine optimization project and so on.
Outside giving you an idea about the expertise of the SEO Company you want to work with, questions like this also gives you an overview of what to expect after the project.
With this in place, you can also set up your expected outcomes and measure it accordingly during the set intervals expected.
Gauge their Knowledge of SEO+
Outside being quite vast and expansive, for any company to be great at search engine optimization, such company needs a solid knowledge of SEO and other supporting aspects of digital marketing.
For example, there’s content marketing which has a great role to play in search engine optimization. Before you can choose the best SEO Company, you want to find out if your preferred expert has a decent knowledge of content marketing.
It doesn’t matter if your content team is taking care of the content marketing effort or not, there are certain SEO practices that are crucial to content marketing. Outside knowing about this, the SEO expert also has to inform, communicate with or train your content team on SEO optimized content workflow.
Furthermore, there are other adjoining parts of SEO like technical SEO for example, ask key questions on how they will work on your website speed, website architecture structure etc. and how all of this will impact your website and business.
Consider Geographical Location
While SEO is global, if you’re a company that prefers face-to-face interaction with your SEO consultant, to choose the best SEO company that will fit your needs, you want to consider the location of the company.
Another thing to also keep in mind is the fact that while international firms can deliver a great job, if you’re in an industry with a majority of your target audience being located in a particular region, it is best practice to choose an SEO company in such location.
This is crucial because as far as local search engine optimization is concerned, in most cases, SEO agencies in the locality of your target audience can do a great job in delivering on traffic and visibility from that target region, compared to SEO companies from other locations.
Also, being located in your target region, the company may have an easy access to use certain SEO services available for people in such locations thus enhancing your chances of achieving your goals, compared to companies located elsewhere.
Consider your Budget
Search engine optimization projects are not just crucial in driving growth for businesses, they can also be resource consuming at the same time.
It is always important to consider your budget. But, outside desiring to choose the best SEO company for your project, you also want to choose a company with a proposed cost that matches your budget. This is very important.
Notwithstanding, you don’t want to sacrifice quality result for cost convenience. You want to be sure that you’re paying for a service that will deliver on your expected outcomes before even embarking on it.
And I usually advice clients thus “don’t go for the cheapest, go for the best”. Go for the company you feel is going to deliver your expected outcomes, based on their pedigree and track record. This is very important.
Final Words
Choosing the right SEO Company for your search engine optimization project is a very important decision that can create a significant impact on your business so you have to take all the time to think through and take the right steps before taking this decision.
Using this guide here, you’ll not only have an idea on what to look out for when choosing an SEO company for your project, you’ll also understand the clear KPIs and outcomes you should expect for your SEO project.
And of course, as SEO experts with widespread experience in different industries, we’re right here to work with you on your SEO projects and get you to deliver on your expected outcomes if you reach out to us here.
Now, it’s your turn. What are your challenges when it comes to choosing the right SEO expert? Drop your comments below.
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