So you invested a lot of money and effort in creating a great website. But a fancy-looking website is nothing but a waste of money if it’s not bringing customers and revenue for your business. As a matter of fact, working on your website is no easy business. It is the foundation of all your marketing efforts and ties all your marketing campaigns together. Every strategy you apply can significantly affect the website traffic and overall success of your business.
Investing in a business website is especially challenging for companies with a specific client base. For example, a company selling emergency vehicle lights and equipment has clients limited to police officers, firefighters, and truck drivers. To ensure quality leads, they need to work with a reliable SEO agency that can boost their online presence among target customers.
To guarantee successful marketing results for your business, you need to take some preliminary steps to ensure the right people are working on your business website. This is important to implement a comprehensive marketing plan and increase qualified leads.
SEO is a long-term investment that can make or break your online presence, that’s why it makes sense to exert efforts before choosing an SEO agency to manage your SEO needs. This article outlines three important criteria to find the right SEO agency for you. Take note of the following key points to ensure successful results for your website.
Be specific on your goals
Most companies simply hire an SEO agency because their only goal is to increase the organic traffic on their website. For starters, organic traffic comes in different forms and doesn’t automatically translate to higher revenue. In fact, getting high rankings on Google search results doesn’t mean a business is good or has more customers.
To avoid confusion, your marketing team should discuss what they want to achieve through SEO. Ask the following questions: Do you want to increase sales by ranking for specific keywords? Do you want to increase the conversion rate or reduce the bounce rate of the website? Do you need help in forming a strong social media following and sponsored content?
It’s also important to identify which areas of your web presence you plan to improve. Some companies may simply require an SEO strategy or need an entirely new website. If you’re unsure which areas you want to work on, you may conduct a digital marketing analysis to identify which areas you need to focus on.
Whatever SEO agency you work with, make sure to be specific on your objective and the type of services you need.
Ask for referrals
Most businesses take the easy path by searching for the ‘best SEO agency’ on their browser, while others choose an SEO agency based on their ranking on search engines. In reality, the best SEO agencies will not waste their time optimizing their own website since they’re busy helping their clients.
The best SEO agencies are those that have a long-term relationship with their clients who are referred to them by their professional circle because of their excellent service. Remember that only those agencies that are in dire need of clients will rank themselves as the “best SEO company,” “best SEO services,” or “best SEO tools.”
Also, don’t assume that listicles are unbiased. Often, companies pay a premium to get a spot on those lists. Reliable companies are earning enough to trouble themselves in these types of listicles. Still, this doesn’t mean agencies on that list aren’t reputable enough, it’s still important to do your research and rely on word-of-mouth marketing.
Instead of search engines, ask members of your professional circle to recommend SEO agencies with remarkable experience and expertise in digital marketing.
Find an SEO agency that records your progress
After you’re settled with the first two steps, it’s time to filter out your choices by finding the right SEO agency that uses a clear metric to monitor your progress. This way, it is easier to identify if you’re successfully targeting your objectives.
A great tip is to have key performance indicators (KPI) to tell you if your business is moving forward or backward. This is very valuable in your decision-making process and drives the growth of your business.
The right SEO firm will utilize your set of KPIs to understand which aspects of your business are important. This will give them an idea of how they will condense this information on your SEO strategies.
SEO is not just simply a buzzword. It’s a complex process that helps builds a successful brand. Although it can be an intimidating subject for non-marketing professionals, it’s important to arm yourself with the right knowledge on how to choose the best SEO agency. This way, you get the opportunity to work with an amazing team to help you on your path to success.