Search engine optimization is something has become increasingly vital to any online business becoming successful. Google search rankings play a large role in terms of determining the success and failure of an online business.
Studies have shown that people who perform searches on Google rarely click on sites beyond the first page. Therefore, it should be the goal of every online business owner to get their site listed at least in the top 10.
Unfortunately, this can often be a difficult task to achieve. This is especially true if the site is involved in an industry with a large amount of competition. Search engine optimization is a method of getting a website to appear higher in the search rankings.
Here are some tips for hiring a search engine optimization company.
1. Do they have a solid track record?
Do not spend your money or waste your time hiring a company that does not have a stellar record of success in this industry. You need to be sure the company you hire has the skills needed to get your site listed at or near the top of the search rankings. Anything less than that will be insufficient.
Ask to see what the company has done for their clients in the past. This is the only fair way to judge them. Talk to some of their past clients. Are they happy with the results they received? Are they satisfied with their current position in the search results?
Talking to other online business owners who have worked with a particular company will give you some valuable insight into whether or not they have the skills required.
Look for results pages like these from Ducktoes Computer Services showing where their clients rank in both organic and paid search results. Compare the results shown with the current results for the same search.
Ask the SEO agency to send you reports or case studies to evaluate or to screen share and show you live results they have attained. This is the best method for determining whether an SEO can get results.
2. Only Hire an Experienced SEO
The big companies are not always their best bet. In many cases, you end up paying a lot for minimal results. You might be better off hiring a smaller agency or a brilliant individual to handle your search engine optimization duties.
There are many SEOs who have taken training with the brightest minds who have years or even decades of experience. Give them a shot and you might be surprised by the results.
Larger agencies can have an advantage in that the SEO strategist has experienced researchers and interns to handle some of the most time-consuming chores. But individuals and small agencies may also have collaborators, so don’t assume they can’t accomplish just as much for you.
3. Do Not Expect Instant Results
It takes time to improve organic search engine positions. Many of the tools only update every 30 days. Attracting incoming links requires creating evergreen pillar content and getting it shared across social networks where writers can see it and link to it.
Any SEO agency that promises they can get you ranking in a month is lying to you OR using black hat methods that will get you a lot of traffic quickly, but result in your site being penalized or even de-indexed.
Hiring A Search Engine Optimization Company
If your company matters to you, be careful who you hire to do SEO for your business. Make sure they are white hat and not using personal blog networks, spamming forums or blog comments, or doing anything else that will cause you more harm than good.
Many sites never recover from bad SEO. They end up starting over, abandoning their existing URL and content, registering a new domain, and losing all their branding and incoming links.
Google even recently warned that for repeat violations, recovery is not an option. If you don’t want that to happen to you, make sure you hire only the best.