Jul 26

Finding Just the Right SEO Agency for Your Business – Make it Easy with these Tips

finding right SEO agencyThe field of search engine optimization is famous for changing constantly. It can be very tough (though not impossible) to foretell what is going to happen in the future. However, if we keep eyes open and watch industry trends, we can get a fair idea of what we are going to face ahead. For a SEO agency this quality is very important to become successful.

In a survey conducted with 1,973 SEO consultants, it was seen that on an average, SEO agencies earned $363,110 in 2015 and the median revenue ranged from $150,000 to $200,000 a year. Almost one fourth of the agencies surveyed earned revenue more than $1 million, while over half of them had revenue of more than $150,000 last year. The survey didn’t contain SEO consultants working on a freelance basis, which means that it contained only those practitioners who work in agencies.

Because there are lower barriers to enter into SEO industry, many people are getting into the profession with nominal qualifications. So, skill levels, income, experience and many such factors are pretty varied. Many enter the field obviously because of the promise of a handsome income and these expectations are not wrong. Fortunately, 72% of the agencies that participated in the survey said that they planned to appoint more people in 2016.

As per the findings, most SEO consultants don’t specialize for a specific industry. They have the ability to work for a wider client base, as a result of which the local search industry has become more and more competitive.

With these facts in hand, how are you going to find the best SEO firm for your business?

Clear Some Misconceptions

Many businesspersons start searching for an appropriate SEO agency with some assumptions in mind and often they are wrong. Here are some examples.

If the website of the agency is good-looking, the agency is good: Not necessarily! If you are searching for an agency that will also design/rebuild your website, then yes, this should be a criterion – that if their own website looks good, they will design a great website for you too. However, if you are in search of only SEO, you will find that there are some topnotch SEO companies whose websites are definitely poor quality.

They rank first in the searches for my geographical location, which means they are good: This too is not necessary. A SEO agency I know had captured the top position in the searches for Miami but not because they were the best SEO agency in Miami, but they were one of the first SEOs in Miami, having an old domain that was in use for many years! Of course, they were good at SEO but were just doing what 10 other agencies were doing.

If you are to hire an attorney, will you hire one that looks handsome or speaks nicely? You may hire him impressed by his personality, but in the long run, it’s his knowledge and skills to handle your suit will come to your help. Similarly, while hiring a SEO agency, you should go beyond the superficial characteristics and find if they have the right skills. Here’s how you can do it.

Know What You Want

First of all, decide what your needs are. Do you want reputation management or link building or link removal or PPC campaign or content marketing or something totally different? If you have not yet thought upon this matter or couldn’t decide on it, begin by considering your ultimate goal. Do you want that your sales should grow by 10% in the next 6 months? Or you want your leads grown by 25% in the coming 3 months? Or you want your ranking to be increased? You may also want to show your boss that you are striving to find a SEO firm. Nothing can happen if the last option is your only goal. So, you should have a definite and real goal. Once you know what you want, you can communicate more easily with the SEO professionals and judge if they can achieve your goals.

Get Multiple Free Consultations

Most SEO firms offer free consultations to get a chance to impress you and get business from you. Get the benefit of this facility and talk to many firms. This will offer you a wider choice and more focus on getting what you want. During consultation, you can also judge if you can get along with them easily. Such a consultation may go on for a few days and at the end of it, if the firm agrees to research on your website and niche, you can get a proposal with your requirements and pricing. Then do the same thing for the next firm, unless you love the first firm you met or are short of time. Telling the SEO firms that you are shopping around doesn’t always make them compete with each other more; they may even compete less! This happens particularly with the best SEO firms with whom clients fight to work rather than the firm fighting for working with you or other clients.

Let them Talk As Much As Possible

Any good salesperson tells you how good her/his product or service is. The best one tells it more creatively. While finding a SEO firm too, you should be eager to listen to what they want to tell you. The more they talk, the more insight about their company you will get. You can study references they provide and decide how good they are; but, rather than hiring them only on that basis, you should try to examine them through and through.

All in all, setting definite objectives, receiving multiple consultations and bids, checking references and listening to talks can help you get your hands on the right SEO agency.

WebsitesDepot.com is an award-winning, professional, Google partner SEO and web design agency based in one of the most fashionable areas in the US, viz. Silver Lake in LA. They are famous for working hard for their clients so as to do an outstanding job for them. Visit their website to know more.