To gain more recognition of your brand and bring traction to your website you need to strengthen its position online, including search engines. The go-to strategy for organic promotion is using SEO. If your company has an internal specialist, that’s great, but if not, you might want to think about working with a professional provider of SEO services. These companies are skilled at improving your website’s SEO.
However, with the vast number of options, it’s extremely difficult to find that one provider that will meet your needs fully. To help you with the task, we created this guide on how to choose the right SEO company that will elevate your business to a new level.
How to Find a Good SEO Company
Choosing the best provider starts with exploring options and finding the most suitable candidates who will be able to bring you valuable results. Here are some of the tested methods on how to find an SEO company for your list of possible partners.
Start Choosing a Good SEO Company with Research
Naturally, the first move that comes to mind for finding an SEO company is exploring the available options and choosing the most suitable one. Opting for the first link that came up on the search isn’t a good strategy—you need to conduct thorough research to be sure that the agency checks all of your boxes. To locate a respectable, trustworthy organization to support the development of your enterprise, you can use well-known marketplaces for business services like Clutch, GoodFirms, etc. These types of resources usually have the initial information about firms in the requested category, which can help you comprise your own list of reliable SEO service providers for further exploration. You can also find more SEO companies to add to your list of options through social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook.
Search SEO Agencies by Specific Criteria
If you want to facilitate the ways how to find the right SEO company, we recommend creating a set of criteria that would be appropriate for your business needs and base your search on them. This will help you narrow down the large number of service providers and single out potential partners.
You can filter your list of agencies by such criteria as industry focus, business sizes the agencies usually serve, experience in similar projects, ratings from client reviews on work marketplaces, etc.
Ask for Referrals from Other Businesses
Another source where you can find additions to your list of potential service providers is referrals. Asking for recommendations from reliable people, such as partnering companies, friends, and even family who have previously utilized SEO services, is a good way how to find the best SEO company.
This will give you a better sense of the quality of work the agency can produce. Word-of-mouth is the most important element in purchasing decisions.
Of course, these sources can be biased, so try not to depend only on them when choosing. However, you should reconsider working with the SEO agency if multiple references highlight the same unfavorable features of the business.
How to Choose an SEO Agency
After compiling a list of options, it’s time to evaluate their pros, and cons, formulate the expectations that you have about the results of your collaboration, and see whether the chosen company can deliver them. Let’s define the steps used by experienced companies that will instruct you on how to choose the best SEO company for your business promotion.
Define Your SEO Goals
Clearly defining your objectives is crucial when choosing an SEO agency. As long as you know what exactly you want, it’s easy to identify the business that best suits your requirements. Then, during the first meeting with a potential vendor, you can present your objectives and see if the agency can meet them.
Setting specific objectives gives both you and the SEO firm direction and clarity. You give the agency a road map for success by outlining your goals precisely, whether they be to increase website traffic, search engine rankings, or conversions. This minimizes misunderstandings and maximizes productivity by ensuring that everyone agrees right away.
Of course, not all businesses know how to properly formulate their expectations in SEO terms, especially if they only started to build their online presence and promotion. Even in this case, we recommend highlighting the general goal to let the service provider know it. This could be formulated in general terms like increasing ecommerce revenues, optimizing search rankings, and increasing organic site visitors, etc.
After that, you can request the SEO firm to conduct a thorough SEO audit service to help you define more specific goals and offer strategies.
Define Your SEO Budget in Advance
Setting your budget in advance also gives you the power to choose wisely and choose an SEO company that can meet your needs while remaining within your resources. Naturally, the fewer investments you plan, the fewer service capabilities the provider can offer you. However, clearly communicating about your budget limits from the start allows the agency to suggest the most optimal solutions to not overstep the limitations and end up overbudgeting. You can get the most out of your SEO investment by looking into industry standards, using free tools, and being upfront with prospective companies about your budget.
Check Expertise and Experience
No doubt, when picking an SEO company, every business wants to deal only with true professionals, someone who’s been through various projects in the field and has the required skills. Usually, agencies take pride in their accomplishments, expertise acquired with hard work, and years of experience, so they openly present this information on their websites. Look for information about their range of services, previous projects, industry and client focus, technical expertise, partners, etc. Carefully researching a vendor’s background is an efficient method to form accurate expectations and vision of their professional abilities.
An SEO agency must also understand the specifics of the client’s industry and have experience in it, while taking an individual, not a template, approach.
Read Case Studies and Client Reviews
What businesses write about themselves is one thing, and what clients write about them is another. The important matter is that these two lines of opinions and representations have to meet at the same point. Then you can be sure that the company isn’t trying to lure you in with empty promises and insufficient results but indeed delivers expected outcomes. Always read case studies on projects from the POV of the service provider and then compare them with reviews from this client. This method of how to choose a good SEO company can give you the most objective picture of how a particular firm handles its projects, communicates with clients, follows deadlines, and more.
Additionally, going through case studies and reviews will provide you with insights into what kind of solutions your chosen agency has delivered and what kind of client businesses it has served.
Connect with Clients for References
Speaking with an agency’s past or present clients directly might yield priceless information. Don’t be shy to ask about the agency’s timeliness, deadline-meeting capabilities, transparency, and the overall effect of their SEO strategy when you speak with references. We advise you to also pay attention to their willingness to provide references and reactions to your questions. For example, if a company avoids disclosing some parts of unclassified info, it may indicate that not all experiences were positive. Of course, when contacting these clients, adhere to business ethics i.e. don’t ask direct questions about money, personal connections, and other sensitive information.
Examine Pricing Structure
If the first couple of criteria tick your boxes, it’s time to see how compatible your project budget is with the pricing structure of the chosen agency. Thoroughly examine each of the offered plans and evaluate their pros and cons.
Most professional SEO companies like WayDigit provide custom pricing options. Opting for such plans is usually beneficial since they include only necessary services that were agreed upon after the audit. This means that you pay only for what you really need to achieve your SEO goals. However, we recommend checking twice for hidden fees and unpredicted additional payments when choosing a professional SEO agency. Make sure all the possible expenses are predicted and written down according to your budget before concluding a contract.
Consider the Size of an SEO Agency
The size of the business has a significant impact on your experience when selecting an SEO service provider. Smaller firms, like ours, frequently offer a more individualized and customized strategy, concentrating on the particular requirements of every customer. On the other hand, larger companies might depend on conventional procedures, which, although effective, might not provide the personalized attention necessary to produce genuinely significant outcomes.
Evaluate Communication Style and Cultural Match
Communication is key to every successful deal. You must always be sure that your suggestions are heard and taken into consideration. Otherwise, there’s almost no way you’ll be happy with the results and collaboration with the chosen firm. With experienced vendors, it should be easy to get your point across and receive professional feedback. During first meetings and project discussions, pay close attention to the communication style and assess how fast managers or the company’s representatives answer and react to new information.
If you outsource SEO services or hire an international agency, evaluate how well your corporate culture matches to avoid misunderstandings and communication difficulties.
Ask to Provide Details on Strategies and Tactics
“Soon, maybe, in the future…”—these aren’t the words that you should hear when choosing the best SEO agency for your website promotion. An expert service vendor must be able to provide you with a defined strategy with detailed steps and deadlines in written form.
For example, in WayDigit we create a Project Requirements Document after the SEO audit, which contains all the planned tasks and responsibilities. This is a guarantee that on our end we will carry out all steps to achieve the set milestones of the general SEO strategy for your project.
What to Look For in an SEO Company
- A Proven Track Record
When choosing an SEO agency, its track record speaks for itself. Seek out a firm that takes pride in showcasing its customer triumphs and case studies. You can determine whether an agency has a strong track record in your sector or specialization by looking through their portfolio.
- A Professional Team
SEO is not a one-man operation. It calls for a variety of abilities, from technical implementation to strategic planning. The top SEO firms employ a wide range of experts, such as web developers, marketers, content writers, and SEO strategists. This diversity guarantees that all facets of your SEO campaign are managed by professionals in their domain.
- Solid Reputation
The establishment of reputation is one of the key factors for modern businesses. After all, satisfied clients are the best ambassadors for the agency’s talents. An SEO agency is worth choosing if it can show a high customer retention rate and favorable feedback.
- Transparency in Communication and Pricing
A trustworthy agency will keep you informed about the performance of your investment at all times by offering frequent updates and insights. They must ensure you get all the information about the reporting procedures to meet your objectives, tools, and how the prospective agency intends to update you on the status of your campaigns.
How to Pick a Good SEO Company Without Mistakes
We’ve already established the steps and major points on how to pick an SEO agency successfully. Now, let’s look into things that you need to avoid during this process since they can fail your SEO strategy. Here, we gathered some of the most common mistakes that businesses make.
Mistake 1. Prioritizing “Cheap” Options
When it comes to SEO businesses and services, price does matter. You should establish a budget for SEO and look for an SEO firm that fits inside it. However, many businesses make the mistake of setting unrealistic budgets. According to Foxxr Digital Marketing, the range of services and business requirements determine how much it will cost to hire an SEO agency in 2024. While national and international efforts cost between $3,000 and $10,000 per month, local SEO starts at $300 to $500 per month for basic services and can reach $1,500 to $5,000 for full packages. For larger companies with more complicated needs, enterprise-level SEO can cost more than $20,000 a month, especially in cutthroat sectors like finance, healthcare, and law. These are the budgets you should plan for when picking an SEO company according to your project.
Therefore, if you see pricing that much lower than the number above, it either has hidden fees or simply delivers no results. Exceptionally cheap rates may be a sign that the agency is taking shortcuts or assigning important work to subpar vendors. The long-term SEO health of your website may suffer as a result of these subpar outcomes.
Mistake 2. Searching Only for Local SEO Agencies
The location of your agency shouldn’t be the most important consideration when choosing an SEO firm. Experience, performance, and customer satisfaction should take precedence over location since they will have the biggest effects on the caliber of your service.
Restricting oneself to a narrow location may prevent your firm from attaining the desired outcomes. Many businesses choose to outsource this type of service abroad since it’s less expensive. Thus, hiring a remote team might be more beneficial for your case.
Mistake 3. Choosing an SEO Company Using Black-Hat Practices
To pick a good SEO company, you need to understand that SEO only produces results after some time. Typically, it takes three to six months to begin delivering a return.
Businesses can fall victim to unfair agencies that use black-hat SEO tactics in a race for quick results. Black-hat SEO refers to long-term SEO strategies that are unethical and unproductive. While black-hat techniques can help you rank quickly in organic search results, they will soon drop your progress to page one.
Worse, Google may even ban your website from appearing in its search engine results. That means people wouldn’t be able to find your business’s site. You don’t want that, which is why you need to focus on established, white-hat SEO agencies.
Mistake 4. Believing in Guaranteed Ranks
Placing particular high ranks in search can’t be 100% predicted, since it depends on numerous factors, and not all of them can be under your control. You need to go through many steps like defining your current position and finding inefficiencies, re-evaluating SEO strategy, creating high-quality content, correcting technical problems, etc. Only by employing a complex approach of constant progress monitoring, and optimization, you’ll be able to see better ranks for individual pages and the overall growth of your website.
If an SEO company promises fast results and reaching the No.1 spot on SERPs, or any other specific ranking spot, it might only signify their obvious desire to acquire new clients. While all professional SEO companies strive to attain the highest ranks for their clients, no one can guarantee securing a No.1 position. There are simply too many variables that can impact your results, starting from your website performance to competitors’ efforts and constant changes in Google’s algorithms.
Therefore, when picking the best SEO company, be wary of loud but futile promises, if you don’t want your time and money to go in vain. To avoid this situation, discuss the predicted results with the hired team of SEO specialists beforehand and ask to provide a definite plan for strategy optimization.
Questions to Ask When Choosing an SEO Company
To help you make the right decision when choosing the best SEO company for your growth, here we share some of the basic but important questions to ask. Asking them during first meetings with potential providers will allow you to quickly figure out essential information on how they approach work. Of course, these are only examples of what you may inquire about and we omitted mandatory questions about services and pricing. We recommend compiling your own list that would correlate with your objectives.
- What SEO tactics do you employ?
Make sure they concentrate on white-hat SEO methods, such as link-building tactics, technical optimization, and content production.
- Could you give case studies or examples of previous success for companies like mine?
To evaluate their experience and outcomes, ask for case studies, client testimonials, or particular examples.
- Could you explain the entire SEO strategy to me, including the steps involved in research, execution, and monitoring?
An in-depth description of their procedure will demonstrate the breadth and depth of their methodology.
- What sort of reporting will you offer, and what are your KPIs?
Along with frequent updates, look for openness in tracking indicators like organic traffic, keyword rankings, and conversion rates. Tracking and reporting on these metrics, especially regarding conversions, is crucial for ecommerce businesses because it directly represents the success of the chosen SEO strategy.
- What will be included in the reports and how frequently will you send them?
Depending on your preferences, you can request monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly reports from them. Details on the activities carried out (such as outreach campaigns and link building), web traffic patterns (such as percentage increases or decreases), keyword rankings, and sales funnel conversions should all be included in a thorough report.
- How do you respond when a client’s market or company goals change? How do you optimize your strategy in case of Google algorithm updates?
This evaluates their adaptability and capacity to change course in response to shifting market conditions and the latest developments in SEO techniques.
- What degree of involvement from our team will be expected?
This allows you to identify the right strategy for resource planning and set the overall expectation for a collaborative approach and delegation of responsibility.
Conclusion
When describing the process of choosing the best SEO agency, it is evident that the decision has a big impact on how your company will develop overall and how well your online presence will perform. We hope that the point of this article will guide you through the difficult selection process.
WayDigit can become your ideal business partner right now. Our web development and SEO agency provides an extensive variety of services, including site design, analytics, thorough SEO, and much more. We take great satisfaction in developing unique SEO strategies that speak to the particular business objectives and market conditions of each client. Contact us now to start working on your digital promotion.
FAQ
What is an SEO company?
An SEO firm offers specialist services to raise a website’s position in search engine results pages (SERPs), which helps companies increase traffic and expand their clientele. These firms improve online performance while allowing businesses to concentrate on their core competencies by managing the intricacies of SEO.
Why do businesses need an SEO company?
You can save time and money and concentrate on your main business by using the knowledge and resources an SEO agency like WayDigit offers to raise your website’s visibility and rankings. We guarantee customized tactics for sustained online success and quantifiable return on investment by keeping abreast of changing digital trends and algorithms.
What does an SEO company do?
Increasing a website’s exposure in search engine results pages (SERPs) is the primary objective of an SEO company. This is accomplished by carefully optimizing your content and website to comply with search engine standards.
To increase the performance and exposure of websites, SEO companies offer customized services such as on-page optimization, off-page link-building, technological enhancements, and local SEO. They also create content strategies to boost ranking and encourage interaction, which helps companies draw in more customers and efficiently convert leads.
