There are over 200 ranking factors in Google’s search rank algorithm. How can you ensure your business is visible online? With a good SEO agency. Choosing a trustworthy SEO company challenges any business owner. With so many false promises online, you’ve likely invested in outsourced SEO strategies, only to be burned by black hat SEO.
Search engine optimization isn’t a magical quick-fix for increased visibility, site traffic, and leads. It’s a long-term investment demanding careful strategy, research, and planning. So many things affect SEO:
- Site design and architecture
- Backend tags, keywords, code
- Paid ads
- Organic search result
- Business listings
- And more
It’s not your job to understand every aspect of SEO for small business. That’s why you’re looking for an agency you can trust. Discover how to find the right SEO experts for your business below.
Set Clear, Explicit Goals
Your priority for finding a good SEO company starts with clear goals. If you don’t know what factors need help on your website, how can you expect support from a company your hire? Setting SEO goals for your business means understanding the results possible from an optimized search rank.
Lead Generation
An SEO company increases lead generation with clear goals. Building a customer base begins with conversion rate optimization. Any marketing expert knows how to test different advertising techniques.
This testing, often A/B testing, helps determine which methods do and don’t work. Better advertising means increased conversions. More conversions mean warm leads. These warm leads offer follow-up opportunities for targeted traffic, giving you a wider pool of clients.
Increase traffic and sales
If you know your target audience, an SEO agency boosts the number of site visitors. With an optimized conversion rate, more people visit a site, increasing your search rank. This means your business is more visible on search engine results pages (SERPs). Higher visibility gives you more traffic and sales opportunities.
With a strong client base, you can increase sales with redirected site traffic to boost transactions. Depending on your level of specialization, you can advertise unique goods and services. To boost search rank for your site, an SEO agency uses these niche, targeted keywords to draw customer attention and naturally boost sales.
Customer service
Another major goal for business owners involves serving customers. Your skills and business may stand out to customers through the quality of service. To see sales grow, advertise this. SEO pros know to include competitive advantages when boosting search rank. When customers go to a search engine for a specific query or look for the “best customer service around,” you want your brand associated with these searches.
Better Targeting
If you prioritize a specific client type, you can adjust SEO strategies for this. A marketing agency with SEO service experts can help you connect with them. A good SEO campaign hyper-targets prospective clients by region, purchase behavior, and more. Trust an agency that uses this kind of data for the best targeting goals.
Identify False Promises
Even clear goals don’t ensure SEO expertise. Instead, you might know exactly what you want and experience black hat SEO tactics. A good company only uses white hat strategies. To determine if an SEO company is short-selling you virtual snake oil, you need more than clear goals. It helps to understand “promises” that never pan out. Whether you experienced a false promise in the past, you still need to know which sales clickbait to avoid.
- Doubled traffic
- Overnight results
- Instant leads
- Projected ROI
- Backlink quotas
- Cheap services
Metrics over magic
The most significant indicator of a good SEO agency is hard, measurable data. A company that shows results without data isn’t worth your trust. Work with a company that explains what metrics you can rely on, and then shows them to you. The following are metric examples used to boost your search rank.
- Traffic sources
- Conversion rate
- Keyword rank
- Google bot crawlers
- Page load time
Ask for reviews, testimonials, and case studies
The best tactic for determining the quality of an SEO company: ask for reviews or testimonials from previous clients. This offers you a chance to see the quality of the company’s work. It also grants you the opportunity to see if they can meet your specialized needs.
A good SEO company has experience with a variety of clients, including home service businesses like yours. You want to work with a company transparent about its services. You can find this clarity in any testimonial pages they share on their site.
Are your small business needs being met?
Once you evaluate an SEO agency as experienced enough to meet your goals, you need to ensure they can meet your specific needs. Clear goals are one way of determining which SEO company to work with. So are companies with case studies demonstrating their niche expertise. Case studies break down just how much a company can help with your specific needs.
Whether it’s local SEO tactics, link-building strategies, or something else, a good SEO agency helps determine which best serves your small business. They also work within your budget, demonstrating transparency in pricing.
You want to hire a company that understands your business needs, both financially and growthwise. Speak with the company you want and make sure they explain how they can support you. This should help you ultimately decide how well they fit your business.
