Search Engine Optimisation is big business. SEO companies used to be seen as a fringe service. But not anymore. After all, having your online presence optimised to produce the highest possible search ranking is of paramount importance. This realisation by the business community has caused a proliferation of SEO companies. Consequently, they range from flashy online overseas businesses promising ‘guaranteed #1 ranking in days’, to more realistic, holistic SEO and Design companies providing tangible and measurable results. So, with all this fierce competition for your SEO budget, how do you find the right company? Here are 5 questions you can ask to help make that choice.
Find the Best SEO Companies by Asking the Right Questions
1. Can You Guarantee that Our Site Will Rank #1 for a Major Search Term?
Ok, this is really a trick question to catch the tricksters! Whereas being number one in a search ranking is obviously a desirable outcome, it’s just not possible to guarantee this result. Basically, the algorithm is too complicated and with too many variables. A more realistic promise might be to suggest that first page is possible. Or, if resources are adequate, even a top 10 ranking.
2. Can You Share Information on Some of Your Past SEO Customers and Their Results?
Obviously, privacy is essential, but they should share enough information to demonstrate past successes. A testimonial or two would be even better. That way, you could contact the firms and ask them about their service. Any company that can’t show their results in some convincing form may be worth avoiding.
3. Will You Provide Me with an SEO Audit?
If a company is professional, they will provide a comprehensive audit document. This audit should contain details such as; SEO visibility, keywords tracked improvements and declines, on-page analysis, architecture, content quality, mobile useability, and indexability. Plus, your mobile version is the version that Google uses to rank your website, see Mobile First indexing.
4. How Fast Can I Start Seeing Results from this SEO Campaign?
Walk away if they say anything like, ‘within days!’ or ‘straight-away!’. In reality, SEO campaigns take time to filter through and begin to affect your site’s ranking. So, a realistic time-scale would be 1 to 3 months. Again, this is due to the increasing complexity of Google’s search algorithm. For instance, for content, instead of relying on keyword optimisation alone, Google’s now looking for substantial and industry-relevant information. It needs to be well written and original.
5. What Kind of Link Building Strategies Does Your SEO Company Use?
Links and Backlinks are an essential element for better ranking. So, even if you have the smartest optimisation and killer content, you still need good quality links. Links are a way for Google to rank the importance of a site within its particular industry. There’s no doubt that strong links are challenging to achieve, but if the SEO company starts suggesting adding hundreds a week or taking part in a linking scheme, don’t go there. This is probably a Black Hat SEO technique that’ll risk tanking your search ranking or worse.
