Choosing the right SEO agency to work with is kind of a big deal. It’s important to ensure that the agency you choose is up to the job before you hand over the keys to your website or part with any money.
Make the wrong decision and you could end up paying for several months’ worth of work before deciding it’s not working out and then have to start afresh with another company. Or worse, if you don’t choose a trustworthy SEO agency, they could end up doing more damage than good to your website.
If you’re going to be investing money into an SEO service it’s worth shopping around, doing your research, and not rushing into anything.
But with so many SEO companies out there, how do you go about choosing a good digital partner?
Here at topflight agency, we’ve put our heads together and come up with some top tips to help you choose an SEO company that you will have a long, happy, and prosperous business relationship with.
Keep reading to discover the factors that should influence your decision when choosing a trustworthy SEO agency to help you to narrow down your options and find the best partner for your business.
Define your SEO goals and objectives
Before you even begin looking for the best SEO agency for your business, you need to be straight in your head about what you are setting out to achieve.
Do you want to increase your business’ visibility in national searches or local searches?
Do you want to boost sales on your eCommerce website?
Or perhaps you need help improving a certain aspect of your SEO, for example, link building or content marketing?
Once you have a clear idea about what your goals and objectives are, then you can begin searching for an agency that either specialises in the relevant area of SEO or has proven experience achieving the kind of results you’re looking for.
Important factors to consider when choosing the best SEO agency for your business
With so many companies out there, choosing the right SEO agency one to work with can be a difficult decision. We recommend that you take your time and do your research to make sure that when you do choose a company, you’re confident that their services are a good fit for your business.
To help you to make an informed decision, we’ve put together a list of the seven most important factors to consider when shopping around for an SEO service:
Price – Whilst it’s important to select an agency and service that is priced within your budget, you won’t get the best SEO agency when you choose the cheapest option. Beware of SEO services that offer ‘quick fixes’ or where the price seems too good to be true, because it probably is. Selecting an SEO service based on what is cheapest isn’t a good way to start. Very cheap SEO services often offer terrible returns for your money and may even use damaging black hat SEO techniques, so make sure you set a realistic budget for the results you want to achieve.
Location – If you’re a local business and you’re looking to increase your presence locally, then a local SEO agency may be well placed to help you to achieve this. However, if you’re looking to improve your eCommerce website’s visibility with a national or global audience, then you may need to cast your net out further afield to find an SEO service suited to helping you achieve your business goals.
Reputation and past performance – Getting real recommendations from friends or business contacts that you know and trust is one of the most reliable ways of finding a trustworthy SEO agency. Failing that, never forget to read reviews online, check out an agency’s credentials, portfolio of clients, customer reviews and case studies online to get a feel for their reputation and experience.
Business size and culture – This point relates to both the size of your business and the size of the agency. If you are a huge business, then you’ll want reassurance that the agency you choose is very professional and has enough manpower to meet your requirements. If you’re an SME or start-up, then you may require a more laidback but personal approach.
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Expertise – This point ties in with knowing your business goals and objectives. Look for an agency that has expertise in areas that are relevant to your business goals and objectives. Choosing a company that sells itself on achieving the kind of results you’re looking for or specialises in working with businesses in your sector could help to boost the return you get from your investment. For instance, if you run a hospitality business ideally you should be partnering with an agency that offers marketing services for hospitality.
SEO strategies – Make sure the company you choose has a clear and defined strategy to help them to achieve the results you’re looking for. Check that they use ethical SEO techniques, ie. Do they use black hat or white hat strategies? Black hat SEO techniques could land you with a penalty from Google, whilst agencies that use ethical, white hat SEO strategies usually provide long-lasting results.
The team – SEO is a complicated and multifaceted skill to learn. Most people who have worked in SEO for some time specialise in a certain aspect of the process. The best SEO agencies have a diverse team of experts all specialising in different areas of the process who work together to provide a well-rounded, highly informed, and effective SEO service.
Don’t be afraid to ask to meet the agency either in-person or virtually via a phone or video call to ask questions and get a feel for the services they provide before signing on the dotted line or parting with any money.
Come work with us!
Here at topflight agency, we specialise in SEO and offer a full range of SEO and web design services. Our services are carried out by a collective of digital marketing consultants specialising in different areas of SEO who have teamed up to work together and produce unbeatable results.
We are local to Leeds and have helped many local businesses to grow their visibility in local search results, but we work with businesses of all sizes, including start-ups, SMEs, and international brands.
Find out more about our performance marketing agency and visit our case studies page to find out what we can do and read about some of our success stories.
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