If SEO is the most ever-changing part of digital marketing, how do CMO’s know how to tell the difference between an SEO Hero and an SEO Zero?
If you are looking for an SEO marketing agency to help you through today’s marketing world, you could go to any one of dozens of local, reputable companies. What you need to know when choosing an agency to hire is which one will be best for your business. Each company is going to have its strengths and weaknesses, but there are still certain attributes that you should be looking for in any company you decide to partner with. Since SEO is clearly an important aspect of a forward-thinking marketing strategy, remember that the company you work with will have a significant impact on your business’s future.
1. A Great SEO Marketing Agency Knows Its Stuff
This may seem ridiculously obvious, but it is a very important point. SEO companies need to know who they are, what they do, how well they do it and who they are doing it for. But knowledge is not enough. They then also have to be able to explain their approach and their methodology to their clients. Here’s a basic list of what they should be able to communicate to you:
- Provide a concise overview of who they are as a company (history, development, philosophy, team members)
- Explain everything that they bring to the table and what makes their services better or unique
- Describe how they will target your clients and where they do their keyword research
- Provide a clear method for delivering results and reports for you on a regular basis
- Offer a long-term plan for how they will use a comprehensive SEO strategy to help your company grow in the future
- Assess your site’s current weak points and help you develop a plan to address those
2. A Great SEO Marketing Agency Can Sell Their Results
Being professional, organized and friendly are all important aspects of running a quality business. However, when push
comes to shove, the one quality clients really want is EFFECTIVENESS. Can the SEO company you are about to hire show you proof that their services work and provide real results for their clients? SEO marketing agencies should be ready to show their track record and comments from clients that validate the work that they do. Any sort of outside validation, news clips, articles or referrals are all great indicators that an agency is effective and can get the job done.
3. A Great SEO Marketing Agency Strives to be Greater
Because the world of internet marketing – and particular of search engine optimization – is always changing and evolving, SEO marketing agencies should always strive to become leaders in their industry. They should always be looking to attend any important conferences, learn from bigger, successful companies and stay up to date on news releases from Google and other sources of search engine news. An agency that will take you far is one that wants to go farther themselves and become leaders in their field. Look for knowledgeable employees and attentiveness to recent trends.
When it comes to SEO marketing agencies, there are always many options, but only a few companies that are willing to go beyond the rest. Farotech is one of those agencies. We are always seeking to increase our expertise, expand our services, perfect our techniques and prove our value to each of our clients! If you are a small business interested in beginning an SEO campaign, check out our FREE, helpful ebook by simply clicking below!
4. The proof is in the pudding.
The #1 way to tell if an SEO Agency is worth its salt is to review their success. A good SEO agency should be able to show the following:
- They haven’t put all of their eggs in one basket … Meaning they have diversified their keywords
- Are they able to get decent keywords to rank for their clients?
- And most importantly, ask them to show their analytics. If the keywords or keywords phrases they have helped their clients rank for do not show an increase in quality search traffic in Google analytics that is a serious problem.
Action Items & Takeaways
- Ask your SEO agency if they are a solid white hat SEO company and make sure they sign a document confirming that fact.
- Ask them to show the keywords that they have helped their clients rank for
- Ask them to show analytics that shows that show an increase in traffic to their client’s website due to SEO efforts
- Ask to see their editorial calendar plan. Any SEO company that says they are going help you rank, but doesn’t have a solid content plan is most likely not tell you the whole truth.
- Also, make sure to download the 25 Website must-haves for driving traffic leads and sales
