These days, it is important for your small business to be optimized for search engines. The average person spends nearly 7 hours a day online, scrolling through social media, looking for products and services they want. Across the globe, Google tackles about 3.8 million searches per minute. Unless your business truly stands out to the search engine’s algorithm, it’s likely to be buried under pages and pages of search results that do. And if people can’t find your business on Google, most of the time that means they won’t find your business.
Search engine algorithms can be difficult to understand and use to optimize a website. Most small business owners do not have the time to dedicate to learning these strategies and so it can be beneficial to hire an SEO company. This will free up the business owner to focus on running their company.
Types of SEO Services
There are various types of SEO services that agencies can offer, so it is helpful to know what services are available before choosing an agency. Some common types of SEO services include optimizing website content, improving website design, and developing link building campaigns. Here are some SEO services you might need:
SEO Audit Services
An SEO audit is a review of your website’s current SEO by a professional. They will show you how well your website ranks in relevant Google searches, and what your strengths and weaknesses are. This can help you focus on updates that will be effective, instead of wasting time on things that aren’t necessary.
Local SEO Service
If you own a business with a physical location, optimizing your local SEO should be a top priority. Local SEO is all about using keywords to draw local customers to your business through Google searches. The first step is creating a Google My Business listing for your location. Other effective local SEO strategies include _______.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a popular tool used by SEO experts that tracks and reports website traffic, showing the days of most and least activity, the pages most visited, the popular keywords relevant to the business, and more.
On-Page and Off-Page SEO
On-page SEO is based on what is on the page, such as exciting content, relevant keywords, and images. Off-page SEO is based on things that are not on the page, such as links from other websites.
Off-page SEO is about creating connections with other websites to increase brand recognition. This can be done by having other well-established websites link back to your website or mention your brand.
Technical SEO
How user-friendly is your website? Technical SEO covers aspects like website speed and mobile friendliness to make sure your website provides a good experience for users. A technical SEO expert can help to make your site smoother and easier to use, which could bring in more customers.
Content Marketing
People in the SEO industry commonly say that “content is king.” This is because creating content that is interesting and informative is appealing to both search engine algorithms and human visitors to your website. A way to use content marketing to improve your SEO is to maintain a blog or create landing pages with clear, attention-grabbing information.
This text explains how adding relevant keywords to your content can help improve your page ranking on search engines. By creating content that people want to read and spend time on, you can improve your ranking. This is often part of on-page SEO, but some companies specialize in content marketing to help with this.
9 Tips To Choose the Right SEO Services Company
Once you identify which specific SEO services you require, you can begin searching for a company that can provide them. However, it can be difficult to know where to start and what qualifications to look for in an SEO services company. This process can be made much easier by following these ten tips.
#1: Set Specific Goals
Before you can decide what you want from an SEO company, you need to figure out what your goals are. Do you want a website that looks professional and represents your business well? Do you want to be the first search result that comes up when people search for your type of business? Do you need more customers in order to grow your business? Once you know what you want to achieve, you can start looking for an SEO company that can help you reach your goals.
After finding your goal, research companies to see if they would be a good fit. Checking to see if they have past customers with similar experiences can help. For example, if your goal is to improve your reputation, look for an SEO company specializing in that. This way you can be sure the company understands your goals and can help you meet them.
#2: Think About More Than Price
It may be tempting to go with the cheapest SEO company you can find, however as a business person you know that this is not always the best option. Often times, the cheapest option is not the best option.
Look for an SEO company that offers the most services within your budget instead of just looking for the cheapest option. Just because a company offers affordable SEO services doesn’t mean that those services are right for you. Be sure to look closely at what services are offered before making a decision.
Consider it a sound investment. You’re essentially paying for peace of mind when it comes to your SEO. And as your SEO improves, you’ll find your business growing in popularity organically. With more money coming in, you’ll be able to expand- for example, opening another location or hiring more staff. The benefits and increased potential for earnings that come with increased customers makes paying for SEO services a wise decision.
#3: Ask About Their Knowledge of the Industry
A sound understanding of the history of the search industry is essential for making good decisions. The assumption is that you are not just hiring an SEO firm for a one-time SEO effort. You should want an SEO firm to provide ongoing value.
A street-smart SEO is needed because things are always changing and ranking algorithms are being constantly shaped. Understanding critical points in past updates will help you see what is changing in the future.
At the very least, an SEO should be able to give you an explanation of why sudden changes in the market, like Google’s Florida update, had such an effect on so many website owners.
If they can’t, move on.
#4: Differentiate SEO from PPC and SMO
This text is about the differences between Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC), and Social Media Optimization (SMO). SEO is about optimizing your website for search engines, while PPC is about paying for ads on search engines. SMO is about optimizing your social media presence.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic”) search results. This text is discussing the various marketing forms that involve the internet, and how SEO firms can help improve a website’s ranking in search engines.
Some SEO firms try to trick their clients by buying temporary listings to make it appear as if their clients are ranking in particular positions. This is not fair if the clients do not know how to tell the difference between the different types of listings.
If you don’t have time for a primer on these topics, here’s the gist: you want listings that don’t appear on a pastel-colored background or immediately under anything involving the word “sponsored.” Finally, make sure these guys stick to major engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN.
#5: Discuss Report Types
Any SEO firm you consider working with should be willing to provide periodic reports on their work. In the past, ranking reports were a great way to show overall progress in terms of rankings. However, today ranking reports are generally not considered to be accurate or helpful by search engines.
As a site owner, you should use analytical tools to review traffic from search engines and see a significant increase in the volume of visitors referred from search.
An SEO company won’t be able to show you another company’s live web data, which is understandable. However, if you have access to any of their recommendations, be sure to ask for some general numbers. Don’t base your opinion on percentage based increases, either. A new site with no search traffic can easily show an 800% increase in each successive month.
#6: Discuss Periodic Maintenance & Ongoing Optimization
If they aren’t, it may be time to look for a new firm. SEO is always changing so your optimization should too. If your SEO firm isn’t willing to update your site regularly, it may be time for a new one.
Releasing updates on a monthly basis might be too frequent for some markets, in which case a quarterly release schedule would be more effective while still being beneficial for both the company and the client.
Be sure to ask to see what changes were made and what caused them to be made.
I have seen firms that have downloaded and changed the dates on pages monthly, and have kept billing the client for their services. Nothing was being done for the client.
#7: Who Owns the Work
You do not want to work with SEO firms who are simply trying to game the engines by creating “doorway pages” or new content all over your site. This is bad practice, and these firms usually make these pages disappear when you stop working with them.
When paying for search engine optimization (SEO) services, make sure that you will be able to keep all of the work that is done on your behalf. This will ensure that you can continue to improve your web site even if you decide to cancel your contract with the SEO company.
The firm you are considering should not be proposing the creation of hundreds of pages for SEO purposes. If they are, you should move on to another candidate.
#8: Discuss the Meaning of “Success”
One of the most difficult parts of SEO is demonstrating success. Success is typically either improving the ranking of a website for certain search terms or getting more traffic from organic searches.
Be sure to discuss exactly how success will be determined with the firm. Make sure the firm backs up their claims of an X% increase in traffic, or X number of top ten rankings, etc.
If you’d like to improve your website’s ranking for relevant search terms, be sure to discuss those terms with us first. For example, if you sell laptops in San Diego, you shouldn’t have to settle for less relevant terms like “San Diego California Laptop Store” or “Laptops for Sale in San Diego CA”.
The text is saying that if a company is only trying to rank you for easy terms, they aren’t worth your time. They should be challenging you and working hard to get you results.
#9 Get it All in Writing
It is essential that you have a written agreement so that there is no confusion about what was agreed upon. If there is a problem with the product or service, you will be able to point to the contract to show what was supposed to be delivered. This will help resolve the issue more quickly.
Aside from the SEO firm being incredibly arrogant, it is horrible business practice not to have a contract in writing. The factors that you require need to be in there. If they are not, you should request an amendment or custom contract. If the SEO firm is serious about your business, they will do what it takes to ensure that the contract meets your requirements.
The contract is your best way to protect yourself against bad business practices and falling short of expectations, so be sure to get everything in writing.
Conclusion
I’ve experience with a lot of different types of problems, from all different perspectives. I can promise you that the best way to protect yourself is to have strong legal documentation. Beyond that, the best way to prevent problems is to communicate with people regularly, be clear about what you expect from them, and hold them accountable.
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