How to choose an SEO company for your business

1. Your SEO company should rank for one or more SEO terms
2. Your SEO company should establish a clear understanding of the services provided
3. The services provided should be up to date to produce search engine visibility
4. Identify outdated practices and red flags that would indicate a risk to your website
5. Evaluate the quote for services against the value of generating one year of new clients

Your SEO company should rank for one or more SEO terms

The proof is in the pudding. Not all SEO companies will give you references or contact information for their previous clients-and they shouldn't have to. If an SEO company knows what they're doing they should be able to rank their own website for at least one or more key phrases.

In some cases, one keyword is all that's needed since many SEO companies consist of one person working from a home office. If they are ranked for a specific keyword that gives them a few new clients a month-that could be enough for a full office depending on who their clients are.

You can't judge a book by its cover but you can get a feeling for whether an SEO company is doing something right if their website is ranking in an industry that thrives on search engine visibility.

Your SEO company should establish a clear understanding of the services provided

There should be a clear communication between you and your consultant. In your first consultation, you should understand the service you're paying for and what to expect.

The level of understanding you have with your consultant contributes to the peace of mind knowing you made a good investment. If you understand how search engine optimization works you can gauge the expected performance of your website on a realistic timeline. A good SEO company will explain how they can get your company moving in the right direction.

The services provided should be up to date to produce search engine visibility

A reputable SEO company will initiate their services with a consultation about your website. One of the first questions asked would be what search terms do you want your website to be found for in the result pages.

Your website will be assessed and you would receive a quote on what it would cost each month to develop your website for specific key phrases.

Ask your consultant about the options available that will produce the best results for your business. Even if the best solution is already apparent, it's important to know what your options are in providing alternate sources of traffic.

Expect to receive an answer that includes the following influencing factors: Monthly volume; Keyword difficulty; Relevance. An adept expert assessing any website should be considering keyword options based on balancing the three influencing factors.

Expect a professional to make you aware of your options in determining more specific phrases that contribute to a more targeted source of traffic. Make sure you are informed about the expected volume a single key phrase represents as a monthly total of searches so you know what type of exposure to potential leads your website is receiving.

The process

A top strategy to competitive rankings is through long-form, evergreen content. This form of content has proven to be a high converting marketing option both onsite and offsite. A competitive inbound marketing strategy will include some form of an editorial calendar to publish quality written long-form evergreen articles.

Search engines have evolved to the point of using artificial intelligence in assigning rankings to websites. It makes many old practices outdated and leaves some aspects of white hat SEO extremely valuable. Link building is one aspect of SEO that needs to be exercised with caution and planned strategically.

The backlink profile of a website remains a large influencing factor in achieving competitive positions in the search results. The best strategy for backlinking is through natural backlinks that come from content being shared. Most SEO companies will employ alternative ways to get authority links that will help boost the ranking of your website.

Ask your SEO about their backlink strategy and what type of links they will be linking to your site. For example, The Official Backlinking Guide for 2019 details the many of the methods used by my SEO company Digital Ducats Inc. If you have a general knowledge of the strategies that are being used to get long-lasting results it's easier to identify a company who will help your business.

Identify outdated practices and red flags that would indicate a risk to your website

One of the problems with the SEO industry is the amount of bad experiences companies have had in dealing with companies or consultants that did not achieve results. Over the last 15 years, SEO has changed dramatically which has outdated a lot of companies methods for improving search engine visibility. So what are the things that used to work and no longer attribute to a good website ranking?

Directory submissions

Linking to directories is still a common practice but is only effective if performed correctly. There shouldn't be any excessive linking to directories. Links should only come from reputable websites.

There was a time when linking to as many directories as possible would result in a high ranking but an increase in the number of low-quality directories put a damper on how metrics were transferred to websites. Google caught on to the practice and devalued the links to reflect to assign a more accurate ranking for websites with quality content.

Keyword Stuffing

A red flag to be aware of is the practice of placing the same keyword too many times on any one page. This is known as keyword stuffing and will trigger a penalty that will send your website to the outer realms of a search result. If a page is stuffed too severely it could result in the complete loss of visibility in the search engines.

Private Blog Networks (PBN's)

PBN's can be very useful to an SEO company if they are done correctly. They are considered foul play if caught on Google's radar but many companies will build entire functional websites that publish content for readers-but use their posts to build links to websites.

Google clearly states that websites found to participate in linking schemes will be penalized. It could be an issue you can avoid if you know ahead of time the backlink strategy of your SEO expert.

Evaluate the quote for services against the value of generating one year of new clients

Evaluate the quote for SEO services by considering the value a new client represents. SEO services are aimed to improve traffic and search engine visibility for the purpose of generating leads for new clients. How much would a new client spend in a year with your company? How many new clients would an increase in traffic supply for your business? How many new clients would it take to break even your investment after one year?

The development of a website is progressive and cumulative so your results tend to improve over time. As your company becomes more developed in its niche it establishes multiple veins of traffic that are continually driving visitors to your website. You can't evaluate the value of traffic based on a month of development because it may take more than a month to get your website to a point where it is ranks competitively. A fair assessment of your SEO investment is to look a year in advance and create the ideal goal you want to achieve for your company.