90% of internet users go through the search engines to find what they are looking for on the web. This figure more than explains the importance of Search Engine Optimization. If you are a website owner, then you know the magic that search engine traffic can do to your bottomline. To make your website search engine friendly, you may need a professional effort. But how do you choose the SEO company? This is the focus of this article.
Choosing an SEO company, just like choosing any other service provider, is not a tough task if you are looking in the right places and asking the right questions.
Here is the most comprehensive checklist to help you get the task done:
- How Is Their Own Website – If there is any passion, it will show. See if they have done a good job on their own website. Does the website tell you everything about them? You need to look very closely as this will tell you the potential of the company you are hiring.
- Go Through Their Previous Success Stories – Have they been in the business for long? Who all have they worked for? Make sure the company is not an overnight company and comes with enough relevant experience to handle your site too. Going through their portfolio and the projects that they have worked on, will give you clear picture, as to whether the company can deliver on its promise.
- Do They Provide Case Studies Of Their Successful Ventures – Is it just words, or do they provide detailed study of the successful projects they have taken up. A case study will tell you exactly how they worked on a site, and helped their client reach the target he was aiming for. You can even do a search yourself to know how their earlier clients feature on the search engines.
- Make A Note Of Their Affiliations And Memberships – Are they certified professionals? Are they associated with the respected authorities in the business? Have they been recognised by the top most authorities in the arena? The honest and honourable companies in the market will be backed by various accreditations, because you are as good as the company you keep.
- Form a Basis of Contact with Them – Interacting with the real people will let you judge their levels of knowledge and professionalism, and most importantly, their expertise levels. Communicating with them will help you understand their style of working, approach to different campaigns, their way of project management and how they stay ahead of the algorithms. You can then decide, if it suits you or not.
- Go Through The Career Section – To get to know the kind of people they are, find out who they hire. Going through their career section, you will understand the sort of quality staff they hire and their work culture. Is it in harmony with your work culture? The answer to this question will significantly help your decision.
- Packages Offered By Them – What sort of service packages do they offer? Are these comprehensive enough? Are they the latest in services and confirm with the latest industry standards? You need to get your value for money.
- What Sort Of References/Testimonials Do They Have – What do people say about the company? Do they have video testimonials, complete with person and company name of the referrer? In fact, why go only by the testimonials on their site — check out online for negative comments on consumer forums or social media sites. Don’t worry, if it’s there it will show up on first few pages of search engines.
- Level Of Involvement They Need – How much time and involvement is needed from your end? Once you have sorted the goals and the ways to achieve them, will the company function on its own, or will you need to constantly monitor them?
- What Other Marketing Services Do They Offer – In this age of active internet marketing tools like social media, it is important that you hire someone, who can meet all your requirements.
In conclusion, do not pre-judge any company by just word of mouth or the look of their website. Dig deeper with the checklist above and you will never fail in making the smartest decision.
With the search engines changing their algorithms, it is definitely the SEO Company’s responsibility to ensure that your site is always up to date with these changes. You should also ask for periodic reports to monitor the SEO campaign. Just remember, SEO is something that needs time and patience. So, it is important to have achievable goals and reasonable expectations.
