How Will They Plot Progress?

Any SEO company worth its weight should be able to send you an update or monthly report showing progress. As well as showing movements on the Google Search Engine Result pages for your chosen keywords, they should also be able to show what impact these keyword rankings are having on traffic and conversions.

The thing about reports is you need to be able to understand them. If you do not understand what progress is being made, how can you track whether the campaign is working? Ask for a meeting so you are clear what it is exactly you are tracking.

How Do You Know They Are Any Good?

Like any trade or service, you need to be able to trust the company you are hiring. Questions to ask yourself are, do they provide SEO or is this just one of many services they provide? Can they provide testimonials of similar clients they have obtained results for?

Neil from Sheffield SEO company Digital Impact Solutions said “A great idea is to ask your current colleagues and friends for recommendations. You will often find the same company mentioned a few times and it will allow you to get a truer picture of the company size, the kind of clients they take in and the results they get.”

Keyword Targeting Vs Page Targeting?

In the current world of machine learning and Google’s natural language processing, targeting keywords is more about a reporting tool, than the end goal. The aim of any SEO Campaign should not be ranking for set of words but measuring results. Whether this is someone buying from you, making a call, downloading a pdf, or filling in your contact us form, the aim should be for it to reach a goal.

Ranking no.1 for keywords, that do not bring any tangible results is a bit like fishing in the wrong pond. SEO is a form of marketing and it should be treated as so.

What Backlinking Strategies Will They Use?

One of the biggest changes in the SEO world over the last 10 years is link building or off-page optimisation. Like the rest of the SEO field, it has become a specialised subject and it is no longer acceptable to just blindly build links back to your website. The key to a successful campaign is relevancy to your niche and authority.

You need to be able to feel comfortable that the SEO carried out by the company will be done in an ethical way, that will not harm your trustworthiness in Googles eyes. Whilst bad links do not normally harm a website anymore, they are simply ignored. Which means paying a company for nothing.

Who Will Be Responsible For The Campaign?

For bigger agencies, trying to get hold of the actual person responsible for the work, can be a nightmare. Getting through to call centres or not having your calls returned can be a frustrating part of the project. Make sure you know who will be responsible for the work and get any contact details you can. In the world of digital tools, most agencies will have a project management tool or workflow tool for you to monitor progress and communicate with the right people.