Things to look for when choosing a SEO company

When looking for a SEO (search engine optimisation) company there are a few things to look for to make sure the company you are dealing with are providing you with what you need.

SEO companies should never guarantee positions.

If the company you approach guarantees specific positions then steer clear. No one can guarantee what position the website will obtain as the algorithms that search engines use to rank pages are a closely guarded secret. Whilst SEOs generally how to improve search engine rankings, the exact positions cannot be foretold.

Transparency

All SEO companies should be able to go into great detail about the methods they use to optimise your website and talk you through the processes their businesses follow. While the services may vary depending on the client, the core processes should remain the same (see what SEO consists of). If a company will not disclose how they intend to optimise your website then they should have a valid reason. More often than not they will be using black hat methods to attempt to improve your rankings and could end up doing more harm than good.

Are they trying to sell set packages?

Search engines are constantly improving their algorithms to improve the quality of the search engine results. Over time this has lead to SEO becoming a lot more complex than it used to be. SEO companies offering set packages will most likely be automating services and will not be offering services tailored to the needs of your website.

Questions

By questioning the SEO Company you should be able to get a feeling about how they work. By asking some tricky questions you can better understand the level of service you can expect to be provided. If you aren’t sure what you should be asking then have a look at our questions to ask a prospective SEO company.

Reporting

What kinds of reporting do they offer if any? Reporting is very important when it comes to search engine optimisation. Make sure your SEO Company offers in-depth reports on a regular basis to list what work has been done and also the improvements they have made to the rankings. Website analytics should also be offered to provide a more comprehensive look at the website statistics.

Referrals

If you are still unsure, make sure that you ask for referrals from existing clients. Other companies will be able to give you an insight into how the SEO Company worked with them. If the SEO Company has provided good work to these businesses they will be happy to talk about it.