When to Hire an SEO Company: 6 Questions You Need to Ask Before Hiring SEO Services

Even though 75% of businesses invest in search engine optimization (SEO), many question whether they should hire an SEO company. While an SEO agency can offer a variety of advantages, it’s essential for your team to determine if hiring an SEO company is the best move for your business. That’s why, before you make the investment and hire SEO services, you want to ask these six questions. If you’ve already decided that you want to hire an SEO company, but need to find the right agency, consider WebFX.

We offer award-winning SEO services, plus created more than $3 billion in revenue for our clients in the past five years. Call us at 888-601-5359 or contact us online today to learn more! Want to watch a video with tips for choosing an SEO agency? We’ve got you covered.

Keep reading to learn about some common SEO questions for hiring an agency!

1. Do you use other digital marketing strategies?

A complete, 360-degree approach to digital marketing can help your business maximize its online success. That’s why many companies not only invest in SEO, but also supporting SEO services like voice search optimization, video marketing, and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Your company’s decision to invest in a comprehensive web marketing strategy can have a tremendous influence on whether you hire an SEO company to not only manage your SEO strategy, but also coordinate it with your other Internet marketing tactics. So, does your business use other digital marketing strategies?

Yes: If you hire an SEO company that offers a suite of digital marketing solutions, you can maximize the impact of your online marketing strategies. They can help your business develop a cohesive plan that coordinates your efforts, which can lead to bigger (and better) results for your company.

No: Even though SEO is a powerful strategy by itself, you can amplify its results by investing in additional web marketing strategies. Research the value of strategies like content marketing, social media marketing, and even email marketing and see how they can help your business.

2. Do you want to use SEO as a long-term strategy for generating revenue?

SEO is a proven digital marketing strategy for generating long-term revenue. Our custom SEO strategies, for example, have helped create more than $3 billion in revenue for our clients. They’ve also provided clients, like Reynolds Building Solutions, with qualified, high-value leads. As your team researches the possibility of hiring an SEO company, you need to think about your business strategy. If your company sees SEO as a long-term, ongoing investment, then partnering with one of the best SEO companies can help your team maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your SEO.

So, do you want to use SEO as a long-term strategy for generating revenue?

Yes: For many businesses, it makes sense to use SEO as a long-term, ongoing strategy for generating revenue, because that’s what SEO does. Hiring an SEO company helps your business earn more from SEO by providing you access to advanced marketing tech, experienced SEO specialists, and more.

No: If your company doesn’t plan to make an ongoing investment into SEO, reconsider your strategy. SEO requires several months to show results. Looking at SEO as a short-term, one-time thing sets your team up for failure, which doesn’t help you or your business.

3. Can you do SEO yourself?

Like any other digital marketing strategy, SEO requires resources for in-house management. A few examples include:

• Talent
• Technology
• Time

For many businesses, talent and time provide the biggest challenge. You don’t have a massive marketing team, and they don’t have an open schedule. While they can discuss and plan an SEO strategy, it’s a challenge to implement and manage that strategy on an ongoing basis. Even companies with an extensive amount of resources for online marketing can discover challenges when managing their strategy in-house. A competitive industry, a lack of specialized team members, and more can make overseeing your SEO strategy internally a headache.

So, can you do SEO yourself or does your company have limited resources for managing your SEO strategy?

Yes: A lot of companies, especially small-to-midsized businesses (SMBs), struggle to provide their staff with all the resources necessary to market a company. From talent to technology, it’s a challenge. That’s where hiring an SEO company can help, as they provide all the resources needed.

No: If you’re part of an established business with plenty of resources for managing an SEO strategy, then you’re probably looking to hire an SEO company for another reason. Expertise, for example, can motivate a lot of brands to partner with a reputable SEO agency.

4. Do SEO companies work in your industry?

A competitive, as well as saturated, online market can make succeeding at SEO difficult for your company. Even if you have minimal competition offline, you may discover a host of competitors when it comes to search results on Google, Bing, and other search engines. When that happens, your business needs to make a decision about how to compete.

You can approach the challenge in-house or hire an SEO company that specializes in your industry. While your team may save money upfront working on the problem internally, an SEO agency can help your business resolve it faster, which can lead to a quicker ROI.

So, do SEO companies work in your industry, and is it a competitive market?

Yes: For enterprises, as well as SMBs, a competitive market can make SEO a tremendous challenge. If you want to compete, you need the industry’s best. That’s why you hire an SEO company, which provides you with a competitive strategy, plus the talent and tech to succeed.

No: If your company operates in a niche market, you have a unique advantage when it comes to SEO. In some cases, however, your business may encounter other challenges, like an overloaded staff that doesn’t have the time or the experience to optimize your site, which is when an SEO agency can help.

5. Do you have the budget to hire SEO services?

Before your business can consider hiring an SEO company, you need to look at your budget. While your funds may cover the price of low-cost SEO services, which often cost $100 or less per month, they rarely provide the results you want, like an increase in sales or quote requests. That’s why you want to compare your budget to the price of affordable SEO services. This comparison can help your team see if it’s feasible to hire SEO services. If it’s not, you still have options for launching and creating a successful SEO strategy.

So, does your business have the budget to hire an SEO company?

Yes: When company decision-makers are willing to invest in professional SEO services, you want to hire an SEO company. With a reputable and trusted SEO agency, your business can take your SEO strategy to the next level. You can accomplish and earn more, which impacts your bottom line.

No: If your business doesn’t have the funds to hire an SEO company, you can take steps to maximize the performance of your strategy in-house. For example, you can use free online training courses or hire an SEO consultant to learn more about SEO and how to improve your approach.

6. Does your current SEO strategy under deliver when it comes to results?

No matter your industry, you want SEO to provide results. Companies want to do more than rank number one in search results. They want those rankings to drive quote requests, product sales, phone calls, and more. If your SEO strategy doesn’t do that, then you have a problem. That’s why many businesses will hire an SEO company, like WebFX, because we understand that your focus goes beyond a number one ranking but to your bottom line as well. Even strategies with average performance can benefit from the expertise of an agency or consultant. That third-party perspective can help your company uncover new opportunities, which can maximize your strategy’s performance.

So, does your current SEO strategy underdeliver?

Yes: While SEO does take time to deliver results, your company should start to see results after six months. If that doesn’t happen (and your team can’t find anything wrong with your strategy), consider hiring an SEO company or investing in SEO audit services. Both can help you discover and fix SEO issues.

No: Many businesses invest in SEO services because their strategy underperforms. Some, however, want to hire an SEO company to maximize the performance of a so-so SEO strategy because of operating in a competitive industry. Either way, an SEO agency can help your company earn more from SEO.

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Ready to hire a top SEO company for SMBs?

With more than 1020 testimonials, plus a client recommendation score that exceeds the industry average by 488%, WebFX is a trusted SEO agency for SMBs. When you hire our SEO company, you receive a dedicated account manager, plus the expertise of more than 500 SEO specialists. Discover how our award-winning agency can help your business grow by browsing our SEO services today. Or, if you’re ready to chat with our team about your company, you can contact us online or call us at 888-601-5359 to request a free quote!