SEO is a digital marketing strategy that improves your visibility in search results for relevant search terms, driving more qualified traffic to your website.

SEO helps users and search engines understand your content. It also enhances and demonstrates your content’s value and its relevance for targeted search terms.

SEO encompasses many different techniques, which fall into three categories:

• On-page SEO, which includes optimizations made on your page itself, such as adding keywords and visual elements
• Off-page SEO, which focuses on factors outside your website, such as the number of links a page receives from other websites
• Technical SEO, which refers to backend website optimizations such as improving page speed and site organization

SEO is a long-term, ongoing process. The timeline varies, but most businesses start seeing significant results after about six months. To maintain rankings, you need to perform ongoing optimizations.

SEO agencies like WebFX can handle all aspects of your SEO. A good SEO company can conduct SEO audits, create an SEO strategy, complete optimizations, run tests and refine your campaigns, and track and report results.

A full-service digital marketing agency works with other channels as well, such as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, and content marketing.

After you’ve decided that SEO is the strategy for you, the next question is whether you should hire an SEO agency to do the heavy lifting for you. You may consider implementing an SEO campaign in-house, but there are a few things to consider before making the decision.

Is anyone on your team knowledgeable about SEO?

SEO has a lot of moving parts. There is on-page SEO and off-page SEO, along with many strategies that fall under each category. SEO isn’t a “set-it-and-forget-it” strategy, rather it must be consistently cared for and updated.

That being said, implementing and keeping up with an SEO campaign on your own can be quite a daunting task. The task becomes more difficult if you’re not familiar with SEO techniques and how to perform them.

If there is no one on your team that is knowledgeable in SEO, and you’ve never implemented an SEO campaign on your own, your best bet will be to hire an organic SEO agency.

They know the ins and outs of an effective campaign and will be able to get all your strategies implanted for you. They’ll also continuously update your campaign so that the only thing you have to concentrate on is running your business. (and dealing with more conversions because of your new SEO campaign!)

Do you have the time and resources to learn SEO?

If you’re not convinced that you need to hire an SEO digital agency, you should consider other options, but not without considering their potential pitfalls. If you’re considering keeping your SEO campaign in-house, you’ll have to consider the logistics.

As mentioned, SEO has a lot of moving parts. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes tactics that work together to make a successful SEO campaign. That means that in order to create and implement a successful campaign, you’ll need to be well-versed in all things SEO.

Do you have the time and important resources that will teach you or another employee how to successfully carry out an SEO campaign?

If you’re short on time, and can’t afford the learning resources, analytics tools, or other programs used in an SEO campaign, it might be best to leave it to an agency.

Do you have time to implement an SEO campaign?

SEO is so successful because it is a strategy that is continuously updated and improved on your website to ensure that you’re always staying a step of your competition. Whether that be with content or keywords, SEO is a strategy that you can’t leave alone.

There is a lot of fine-tuning, that goes on behind the scenes, and committing to an SEO campaign while running a business can be extremely difficult.

To have a successful SEO campaign, you have to give 100%, and if you’re running a business, that’s merely impossible. Your SEO campaign should get all the attention it deserves to create amazing results for your company.

Hiring an SEO marketing agency is your best bet if you don’t have the time to dedicate to your campaign.

Do you need help with SEO? Hiring an agency is the way to go.

SEO costs vary widely depending on factors such as the services used and the project’s scope. Typically, SEO costs between $1500 and $5000 per month.

Most users begin their Internet sessions on a search engine and only look at the first few results for their search. So, to get potential customers to your website, you need to rank well for the relevant keywords they’re searching.

While you can learn SEO yourself, doing so is a long process and may not provide optimal results. SEO agencies have the skills, experience, team, and resources to maximize your return on investment from SEO. Working with a professional SEO company also frees you up to spend more time on other aspects of your business.

There are hundreds of thousands of SEO agencies around the world. This can make it extremely difficult, and even frustrating at times to find an agency that fits your company well.

However, we have a few pointers to make the selection process as simple as possible.

1. Do your research

Doing your research is our number one tip because it’s one of the most important things you can do to help you decide on the perfect agency.

What is there to research when searching for SEO agency services? A lot!

You should try to get as much information on each agency as possible before choosing them, so that you know everything there is to know before hiring them to carry out your marketing campaign.

Before putting an SEO company on your shortlist of agencies you’re interested in, you should take a deep dive into their website to see what you can find.

What services do they offer? If you are interested in an SEO campaign, you’ll absolutely benefit from pairing other marketing strategies with it. If that’s your plan, be sure to research the other services that they offer. If they’re a full-service digital advertising firm, they’ll offer everything from PPC to web design, and everything in between.

This is a huge benefit because it simplifies everything when you can use the same agency to do all your marketing. So, if you like them for what their site says about their SEO, research their other offerings as well.

Not only should you research each SEO optimization company that you’re interested in, but you should also do your research on SEO and other marketing strategies ahead of your search. This will give you an idea of what to look for in each agency’s offerings and help you to better understand how much each strategy costs, what you can expect from a campaign, and more.

Think about each agency’s location too. If you want to work with an SEO firm in the USA (like WebFX), for example, use that as a filter for finding potential agencies.

2. Read the reviews and testimonials

Reviews and testimonials are two ways that you can learn about how other clients have liked the services that an agency provides.

Reviews are what you’ll find on platforms like Google my Business, Yelp, and other third-party sites. These are when previous clients voluntarily leave comments about their interactions, experiences, and services rendered from a specific agency.

They’re extremely helpful because when you read them, you can feel great knowing that the person writing the review has been in your shoes and came out satisfied with the results (or not so much). The great part about reviews is that they can be both positive or negative, so they can really help you in your search to find the best SEO agency.

Testimonials are like reviews but are framed a little differently. Testimonials are often found on specific agency websites and speak to the great results they’ve received from an SEO company. They differ from reviews because testimonials are always positive.

You can still learn a lot from testimonials, though, by the number they have on their site. The best SEO agencies will have hundreds of testimonials on their website.

3. Consider transparency

When you’re looking for the perfect SEO marketing firm, one of the best things to look for is their transparency. In terms of pricing, transparency is extremely valued to potential clients, but also transparency in terms of relationship, expectations, and more.

If the agency you’re considering doesn’t post their pricing on their website, they may be hiding hidden costs, or even have inconsistent pricing. When it comes to a transparent relationship, you want a web SEO agency that will be up front with you about results, realistic expectations, and your campaign as a whole.

4. Consider budget

Budget is one of the most important things to consider when looking to hire an SEO optimization company.

Though you may not be sure exactly what agency you want to hire, one thing you should be certain of is your budget. Set it early in the process so you have less room to wiggle — and stick with the budget you choose.

Before setting a soft budget and a hard budget, you should do your research to get a realistic figure for how much it will cost to implement the services you’re interested in for your campaign. The worst way to set a budget is to set it with no grasp of how much SEO actually costs.

You’ll want to do your research, so you can have a realistic idea of how much you’ll probably need to spend, so that there are no surprises.

5. Ask if they have experience with your industry

As you’re chatting with SEO agencies on the phone, one of the most important questions you can ask is whether or not they’ve worked with your industry before.

It’s not a deal breaker if they haven’t but it’s always a plus if they have, so that you can be sure they know all the nuances and details to watch out for in your industry.

6. Consider their expertise and how long they’ve been in business

Another thing to strongly consider when choosing a professional SEO agency is their expertise, and how long they’ve been in business.

If they’re a start-up marketing agency and they’ve only worked with one other client, you may want to wait until they’re more established to consider working with them.

You’ll get the best results from agencies that know what they’re doing — ones that have been in business for ten years or more. That’s not to say that younger companies can’t handle a fantastic SEO campaign, but the longer an agency has been alive and healthy, the better for your business.