8 Tips on How to Choose an SEO Company

Keeping up with the ever-changing rules of SEO can be a time consuming job for the web owner or anyone.  To get away from those headaches, many choose to hire a company that specializes in SEO to do all their SEO work for them.  Maybe you’ve decided that you want to hire one as well because you either don’t have the time, the knowledge or just want to use a professional.  So how do you know whom to hire out of the thousands of companies available?

Avoid Lists of Top Companies

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First off, don’t automatically go for a company listed on the many “TOP SEO” lists.  While many of these companies may be good SEO companies, inclusion on these lists is usually purchased, instead of anyone actually doing a valid comparison to see how they stack up against other SEO companies.  Do valid research to find the right company for you.

Use Their Own Methods

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Since you want a good SEO company, start out by looking at the company’s own practices and methods it uses for its own website.  This will help you determine if the company’s ideas for SEO work.  Look at their page rankings, check their backlink counts, if they are involved in community engagement, have domain authority, effectively use social media and more.  Make sure they are using the “Practice what they preach” method of using their own recommended suggestions for getting the best SEO.

Make Contact with References

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Ask for a list of references that you can actually contact.  If you see logos for companies, they claim to have worked for, call the companies and ask.  Don’t automatically trust that a site full of testimonials are legit, because testimonials are easy to fake and post.  Talk to people and find out what they liked or didn’t like about the company.

Consider Reputation

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Once you’ve narrowed your list of choices down, do a search on the companies looking for their online reputation.  You don’t want the reputation of the company you choose to affect your site (scummy site association tends to lead people to thinking your site is scummy too).  Make sure people aren’t talking negative about the company you are considering.

Hire Legit to Avoid Scams

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Be careful about who you hire.  While plenty of legitimate SEO businesses do exist, there are still many more who are out to scam you out of your money.  Look for the company on the Better Business Bureau site and other sites to help decide if the company is listed and operates professionally.  Notice if you see the company mentioned anywhere for taking money and not delivering a service.

Transparency and Ethics

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Check the company for transparency about all their practices, methods and abilities.  Talk about ethics.  You want a company who using white hat methods over black hat, because they can affect your site as well.

Not Stuck in the Past

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Educate yourself on what the latest SEO techniques are.  You don’t have to know how to use them but know what they are called and a little about them.  You want to hire a company who is using the latest methods available, not one that is stuck on the older less effective methods.  The world of SEO changes rapidly and you need the company that is handling your SEO to be able to keep up so your site gains the most benefits from the service you are paying for.

Proven is Always Better

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Experience is worth more, so plan to pay more for a company who has lots of experience and a proven track record.  SEO is a competitive world in pricing but good service, experience, and proven skills are worth paying more for.  Cheap is not always you friend.

The world of SEO is a “buyers beware” situation, so do your own homework and background research on any company before hiring them in order to protect the reputation on your website and get the most for your money.

About the Author

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Kieran Fowler is a digital marketer. In his spare time, he loves to blog about the latest online marketing trends. Click to learn more about Webeden.