How to choose the best SEO Company

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You’ve done it. You’re ready to hit launch on your website after months of painstaking work. However, managing a website does not stop there. To make sure your site continues to grow, you’ll want to implement a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to establish your visibility in the search engine results pages (SERPs). That’s where partnering with an SEO company can be beneficial.

An SEO company can help manage time-consuming tasks like keyword research, content creation, link building, and technical SEO, leaving you to focus on other aspects of your business.

Although you may be tempted to pick the first SEO company that pops up in the SERPs, it’s essential to find the right SEO service provider that will work to understand your industry and which SEO services will be the most beneficial to your website. But how do you find the right fit for you?

 

What-Is-An-SEO-Company

An SEO company provides SEO services to help improve the visibility of a website in the SERPs. Many companies find that they don’t have the time needed to create and execute an effective SEO strategy, so they will partner with an SEO company to help them optimize their website(s) to gain more visibility in the SERPs.

What does an SEO company do?

What-Does-An-SEO-Company-Do

An SEO company’s primary goal is to improve a site’s visibility in the SERPs. This leads to more traffic and hopefully more conversions. They do this by optimizing your site and content so it is compliant with search engine guidelines. The more optimized your site is, the more likely search engines will rank it.

SEO companies offer keyword research, link building, technical SEO, and content creation services to optimize websites. Traditionally, SEO companies audit your site first to understand what is working well and what needs to be improved. Then, they recommend the services they think are most beneficial to your site.

 

What are SEO Services?

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SEO services are those offered by SEO agencies to website owners that are intended to increase a website’s visibility and organic search traffic. Search engines have guidelines that all websites should follow to increase their chances of ranking. SEO agencies are proficient in these guidelines and understand how to work with them to create more viable traffic for your website.

It’s important to note that no two SEO campaigns are alike. Agencies that offer “cookie-cutter” SEO solutions can either be unsuccessful or damaging to your business.

You need a custom solution because everything about your situation is unique, such as your:

  • Website
  • Competition
  • Industry and niche
  • Goals and objectives
  • Products and services
  • Brand’s history with SEO
  • Position in the marketplace
  • Complimentary marketing efforts
  • And a litany of other reasons that require personalization.

What SEO services should your SEO company offer?

 

What-Services-Thinking

Knowing what SEO services your site needs can be overwhelming. Understanding what an SEO agency offers can help you decide which services are most beneficial to your website.

Generally, SEO services include, but are not limited to:

  • Keyword research
  • Competitor analysis
  • Auditing services
  • Link building (or off-page optimization)
  • Local SEO services
  • Keyword rank tracking services
  • Ongoing SEO optimization services
  • SEO monthly reporting

Every SEO agency is different. Some may include all SEO services, while others may only offer link building packages. So you must choose a company that provides the SEO services you require. Below are some standard services and descriptions you’ll encounter when comparing SEO companies.

 

KEYWORD RESEARCH SERVICES

 

Keyword research services provide the intent behind a search query. By researching the terms a searcher uses to find your site, you can strategically place them throughout your website. This strategy shows search engines that you know what you’re talking about and deserve to rank higher in the SERPs. Other benefits include:

  • Understanding keyword trends
  • Growing organic traffic
  • Producing relevant content
  • Attracting qualified consumers
  • Gaining market insights

However, you should consider that not all keywords are made the same. There are four types of keywords:

  • Informational: Broad keywords that don’t necessarily help with conversions.
  • Navigational: Keywords that pertain to a specific company or brand name.
  • Commercial: Keywords that center around a product or service.
  • Transactional: Keywords that show intent to buy a product or service.

Which keyword type has its place on your website? All of them! Keyword research services can help identify which keywords your site is targeting well and which your site should be targeting next.

 

SEO AUDITING SERVICES

 

Your website comprises many moving parts, including technical, on-page, and off-page SEO. An SEO audit inspects these different aspects of your website to determine optimization issues. An audit looks at the following items (but is not limited to):

  • Site structure
  • Technical errors
  • Keyword targeting
  • Search engine indexing
  • Page speed
  • Duplicate content issues
  • Link structure

SEO audits are extensive and can reveal a lot about your site. Some benefits of conducting an audit include:

  • Improving your site’s performance.
  • Remedying any SEO practices that penalize your site.
  • Discovering which keywords you rank for.
  • Understanding what your competitors are doing.

Like competitor audits, businesses should run SEO audits multiple times a year to ensure their site is optimized. Search engines update their guidelines constantly, and SEO audits can help you stay compliant.

 

LINK BUILDING SERVICES

 

Link building services, or off-page optimization, involve actions that directly impact search rankings, even though they were implemented outside of your website. To rank, search engines look at the technical aspects of your site, as well as the site’s expertise, authority, and trustworthiness (E-A-T).

Websites can increase their E-A-T by obtaining backlinks, or “votes” of confidence, from other authoritative websites. When a website gains numerous backlinks from relevant, authoritative sites, search engines are more likely to view your site as an authority and, therefore, more deserving of being in the SERPs.

Google prioritizes users — this is seen in its algorithm and webmaster guidelines. More and more, Google wants to serve relevant content to searchers, so they continue to use the search engine. Backlinks help tell Google which sites are relevant to a search query, and which sites are not. Therefore, this reinforces the importance for site editors to choose backlinks from relevant, authoritative sites with good reputations.

 

KEYWORD RANK TRACKING

 

Keyword rank tracking checks the keyword positions a website ranks for in the SERPs. Rank tracking tools (like Google Search Console) check current rankings and historical data and allow SEOs to determine keyword trends and data.

Keyword tracking helps owners monitor their site’s performance using their most important keywords. By tracking keywords, website owners can discover:

  • Which queries people are using to find their site.
  • New keywords their site should rank for.
  • Keywords that have dropped in rankings.

Tracking keywords is also helpful in monitoring competitors and their SEO tactics. You can understand which keywords they are ranking for, their best content, and how to outperform them.

SEO COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

 

An SEO competitor analysis involves comparing SEO tactics between two or more websites in the same industry or niche. This analysis is beneficial for understanding the strengths and weaknesses of both your site and your competitors’ sites.

Additionally, competitor analysis can answer questions such as:

  • Who are my competitors?
  • What keywords should I target?
  • Which topics are most relevant in this space?
  • Which sites should I get backlinks from?

While there are many ways to conduct a competitive analysis, the basic components include:

  • Keyword research and analysis
  • Competitor backlink analysis
  • Content analysis
  • On-page technique & on-site content evaluation
  • Site structure & user experience evaluation

You can use this information to create better content, target the correct keywords, and outreach to relevant sites for backlinks.

 

LOCAL SEO SERVICES

 

Local SEO is a strategy that optimizes your online business for local search results. If you’ve ever searched “X business near me,” you’ve participated in a local search. This strategy targets customers in a specific region, city, or neighborhood and is vital to local businesses. Google provides business listings in the Local Pack/Map Pack so users can better navigate the search results. These listings include information such as:

  • Business name, address, and phone number.
  • Hours of operation.
  • Customer reviews.
  • A link to the website.
  • Photos and videos.

SEO agencies use different tactics to achieve local rankings, including:

  • Managing your Google Business Profile.
  • Monitoring guidelines for local SEO.
  • Building citations.
  • Observing competitors.
  • Local link building.

To rank in local search, your Google Business Profile must be up to date so that Google can better match your business to the relevant query.

 

SEO MONTHLY REPORTING

 

An SEO report is a helpful way to illustrate how your site is performing in search. The SERPs are constantly changing, along with search engine guidelines and algorithms. A monthly report can keep clients apprised of how their site functions and what strategies the SEO agency is implementing.

Some things you might see in a monthly report include:

  • Traffic by channel
  • Page-level traffic
  • Conversion rate & return on investment (ROI)
  • Time on site
  • Link report
  • Keyword ranking report
  • Recommendations and future goals

A good SEO report can make or break a relationship between a client and an SEO agency. Therefore, it’s essential to communicate your goals so the agency can customize the report to fit your needs.

 

ONGOING SEO SERVICES

 

Ongoing SEO services review the outcome of previous SEO campaigns and use this information to evaluate and modify the strategy accordingly. SEO no longer revolves solely around keywords and links — it also focuses on user experience. Tools such as Google Search Console (GSC), Ahrefs, and others are used to track the outcome of changes and to find further opportunities to improve the user experience.

Over time this user experience evolves and so should your website. Some examples of what is considered when looking for further optimization include:

  • Targeting new keyword trends
  • Obtaining backlinks from new sites within your target audience
  • Creating new content for users
  • Optimizing pages to comply with new guidelines

Ongoing SEO services can help monitor new trends and uncover new strategies to help your site rank higher in the SERPs.

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