How do you find a good SEO company to outsource your SEO? How do you know who to trust and what questions to ask during the first contact to ensure that this is the right company to manage your online presence?
In this post, I will provide all the answers you need based on my 18 years of experience working online.
I have run my own SEO company for several years to set things straight from the beginning. The purpose of this post is not to sell you any SEO services but to guide you in selecting the best possible SEO agency for your business.
What to expect from SEO?
Before selecting an SEO provider, you must be clear on what to expect.
Setting your expectations correctly from the beginning will help you evaluate the effectiveness and ROI of your SEO investment.
Here is a super quick overview of how SEO works.
SEO has three main parts. The first part is technical SEO, which concerns your website's infrastructure and search engines' ability to access your website without any problems.
The second part is what we call on-page SEO, which has to do with the structure and content of your website and how well it is optimized for search engines.
The third part is' ongoing SEO,’ a process that involves monitoring and further optimizing your website for particular keywords based on various factors.
During this process, a good SEO expert may also use other digital marketing tools, such as content marketing, email marketing, PPC marketing, and social media marketing.
So, the two main things to remember from this short explanation of SEO are:
(1) - There are ‘once-off’ tasks that need to be done to make your website SEO friendly
(2) For SEO to work, you also need the help of other digital marketing processes.
What are the SEO gains for your business?
SEO and digital marketing, in general, can help your business grow in several ways:
- It can get you more traffic from Google and other search engines.
- It can drive more traffic from social media and other sources.
- It can help you establish your business online.
- It can help you promote your personal or business brand online.
- It can make your website more friendlier to users.
The outcome of all the above benefits is increasing targeted traffic, which is equivalent to more business (more sales, customers, leads, etc.).
How much does SEO Cost?
Different companies use different pricing schemes, but generally, there are 3 ways to pay for SEO.
Fixed amount—You can usually pay a fixed cost based on the required work for technical SEO tasks. The SEO provider can analyze your website, create a list of things that need fixing, and quote you for the implementation.
Per month—For ongoing SEO, i.e., for the work that needs to be done every month, you can pay a fixed monthly amount. The actual cost depends on what tasks are included in the monthly engagement.
Per hour - Some companies offer hourly SEO packages.
How much will you pay for SEO?
Based on the three SEO pricing models described above and according to industry research on SEO Services pricing, the average amount you will pay is:
Fixed amount: Project-based pricing is a very popular way to pay for SEO, and the range is between $1000 and $7000. Of course, this depends on the work that needs to be done, but this range is a good indication.
Per month: Monthly packages range from $500 to $5000. Anything beyond that is unlikely to produce real results. Usually, the monthly SEO packages include other activities like content marketing and social media marketing.
Per hour: According to the survey, the average hourly rate is between $76 and $200. In my opinion, this is overestimated. A reasonable rate to hire an experienced SEO is between $60 and $150 per hour.
How long do you have to pay for SEO?
SEO takes time to generate good results and should be considered an investment, not a cost.
If you haven’t done any SEO work on your website so far, the best approach is to fix your technical and on-page SEO (the fixed amount described above) and then work on a monthly or hourly engagement for at least six months.
After 6 months, if your SEO provider didn’t manage to give you measurable results, it’s time to look for other options.
Everything in the online world can be measured, as can SEO results. What you are after is improvement and an increase in website traffic.
If you see an improvement in SEO, then deciding to continue investing in SEO is easy. The actual amount you will spend per month depends on your budget; you need to remember that a monthly budget does not necessarily mean better results.
How to select a good SEO company
Now that you understand SEO, its necessity for business growth, and its costs, the next step is to select the best SEO company for your budget and needs.
Where do you find SEO providers?
One of the nice things about SEO services is that you don’t need to search for SEO providers in your area; you can find them online.
SEO is a service that can be provided remotely without physical contact. Everything can be done by email and Skype, saving time and money for both the client and provider.
From my experience, you can find good SEO providers by:
- Searching Google for “SEO packages”, “SEO services,” or other similar keywords.
- Reading authority websites on SEO like MOZ and see what they recommend.
- Search Google for SEO-related information. If you find an article interesting and convincing, you can check if the author provides SEO services.
- Recommendations from friends or colleagues who have used an SEO company and are happy about the results.
How do you pick the right SEO provider?
Whatever method you select, you will find many companies to choose from. How do you know which one to hire?
Check their website and try to understand how their services work, what SEO practices they use, their pricing scheme, etc.
Check their portfolio—What kind of clients do they have? Check their client’s website. If they don’t have a portfolio listed online, this signals that something is wrong.
Check for client testimonials. What do their clients say about them? Are the testimonials real? Can you contact their clients and get feedback? If not, no contact information is available.
Do they make too-good-to-be-true promises? Nothing is guaranteed regarding SEO. If they promote too-good-to-be-true promises, they are probably fake.
Contact them—Make an initial contact with them. Did they respond in time? Is someone from the company available to talk with you and explain how their SEO process works?
Who will do SEO for your website? SEO is a critical process; if you don’t do it correctly, you may do more harm than good.
When selecting a company, it’s good to know in advance who will be working on your website, what their experience is, and what their results are so far.
If you decide to go with big SEO firms, then most probably a lot of people will work on your website, and while this is not bad, you will not have a specific person to speak to (other than the project manager) in case something goes wrong or in case they use practices that are against Google guidelines.
How do they track progress? SEO is all about progress, and it is important for you (the client) to know the return on SEO.
Good companies give detailed reports to their clients explaining what has been done for SEO and the real return.
When do you pay? Usually SEO services (except perhaps of SEO audits), are NOT paid in advance.
You should pay AFTER the work has been performed and receive a detailed monthly report.
Ask them for a draft plan for the next 3 months - To understand if they have a clear idea of the tasks that need to be performed on your website, ask them to give you a draft plan for the next 3 months.
What kind of activities will they perform, and how much will you be charged per activity?
No long-term contracts—Don’t commit to long-term contracts. SEO companies are confident in their work and results and don’t ask clients to commit to any contract.
Their work and results keep clients to continue using their services, not a contract with setup or cancellation fees.
How much do they charge for their services? Some companies offer SEO services at very low prices. While this may sound like a good way to save some money from your marketing budget, it’s not a good approach.
Good SEO work that can bring in more business to a company takes time and costs money. I have outlined the actual costs above, which you can use as a guide.
How long have they been in business? While this may not be a very important factor, it is normal for companies who have been in the SEO business for several years to have more experience with SEO.
They have been operating for many years and have happy clients; otherwise, they would go out of business.
Do they use up-to-date practices? SEO is constantly changing. Every month, something new can benefit your business or that you need to fix to avoid getting a Google penalty or experiencing a decrease in traffic.
You must choose a company or SEO consultant who is aware of the latest SEO changes and new practices.
The best way to understand if this is the case with the candidate companies is to ask them and check their blog.
Usually, professional SEOs maintain a blog to showcase their expertise, case studies, and approach to SEO.
SEO is important for your business's success
Finally, don’t forget that in today’s competitive online World, you have no choice but to optimize your website for search engines.
SEO is important and, if done correctly, can turn things around and get you more customers and revenue.
When choosing the right SEO company, don’t believe in too-good-to-be-true promises, don’t select a company that offers too low prices, and always check for their experience, testimonials, and portfolio.
