Given all of the SEO services out there, how in the world are you going to find the right one? One that will meet your goals? Ideally, as a client I want to know the provider I work with knows more than just SEO. Yet I am always amazed at how many companies don’t know what SEO means, let alone what we do as a service.
Look, maybe I have been in this industry long enough to differentiate between ideal clients and the clients you want to stay away from. Nevertheless, for the sake of this article let’s discuss clues and information that should give you a red flag or a green one in this venture.
Check Out a Complete List of Services Offered
You are probably thinking, “Well that’s obvious”. However, what I am referring to is other than the obvious:
Full Service Search Engine Optimization
SEO Consultation
Link building
Directory Submissions
SEO Training
SEO KEI
Landing Pages
Do They Have Excellent Customer Service?
Now that in itself would sell me. Can they respond to your questions without getting too complicated? I know I sometimes contact SEO service providers to see how they respond – just for kicks.
Let me explain something; no one can guarantee you top page on Google, and that seems to always be the first thing out of their mouths. They need to understand your specific needs in more than just a diagram. You see, the basics work for everyone, but what will make the best provider different is they will plan and brainstorm with you regarding your goals.
Are These SEO Services What You Really Need?
It goes without saying that there are going to be SEO providers offering you irrelevant things that sound good. My favorite is link building. Inevitably they will get you links with some obscure website that “may be” relevant to your niche market.
You see, in order to make the SEO service provider work for you they have to do their homework. They have to know the “basics” of link building strategy. Let me clarify: they will offer articles, blogs, forums, etc. for the purpose of link building, but I would insist they outline their approach clearly. This would save you a ton of headaches in the future. This can help you build and establish yourself in your market.
As SEO consultants, we think of various strategies for each client. To some we may suggest landing pages and split testing them. Some we may even send them to our sister company who handles PPC. Make sure your search ultimately gives you a progressive thinking SEO provider.
Make Sure That the Particular SEO Services Provider is Available When You Need Them
This is one of my pet peeves. I have actually been guilty of talking for hours with clients. Look, we live in a competitive world. Everyone is an SEO Guru and there are some great ones out there.
More importantly, consider how this provider is treating you as a potential client. Can you contact them easily? How fast do they return your calls? You know the drill – you want to know the provider is there for their success. They have to participate in the process. Unless they are willing to pay for all the man hours involved in the Social media side of things you can only guarantee them organic traffic. Keep in mind SMO is where SEO is going.
In all fairness, I should mention if you are a client reading this, make sure you have your questions ready. I know the reason I have been caught in the “talking to the client” for hours – I was teaching them about SEO. I resolved that by sending people to our blogs.
Once you find the right SEO providers, make sure they take the time to understand your business. They have to deliver “general” SEO services, that’s a given, but make sure they have a strong understanding of who you are. This takes more than writing articles, blogs etc. This takes creative conceptualization on their part, and that, my friends, is where the SEO Guru’s can outshine the others.
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