SEO is one of the most powerful strategies that you can use to establish credibility, improve your sales, and gain an edge over the competition. A solid SEO foundation will attract new customers and deepen your relationship with them.
1. Honesty and Transparency
Simply put, the best SEO company is honest with what they do and won’t use complicated language in reference to it. They can help you improve your search rankings but won’t ever guarantee you’ll reach any specific milestone. If you have to guess if an SEO company meets these characteristics, chances are they don’t.
2. Realistic Expectations
Again, it’s impossible to guarantee that you’ll end up on the first page of Google. If you hear an SEO company promise this, go in the opposite direction. It’s either the result of inexperienced bravado, or they just want your money; there’s rarely any in between. The best SEO companies can ensure:
Improved visibility
Brand awareness
Increased website traffic
Higher domain authority
More referring domains and backlinks
They’ll also prove it with ongoing data-driven reports.
3. Regular Reports
Speaking of reports, the best SEO companies always provide this information; they’ll never just tell you that your strategy is working. If they tell you that they’ll improve your search engine visibility, they’ll show you a report that tracks this information over time, including performance of Google ads and outbound link campaigns. Most likely the organization can even provide you with a monthly report and then at the end of the year go over specific campaigns that did well compared to others.
4. Experience
This is a more subjective marker, but the amount of time that an SEO company has been around is also worth thinking about. Your best bet will be with a company that’s been around for a few years, especially with how much has changed in that time. Companies that have been around for a while have proven they can adapt.
5. Analytics
The best SEO companies use cold, hard data and technical acumen to crunch the numbers and make decisions that will improve your website’s visibility. There’s room for creativity in SEO, but it does come down to the data in the end.
6. Great Content
Speaking of creativity, high-quality content is still key. Good content is rich and lengthy, is written by a talented writer, and uses the correct keyword strategy. The days of keyword stuffing are long gone; instead, long-tail keywords are your best bet. It is vital to make sure that the content you create is not used elsewhere, otherwise that would be plagiarism.
7. Backlinks
Don’t work with an SEO company that downplays backlinks. When you’re vetting a company that does use them, ask them questions about how they handle this approach and what their strategy is. Their answers won’t always be perfect, but you can assess how much they emphasize the role of backlinks in good SEO strategy.
How to Make Your SEO Company Successful
The right company will help you establish your company as one that the people can trust. With a team of skilled professionals who can customize your SEO campaigns, you’ll be in great hands.