How to Pick an SEO Agency That Fits Your Business

Knowing how to pick an SEO agency isn’t always straightforward, but let’s break down what you should be looking for.

Why hire an SEO Agency

Hiring an SEO Agency can take a whole chunk of excess work and time out of your team’s schedule. Allowing you to focus on what you do best and not worry about tasks beyond what you do and what you know.

To find out everything you need to know about hiring an SEO agency and outsourcing your SEO efforts, download our free guide – Why Hire An SEO agency – The Ultimate Guide. 

How to pick an SEO agency

Picking the right SEO agency for your business starts with knowing what you and your team need from an agency. Will they be writing and optimising copy or just optimising content your team have written?

Knowing the level of responsibility your going to hand over to an agency is just as important as the agency itself.

Outsourcing should be a positive experience for both businesses. 78% of businesses say they feel positive about their outsourcing relationship with other companies. It’s evident that for the majority of businesses outsourcing is effective and builds positive relationships.

Know what you want to achieve

Setting goals is the key to success in anything, and setting SEO-related goals will help you see the return on your investment. An SEO agency should help your business achieve its goals.

Using SEO and website audits to gain knowledge on where your business currently stands in the online space, you can then set reasonable goals and expectations on where you want your website to be.

Not only do the goals help you see what can be expected within a timeframe, it allows an agency to set a plan in place to get you there.

If your SEO knowledge is few and far between and you have no idea what kind of goals you should be setting, an SEO specialist should be able to guide you in the right direction based on their knowledge and expertise in the area.

Shop around

There’s no shame in speaking to multiple different agencies, shopping around a bit and getting a feel for who you like is definitely necessary.

When it comes down to it, an agency should be like an extension of your team and have a solid working relationship with everyone involved.

Whether you’re looking for a team that can softly explain and make the facts fluffy and light or a team that’s straight talking and will explain things as they stand without going around the houses to do so. There is an agency for everyone.

Look into reviews and case studies

Let’s say an agency’s website is great they look like the perfect fit, but then you check their reviews, and it’s a bit of a different vibe over there.

No reviews are almost as concerning as bad reviews. If an SEO agency claims to offer excellent service as a standard, people will want to share their experience and, if you ask them, will gladly produce a testimonial.

Case Studies are perfect if you’re looking for an agency that has worked in your industry before. Using case studies, you can see where a business started and where it got to based on work completed by the agency.

Set up meetings

To really get the feel of an agency and its team, set up a meeting and get to know the way they work and grasp their overall vibe.

Within the meeting, you can begin to understand the way the agency works and who within the team you’ll be working with. This is a great opportunity to start building a strong working relationship from the offset and ultimately help you actually choose an SEO agency.

Ask questions

Any reputable agency that is worth considering for SEO services should be able to answer any and all questions you have from the basics to narrow down the specifics.

If an agency isn’t willing to answer your questions, they simply aren’t worth your business. Transparency is essential so that you gain an understanding of what’s working and what isn’t; if they can’t offer you this at the very beginning, why risk it continuing throughout the project?

To find out what questions you should be asking your SEO agency, read our blog post – What to ask an SEO Agency  – 6 questions to ask. 

If you’re considering outsourcing your SEO, at ROAR, our SEO Management services help position you exactly where potential customers are looking for your business.