How to Choose An SEO Company
There are many SEO Companies out there ranging from the overseas companies that claim to guarantee to place you on page one of Google to legitimate Local SEO Companies that go through the painstaking due diligence of learning your business, doing extensive keyword research, rebuilding your website and writing custom content.
Local SEO Companies vs National SEO Companies
When deciding on which SEO Company you should use, one factor to look at is the physical location of the SEO business. Personally, I usually recommend using a local SEO company. This is not to say that a company in a different city cant do a great job at achieving your SEO goals, but the ability to meet someone face to face and discuss the details of your SEO campaign is definitively an advantage. Its easy, if you fail, to simply not answer the phone or respond to e-mails. If you are dealing with a local business, not only can you meet them face to face, but their local reputation is at stake. That being said, in some instances, larger SEO firms in a different city may have the resources necessary to get the job done.
Should Rank Themselves for Local SEO Searches
To me, this is a no brainer. If a company specializes in top rankings in Google, they should be able rank their own website for key searches. Keep in mind, local SEO searches for a SEO business is super competitive. When trying to rank for a search term such as “SEO New Orleans” the SEO companies in the city of New Orleans are all shooting to rank there. They are surely pulling out all of the stops to get ranked for those search terms, so that is not an easy task. My recommendation is if you are searching for an SEO company in Atlanta, Google a variety of terms such as “Atlanta seo company, seo company Atlanta, Atlanta seo, Atlanta seo consulting” and so on. Look for the companies that consistently rank for a variety of search terms. Keep in mind, simply because they rank for that term doesn’t mean that they are located in that city. Look over the website in detail.
Guaranties in SEO
Its important to realize that any SEO company that guarantees a particular placement for a Google search is most likely not legitimate. They are most likely either doing some black hat SEO tactics, which usually have a limited life span, or they are simply paying for Google Pay Per Click through Google Ad Words. Not to say its a bad idea to have someone professionally provide Google Ad Words, it should just not be marketed as traditional SEO. In reality, its impossible to give any type of guarantee in Search Engine Optimization unless the vertical that you are going after is extremely anemic and its a slam dunk. Unless you are in a new industry, those are very hard to come by.
Ask For References and Success Stories
Any company specializing in search engine optimization should have a handful of success stories. When evaluating, look at the age of the domain that they propelled in the SERPS. For instance, its substantially harder to rank a domain that is under two years old. If the domain was 13 years old and they got them from page 3 to #9 on page 1, that may not be the greatest accomplishment.
In Summary
Because Search Engine Optimization is very elusive and takes time, once you have done your homework, you will need to trust the company you do business with. There are a lot of smart people out there, working for a variety of different companies. You need to find someone you can have a long term relationship with, someone who is easy to get in contact with and someone you can trust. Its also nice to be able to look them in the eye if you ever need a face to face meeting.
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