What’s The Most Important Thing To Do When Hiring A New SEO Company?

What’s The Most Important Thing To Do When Hiring A New SEO Company? By far, it’s verifying past performance and results of their work. You need to see real world proof of ranking results. Don’t spend one dime unless they can show you multiple examples of other clients’ successful campaigns.

Regardless of your industry, your target audience, or your geographic location, you are going to need an SEO strategy that works. SEO is necessary for any business or organization that wants to increase their visibility online and build a larger, more recognizable brand. As you scour the web for the best SEO firms, it’s important to keep in mind that many SEO strategists are going to lure you in with flashy headlines and lofty promises, but you need to verify that they have delivered on those results in the past.

Far too often, companies pay an SEO firm for nearly a year, running campaign after campaign, waiting for results that never seem to show up. At Coastal Marketing Strategies, we have found that many of our new clients have been duped in the past. We look into their existing websites, and we honestly can’t figure out what work the previous SEO firm was doing.

In order to avoid this pitfall, you need to verify that the SEO firm you are considering has delivered on their promises in the past. You need to verify that they know how to achieve your desired results.

Step One: Look to the Past and Verify Previous Results

Any firm that you are considering should be able to provide you with accurate, reliable data about their past results. You need to ask them not only about what they are going to do for you, but also what they have done for their previous clients. An SEO firm should be able to verify previous results by:

• Using ROI models that showcase the improvements that they made on previous websites in regards to site traffic and conversions. For example, if an SEO firm previously worked with a hotel client, they should be able to provide you with models that show how much site traffic increased, when those increases began, if those increases were sustained, and the rate of booking increases.
• Generating reports that showcase the value that they can offer you in terms of real-world data. The firm should be able to show you, through their own reporting tools, how much of an impact they have had on previous clients’ online visibility.

When asking an SEO firm to provide you with proof of previous results, make sure that they are pulling information about clients that were working with a similar budget as your brand. It is important to compare case studies that are as close as possible to your brand, your budget, and your goals for your SEO strategy.

Step Two: Ask to See Results in Action

In addition to looking back to the past and exploring the work that a firm has done previously with other clients, you should also ask the firm to tell you more about the results that they are delivering in real-time. The world of SEO is constantly changing, and techniques and tactics that worked well a year ago are not necessarily relevant or useful today. It is important for you to feel confident that the firm you hire will be able to employ the most recent SEO techniques that will drive results you need in the current climate.

You can do this by asking to see results in action. An SEO firm should be able to:

• Show you the work they are doing for a particular client, and prove that the client has seen an increase in site traffic.
• Tell you about the techniques the firm uses to increase a brand’s ranking on the SERP.
• Explain to you the importance of links, and show you what they are doing on the websites that they are currently updating and improving.

The right SEO firm is going to be upfront and honest about what they can accomplish given your brand, your goals, and your total budget. When you work with a firm that you can trust, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you are going to see results — you can just sit back and watch your brand rise to the next level.

Step Three: Request Explanations and Live Examples

You are hiring an SEO firm because you are not an expert in web development and brand visibility. But that doesn’t mean that the SEO firm that you partner with should keep the tricks of the trade in hiding. In order to better understand the plan that your SEO firm is enacting — and to give you the ability to monitor your brand’s progress and verify results — you need to ask for explanations about their techniques and tactics.

You should only hire an SEO firm that is willing to:

• Explain to you in real-world terms what their SEO strategy would be for your brand, and why they would choose those particular techniques.
• Give you step-by-step explanations as to what has worked best for them in the past with clients that are similar to you and your brand.
• Provide you with live examples that prove they know how to deliver actionable results for their clients.

Achieving your SEO goals is going to require you to play an active role in your partnership with an SEO firm. SEO is not something that can be implemented and neglected. It must be maintained and improved upon over a long period of time, which is why it’s important to hire a reputable and reliable SEO firm.

Your SEO strategy is far too important to risk partnering with the wrong SEO firm. You need to work with a dedicated and experienced firm that understands the latest SEO techniques and knows how to employ them in a way that allows you to achieve your goals. It’s true that no SEO firm is going to be able to provide you with instantaneous results within days or even weeks, but you should be able to see measurable results within 6 months, if not sooner.

For more information about choosing the right SEO firm and to find out how Coastal Marketing Strategies can elevate your brand, contact us today.