How to Choose a Search Engine Optimization Agency
By Gennady Lager, SendTraffic Senior SEO Specialist
Defining the Need for Search Engine Optimization Services
Just about every business can benefit from one form of Search Engine Optimization or another. This is due to the basic business premise of traffic. Foot traffic, phone traffic, E-mail traffic or website visit traffic are the main sources of potential clients, leads and sales for any business and a search engine referral can drive each one to your proverbial doorstep.
Search Engine Optimization usually works on the basis of a website—as long as you have one, it can provide a traffic boost and increase the likelihood of a sale. This can be done directly or indirectly. Directly in that if your site incorporates a shopping cart or another method of online transaction, a search engine lead can bring the traffic necessary to make the purchase on the site. Indirectly in that the website can act as an informational source or guide to entice the traffic into calling, E-mailing or visiting your brick and mortar location. In any case, search optimization, if targeted correctly and performed well, can improve the potential occurrence of sales.
The History of Search Engine Optimization
Before the explosion of large scale public search engines on the market in the mid-1990’s, early commercial internet pioneers relied on listings in general internet directories and broad display banner ads on early web resources such as Yahoo! Directory listings. However, these were quickly predicted to be dinosaurs as the internet was growing by such leaps and bounds that efficient listings of websites and location of links was quickly realized to be arcane and inadequate.
Enter the search engine: it could download, index, interconnect and rank a large amount of data and produce a result within seconds via a search string query. This type of internet direction was quickly adapted as the way to find things on the internet. Those same early pioneers saw an opportunity now to rank websites based upon search query keywords and this become known as Search Engine Optimization. In addition, early simple ranking algorithms allowed for quick and easy manipulation of on-page factors in order to influence ranking. With the growth of search engine popularity, high ranking positions were becoming more valuable and people started developing new and innovative ways to game the algorithms and guarantee themselves high search placement. This type of synthetic manipulation of results brought down the quality of search results and search engine traffic subsequently suffered when users would get less than relevant results. It was in the best interest of search engines to improve their algorithms to adapt to the ever resourceful “search engine optimizer.”
And improve they did! Today’s ranking algorithms are constantly being changed and updated to provide users more relevant results and prevent unscrupulous users from artificially manipulating the system. No one truly knows exactly what any major search engine algorithm actually is and it has become much more difficult to improve a websites’ ranking for competitive keywords. The experienced Search Engine Optimization agency will have dealt with each of the major search engines in various scenarios and developed a proven and successful strategy to improve rankings.
When to Hire a Search Engine Optimization Agency
Before signing any contracts or writing any checks, you should be able to identify if you truly have a need for a Search Engine Optimization agency to take the reins of your website, your server, internet popularity and brand with the potential to drastically influence your business model and public image. Here are some potential questions to ask yourself:
• Can I benefit from improved organic search rankings?
• Will website traffic via search engines really improve my conversions?
• What keywords do I need to target to attract the traffic that I need?
• What is my natural search engine optimization budget?
• Where do I currently standing in organic rankings for my keywords?
• What are my expectations of search engine optimization and agency?
In addition to these being questions that you should be able to answer, the Search Engine Optimization agency should also be able to guide you through the process of finding these answers while building a case for the need to improve your websites’ organic search results. This can be a massive undertaking depending on your state of website design, optimization and keyword competitiveness, so it is vital to educate yourself prior to agreeing to any terms that you may not be totally familiar with. Sometimes, in order to speak the same language as the agency, an SEO Glossary is necessary as a reference. Through education, you can understand what is going to be done to your website, what the Search Engine Optimization agency is actually doing, and what reasonable expectations you can have from the search optimization services. It is important that you have all of your questions answered: please read the General SEO FAQ page to gain a better understanding of Search Engine Optimization practices and answer any questions you might have. It is imperative to educate yourself about the potential Search Engine Optimization services in order to reap the full benefits of your investment.
The Basics: How to qualify a Search Engine Optimization Firm
Before you submit a request for proposal, E-mail the firm, or answer any questions the firm might have, a quick background check should be implemented to establish its legitimacy. It is important to do a little research to determine the company history, background, services, staffing, mission and previous success. As with any major company that you plan to spend a considerable amount of budget with, here are a few points you should investigate:
• Number of years in business
• Services offered
• Industry relationships
• Management structure and identification
• Past results
• Past failures
In addition, here are some additional data points to look into that can help you establish, identify and build creditability in the company:
Company’s Website
Find the company’s website. Make sure it is up to date with current information as well as looking professional. This will denote some of the firms’ web design prowess. Next, do a WhoIs lookup on the site and make note of the creation date; the date of the site should correlate with the history of the company. This is your primary resource for finding out the services that this company offers, what its mission is and reading all about them.
Search Results
Here is why great search results for keywords such as “search engine optimization agency” and “SEO firm” are not good indicators of the company’s optimization value and talents: they do not denote that one is better than another—it is not a race. They do not indicate that the #2 position company is somehow not as good as the #1 position but better than the #3 ranking site. In fact, high ranking for these very competitive keywords might just tell you that a Search Engine Optimization firm has too much time on their hands while a firm that does not show up high for those keywords is probably busy putting their resources towards client websites. I would, however, like to see the company come up first in the results for their name on all the major search engines.
References
You need references in order to trust any company, including a Search Engine Optimization firm. There are 3 types of references to look at. Chances are that you found the agency via your own personal referral. Further, there should be feedback, testimonials, or references listed on the company’s website. Finally, the third type of reference can be found by searching the internet for reviews on blogs and forums, any information from the BBB or the Department of Consumer Affairs, as well as any other public business records.
Membership in Organizations
Membership in relevant organizations can help build credibility. If the firm provides paid search services as well, membership in SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization) can represent the company as a legitimate player in the game. Additionally, try and find out if the company is Google AdWords Qualified and a Yahoo! Search Marketing Ambassador. While these are largely paid search accreditations, they can still label the company as qualified in the industry.
Types of Services Usually Provided by a
Search Engine Optimization Company
As you begin to delve deeper into potentially making a decision for Search Engine Optimization consulting services, and analyze your needs versus the services that the company can provide, it is necessary that the services support the need for those services. In essence, the company should be able to provide you with what is necessary for better search engine placement. This type of correlation is important to provide efficient and financially feasible search optimization services.
Search Engine Optimization can employ a variety of aspects in order to properly optimize a website for search. The broad range of skills required can cross several industries. It is highly recommended that you locate a Search Engine Optimization company that can provide you with the full assortment of service that you require. Some of these skills can include copywriting, topical expertise, website design, graphics, programming, server and webmaster services, link acquisition, business planning, research, website usability, and analytics. This is a staggering variety of skills requiring the cooperation of multiple departments and constant communications during the optimization process.
Here is a list of what a full service Search Engine Optimization company needs to be able to provide and effectively implement in order to have your business:
• Reporting and Analysis / Analytics
• Click traffic and Conversion Tracking
• Keyword research
• Industry and competitor research
• Website planning
• Content development and copywriting
• Website development – HTML, web programming languages, graphics
• Server management and webmaster services
• Link acquisition and maintenance
• Search engine related and navigational problem solving
Retaining the services of a company performing Search Engine Optimization that does not offer all of these services can potentially have negative results ending in a poorly performing organic search campaign and missing pieces to the optimization puzzle that cause gaps in potential rankings. What if the company specializes in web design? Sure they may put together a beautiful website – maybe even one with good usability and navigation. But what keywords will they target? What are your competitors doing and not doing that you can take advantage of? Why is traffic mysteriously bouncing from one page more so than another? Who is going to write content for the website? Who is going to solve any current search ranking issues the website has?
Now apply the reverse – there will always be gaps with any company that does not offer a full service search engine solution. This list of potential issues can really go on and on unless you hire a Search Engine Optimization company that can perform all of these services effectively and has the right experience and know-how to tie it all together in a service with superior value that is financially viable.
Why not ‘Insource’ Search Engine Optimization?
You ask yourself, “Why can’t we perform Search Engine Optimization in-house? Why must we hire an outside firm to come in and take over this function?” So you evaluate your internal resources: you have a webmaster, a technical director and perhaps even people who can write some good copy – if not you can always ‘borrow’ content from another website, right? You think, “There are plenty of eBooks, message forums, and SEO blogs on the internet to guide you in the right direct.” Plus, you have several other domains you currently run that you can “link” to your main website. “Piece of cake,” you think.
Unfortunately this is the mindset that causes search engine optimization disasters that a reputable Search Engine Optimization firm will often be enlisted to come in and help solve after serious damage has been done to a websites’ trust and rankings. Here are some of the top reasons to look towards a reputable search firm to handle your optimization needs:
• Assessing the need: a reputable Search Engine Optimization firm will be able to honestly assess your business model and plans, the goals you wish to achieve through your website and offer open suggestions of whether they feel you are a good candidate for Search Engine Optimization consulting services. If you are not, they should be straightforward with an honest and respectful decline and possibly help steer you in the right direction that would best benefit your company, website and situation. Sometimes, the experienced firm will be able to advise on other Search Engine Marketing services that you would qualify for or even explain that you should go into a different direction than search engine marketing altogether. Your personal biases, potentially unqualified personnel and lack of industry knowledge and resources can greatly influence your decision to enter into Search Engine Optimization.
• Research experience: the Search Engine Optimization firm with which you are discussing a potential relationship will be able to perform initial SEO tasks that your inexperienced personnel would probably not be able to accurately. Preparing for a Search Engine Optimization campaign takes research and industry knowledge. One must be on target with the keywords, the competitors and the benchmarks in order to properly perform these services. That is something that some research just cannot do – it takes years and many man hours of hands on experience just to properly target and setup a campaign. Performing these tasks from scratch correctly will take more time, effort and resources than hiring a well prepared and experience firm.
• The right people: as mentioned previously in the article, having the right people that do the right things at the right time is critical to the success and full service optimization of a website. Having a person that may fill a role and be a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ for search engine optimization can mean that something gets overlooked, misjudged or simply done wrong. What happens when that persons’ regular roll within the company gets in the way – who will continue the efforts?
• Accountability: you really cannot fault your webmaster, creative writer, or business manager when their work produces search engine placement difficulties and delays. It is simply not their job and they are being asked to learn new skills and be able to handle the same schedule but with a greater workload. When something goes wrong, how will they fix it? It takes a lot of experience to be well versed in the many facets of Search Engine Optimization and for most companies interested in the service, it is simply out of the question to ask internal staff to ‘expand their horizons’ that far.
• Technology: software, hardware, and computing power cost a lot of money. A full Search Engine Optimization campaign employs and requires it all. You must be aware of your rankings and be able to trend success. You also should be aware of your sites’ link profile, popularity, reputation, and trust. Is your domain on a blacklist IP? Does your site link to any “bad neighborhoods?” Is anyone stealing your content or are you using someone else’s without authorization? Are your rankings being artificially reduced by a competitor? Are you doing something that search engines might find to be against their guidelines and now penalizing you for? What are your sites’ web analytics telling you? Answering all of these questions requires the necessary tools and the right people to run and understand those tools. Purchasing those tools and training internal personnel on them is an inefficient use of resources.
As with any business, the right experience will lend itself to success and retaining the services of an experienced and successful Search Engine Optimization firm will lead to positive results, profitable investments and service satisfaction.
Why you should hire a Search Engine Optimization firm
over an SEO Consultant
In order to provide a proper answer, a true assessment of needs is necessary—therein lies the problem: would an “SEO consultant” provide you with a truly honest assessment of your needs? This question also lends itself well to being answered by the previous section (Why not ‘Insource’ Search Engine Optimization?) because almost all of the same difficulties facing a company looking to manage their own Search Engine Optimization will be faced by the Search Engine Optimization Consultant who is usually lacking all of the resources and knowledge to handle all of the aspects of a full optimization.
No search engine optimizer knows it all. The industry is always changing and it takes a full-time effort to really keep up with new developments, ideas and strategies. It also takes multiple eyes on a site and other factors to really see all of the potential opportunities for optimization and improvements. The right Search Engine Optimization company will have a team of eyes analyzing the website, ears listening to your input, and minds coming up with ways to improve your rankings. The company should employ sales personnel, business planners, SEO experts, analytics experts, topical writing professionals, and technical staff to offer input into the optimization of the site.
Here are some things to watch out for when discussing Search Engine Optimization consulting services:
• People that claim to be something they are not: since there is no certification or education process for Search Engine Optimization professionals yet, there is no way to trace back their official education in the field. Therefore anyone can claim they are a Search Engine Optimization consultant. You should be able to check the following relevant references: resume, portfolio, history of results, and references. In addition, see if they have a website showcasing their work. Another way to check is to do a search in the various search engines for their name to determine if they are heavily involved in industry correspondence such as blogs, articles, and message forums.
• Guaranteed results: no one can guarantee “top placement” or a specific position in organic search results. This type of guarantee would denote complete control over a ranking algorithm. And since search engine ranking algorithms are fully automated, no one, not even the search engines themselves have direct manual control over the algorithms. Instead, look for a guarantee of work to be done. The consultant would need to be able to provide a method for you to track their work.
• Flat rate pricing: while it is possible to price out things like web design (per page) or copywriting (per word or per page), it is not possible to provide a flat price for Search Engine Optimization. Every page of every website is different, and the amount of work required to optimize all the on-page and off-page factors will differ as well. If a Search Engine Optimization consultant provides a flat rate price for you during your first conversation, it is usually an indicator that they are either unqualified or lying.
• Technical capabilities: no one can do it all. The person cannot possibly perform all the aspects of SEO by themselves. They should be able to provide detailed information on who is doing what and when. A statement of work needs to be provided detailing everything they are planning to do. Also, they must make clear if they are handling a certain aspect or simply telling you what to do and how to do it. The answers here should be to your satisfaction—if they are not, stay away.
• Eagerness to jump into any project: this is a great test for honesty and accountability. If a person is so eager to take your money and start doing whatever they think is right, ask yourself if you think they will do a good job for you. Search Engine Optimization services take research of the keywords and of the industry. One must be able to identify and rate your main competitors and judge of how far you must go before you can reach and surpass them. Naturally, this takes time, so when they tell you they can get started right away, “just send the money,” there is probably an underlying issue at hand.
The consultant should be able to adequately address these questions and concerns. If they cannot and seem apprehensive, unsure, or too eager or simply don’t have an answer for you, these are all indicators to walk away. There are plenty of reputable companies offering Search Engine Optimization services for the right price. In the end, it is about accountability and value.
It is well known that going with the lowest priced product or service that is offering the world is not necessarily the best way to go. You must build relationships with your search partners and be able to trust them during the ‘feeling out’ process before any contracts are signed or money exchanges hands. Also consider if something is not exactly as they say, will they stay and correct a situation or will they pack up and run? Then consider how hard it would be for them to just disappear.
Realistic Expectations of your Search Optimization Agency
What should you expect from the agency handling your Search Engine Optimization services? While the actual services rendered will vary from agency to agency, the expectations should remain the same. The agency that promises services that are as close to your expectations, with budgeting and reasonable results in mind, should probably get your business. Here are some basic guidelines for you to follow to set reasonable expectations:
Hit the keyword targets
While you know your business best and may have an idea of what keywords you wish to show up for, it is up to the Search Engine Optimization agency to accurately predict a competition and search frequency level for those keywords and determine possible new keyword to explore. While you should not expect to get a good long list of new keywords with associated data for free, it should be within their repertoire to provide this service once a contract is signed. In fact, this is a must! You may think you know what you should be ranking for, but the agency will provide you with cold hard search statistics on which they will make a case to optimize certain keywords while avoiding others.
Hitting that magic middle mark between keywords that are not too broad, vague or out of reach and the keywords that do not drive enough traffic is the key to entering into a successful optimization campaign. Keyword research is arguably the most important part of Search Engine Optimization. If the agency misses its mark on this, the time commitment of SEO can lead to disastrous setbacks.
Don’t expect to rank well for ultra competitive terms
Some websites have been around since 1994 and have adapted Search Engine Optimization really well into their online marketing programs. With this sort of age, link history, and trust, very broad, 1- or 2-word keywords are usually not within reasonable reach of any Search Engine Optimization program. For example, it is a pretty safe bet that optimizing a website to try and rank well for “car insurance” within the top 30 search results of any one of the mainstream engines it’s a huge uphill battle that will be very expensive. Even making predictions on such results would be a pretty wild guess. In addition, when attempting to rank for such broad terms, it may have the negative result of driving unqualified traffic with a high bounce rate. The more focused your optimization efforts are, the more intent your actual traffic from search engines will be intent to see your sites’ offerings.
Don’t expect overnight results
Search Engine Optimization services take time. Anyone that tells you otherwise or promises great results in just a few days or even weeks is either unqualified or lying their way into stealing your money. The length of time necessary for relative search optimization success can greatly vary depending on many aspects that fall outside the scope of this article. But depending on your “state of tune,” and the search engine being used, a full service organic search campaign can start to see positive ranking results within a few weeks time after the on-page and server-side optimization techniques have been completed if everything is ‘just right.’
Normally, everything isn’t ‘just right,’ however. Most sites have some sort of navigation, URL, reference, content, or usability issues that must be resolved in order to continue with SEO progress. Many times, websites need to have corrective measures implemented to fix potential issues that may hurt rankings. Also, brand new sites tend to be subject to what is known as a “sandbox effect” or a “link maturation” process when attempting to rank in Google. This period of time can be as short of a couple of months to as long as a year a before a website can rank well for even remotely competitive terms. Google tends to do this because according to them, it produces higher quality results. This aspect of their algorithm has its advantages in that it does usually lead to higher quality results, but it has disadvantages is that some new sites with highly relevant content will not rank for the results as well (but that is also a topic for another article). Search Engine Optimization is worth the wait!
Don’t expect to be #1 for every keyword the agency is trying to optimize
Search engines and results pages generated by their algorithms, while usually predictable, can sometimes produce results that are anything but. In a hypothetical example of all things being equal, if you do the same exact optimization twice, it has the possibility of producing varied results. In addition, there are many other external factors that can influence varied rankings and prevent #1 positioning across the board:
• The optimization efforts of your competitors
• Algorithm updates
• Datacenter variances
• Link reporting due to server uptime/downtime and website uptime/downtime
• Crawl rates and ‘crawlability’ of websites
• Index data refreshes
It is highly unlikely to rank #1 on all the main engines for highly competitive keywords because they all use different algorithms to rank your website for the keywords and it is not possible to fully understand those algorithms and apply broad optimization across the whole range. The requirements of each engine is different so the solution employed by a quality Search Engine Optimization agency is to compromise and try to satisfy as many of the requirements a possible.
Not to sacrifice the user experience: look beyond just search optimization
The first thing to do when researching information about a Search Engine Optimization company to partner with is to look for a mission statement, a standards policy, or a statement of ethical code. If the company provides other services other than Search Engine Optimization, look for SEO-specific statements such as an SEO Ethics Statement. This is vital information since it provides insight into the inner workings and fundamental beliefs of the SEO processes of the company. It will also show that the company has at least made a concerted effort to deliver this type of information and claim what level of service it will provide and set certain expectations with the customer.
A true Organic SEO company will use ethical optimization techniques that fall within the webmaster guidelines of the major search engines. They will not automate the process and will not do anything to sacrifice the overall user experience. True “Organic” Search Engine Optimization is not a quick fix and should not be automated if long term positive results are desired.
Your Search Engine Optimization company should never attempt to sacrifice the user experience or overall usability of the website. Websites and content should be designed for people first, and search engines second. They need to be clear and concise to you when explaining that good rankings are just one piece of the puzzle—real SEO will work towards improving the click-through rate of natural listings as well as help develop a website that will entice users to not only convert but come back and help spread the word about the site.
Expect quality service and a commitment to getting the job done right
To answer the question in the section “Why you should hire a Search Engine Optimization firm over an SEO Consultant” for a Search Engine Optimization firm, “…if something is not exactly as they say, will they stay and correct a situation or will they pack up and run?” the well established and experienced firm will work hard to retain your satisfaction. If there are any significant issues over a period of time (which sometimes happens even with the best of intentions and practices), the firm will go back, reevaluate the situation and correct the errors. They should re-optimize the gaps in the game plan or correct the problems that were not correct the first time around. If the company brings new issues to your attention and claims they will work hard to correct them further, this is probably a good indication at the quality and honesty of the particular firm.
As with any other professional service, you should expect polite and knowledgeable customer service representatives, account executives and salespeople. The firm should perform all of the work they claimed will be performed in their statement of work or proposal. In addition, general timelines should be met and quality reports put together on a consistent basis. Any claims should be transparent and be able to be substantiated by you or an unbiased third party.
Honesty
This really goes without saying—honesty is paramount in any business relationship. If you suspect any SEO Agency of covering up, misleading or “selectively reporting” data, this is a good indication that it is time to look elsewhere—there are plenty of great Search Engine Optimization Agencies to choose from.
Continuing the Relationship with Your Search Engine Optimization Agency
Search Engine Optimization is a growing field and many companies who were not previously interested in it have now adopted organic search as a scalable, measurable and profitable marketing strategy. With that said, you can safely assume that if you are not constantly optimizing your way forward, your competitors are that much closer to catching up to you, passing, and putting more distance between the ranking of their websites versus yours.
Most respected Search Engine Optimization agencies will require a term contract—usually 6- to 12- months with a continuation option at the end of that period. This is required because this service simply takes time to implement and time to show results. At the end of that period, there is usually a reduced fee to extend that contract to prolong the optimization, consulting, linking, reporting and any other services agreed upon. Even if the agency performed beautifully for the first 12-months, it may be in your best interest to maintain that relationship.
If you are in a competitive industry and already ranking well for high traffic keywords, you can be pretty sure that your opponents are working at least as hard to surpass you—and they wont stop the efforts until they are ahead of you. This means that if you cease the relationship with your agency, you may just find yourself loosing positions due to your determined competitors. Furthermore, re-organizing the optimization efforts may cost more than simply continuing with the original extended contract rates.
Algorithm changes and index refreshes can also have detrimental effects to your organic search rankings. Without a competent search partner in your corner who is up to date in industry happenings and search engine changes, you will be left blind to try and figure out what happened to your previously great rankings. Remember the Florida Update?
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