People who optimize websites for a living are called “search engine optimizers” (SEOs). They help businesses show up higher on search engines like Google and gain more “organic traffic”, aka potential customers.
A specialist SEO agency is a highly specialized content strategy team, one that helps any business discover opportunities to grow their income via search engines.
In today’s rapidly evolving and interconnected online world, having good SEO is not just necessary, it is vital.
Here are three main types of SEO that agencies typically focus on:
- Off-page SEO: This SEO focuses on the links that are being directed back to a website from elsewhere on the internet. The number and quality of “backlinks” you have coming into your website helps build trust in the eyes of a search engine. If you can secure many reputable links, this will enable your website to rank higher in SERP.
- On-page SEO: This SEO focuses on the content that is on the consumer-facing page(s) of your website. How can that content be best optimized to boost a website’s ranking for specific short- and long-tail keywords. This is highly specialized work that takes into consideration titles, tags, descriptions and more.;0
- Technical SEO: And lastly, this form of SEO focuses on a website’s architecture, looking under the hood to see how each webpage is “technically” set up. In fact, Google cares as much about how a website is built and run behind the scenes as it does about public-facing content.
It is worth keeping in mind that not every business can optimize their website in the same way, and therefore not every SEO strategy will have the same approach.
It is the job of a qualified SEO agency to examine a client’s industry, their competition, the website goals, audience motivation and so forth.
Then, based on these findings, a proper optimization strategy — that puts the right content in front of the right target group —can be created.
Here is a preliminary list of all the ways an SEO agency can help your company:
- Improve SERP rankings
- Increase traffic to your site
- Get ahead of the competition
- Become the primary source of leads
- Create brand awareness and credibility
- Handle customer relationship management (CRM)
- Boosts online to offline sales (i.e., physical in-store purchases)
- Improves various aspects of your site (i.e., mobile friendliness)
- Promotes higher conversion rates and sales (i.e., meet your ROI)
- Lead to better user experience and website performance (i.e., speed)
Now, how to choose the right SEO company for your needs is the last piece of the puzzle. You do not want to pick a name at random or go with an agency that looks slick or charges a high fee (you don’t always get what you pay for!).
You need to roll up your sleeves and do some proper research.
For example, before even sitting down to meet with potential agencies, you need to be very clear about your campaign goals, budget and expected ROI.
When it comes to the company side, check out their website (do they blog, are they up with the latest trends?) and social media accounts, review their case studies, speak with references, check for industry awards and so forth.
Do your due diligence so you can go into the relationship with your eyes wide open.
