Small businesses and sole traders often prefer to manage their own SEO practices and web presence. But some business people don’t have the time or the skills to take care of their SEO. Even for those who are willing and able to learn for themselves, there can come a time when they no longer have the time or knowledge to keep up. SEO practices are a complex area of web design and development. Specialists spend their whole careers continually learning about them. Sometimes you need to hire someone else to concentrate on your website’s SEO, so you can be sure you’re doing everything to get your website noticed. But how do you know you’re hiring someone who knows what they’re doing?
Legitimate and Professional
Before looking into the more complicated aspects of SEO, you can first rule out any firms that aren’t up to scratch. Some of the requirements to look for in a professional company are being able to visit their offices or choices between payment methods. You can check that they’re registered with the correct authorities and look at case studies of their previous clients. Find a competitive price, but don’t just go for the cheapest company you can find. You might want to choose someone with offices local to you, for example if you work in Orland you may choose an Orlando SEO firm. But if you are comfortable working digitally, check how and when your experts will keep in touch.
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Use a Company Who Understands You
Away from what they know about SEO (although obviously they should know a lot), you should choose a firm that understands your business. The SEO experts that you use should understand your industry and how your business works. They need to have an understanding of what you want to achieve and who your audience are. You don’t want someone who’ll start talking about keywords straight away, before getting a firm grasp on who you are and what you do.
Look for Straight Talkers
Even if you have the capability to understand SEO jargon, look for a company who can speak to you in plain English. The ability to explain what they’re doing and why they’re doing it shows that they know how what they’re doing translates to your broader goals. You’re hiring them so you don’t have to know all the ins and outs of SEO practices, and you need to be able to understand what they’re doing.
Verify Their Claims
Some companies will openly list what they claim to have achieved for certain clients on their website. If you see this, don’t be afraid to check if what they’re saying is true. For example, a firm might say that they have put a client on the first page of Google for a certain keyword. If you check and that turns out not to be the case, it’s probably best to avoid that company. If they list previous clients and testimonials, you could even get in touch with them and ask for a review of the service they received.