SEO has evolved over the last decade from a niche website enhancement strategy to a must-have for all websites, articles, social media profiles and virtually any piece of digital content.
Indeed, SEO has become integral for any individual or company wanting to stand out from their competitors, rank for specific search terms and phrases, grow site visitors, improve click-through rates (CTRs), become a known brand in a specific sector…the list goes on and on.
SEO, however, has developed from a keyword-focused approach to content creation and much more.
Truly dynamic SEO covers myriad improvements — too many for some marketing teams to handle. Plus, SEO is always changing, with new trends emerging regularlyOpens a new window .
Sure, there are paid and free toolsOpens a new window that can help, but the technology is usually limited by the understanding of SEO and the abilities of those who integrate and use it.
And don’t get me started on the complexities and challenges of scaling SEOOpens a new window .
All this is to say, there’s good reason why many brands and marketers often turn to SEO agencies for help rather than committing the time and resources it would require to take it on themselves. Finding the right agencyOpens a new window though, can be challenging.
This week, I spoke with Harsha Reddy, founder of SEO TribunalOpens a new window , a site that specializes in evaluating SEO agencies, to get some advice on best practices when looking for the right agency.
What advice would you give a team starting the process of searching for an SEO agency? How and where to begin?
Start by defining the granular requirements of the work they need done. For instance, they need to define whether they want to rank for a certain keyword locally, in different geographical locations, or even globally? Certain agencies will be better than others for different SEO functions. By identifying exactly what you want to achieve by hiring an agency, from ranking for specific keywords to improving site traffic, you will be able to ask the most pertinent questions in order to gauge which one will best suit your needs.
Also, I recommend you do your research before reaching out to any agencies. Get acquainted with SEO as a concept so you know the right lingo and understand the most common KPIs. That way, you can cut through the sales fluff some agencies will push.
How do SEO agencies differ in specialties and skillsets? If I have specific goals and ambitions for a new SEO strategy, how do I ensure I find the best-suited agency to help?
There are a variety of specialties an SEO agency can deal with. While a large SEO company can have dedicated, specialized teams for e-commerce SEO, local SEO, international SEO, and so on, it’s not rare to find boutique agencies who are solely dealing with one of the aforementioned. If you have very specific goals in mind for what you want to get from an agency, it’s usually better to go with one of those boutique agencies.
What are the most important KPIs when looking at agency services and price tiers? Are there specifics metrics that generally result in better ROI?
Other than the obvious KPI that is search-engine-ranking increase, additional metrics to look at include the organic-sessions traffic portion, as well as CTRs. All of these should, in turn, result in a larger conversion rate, which is the ultimate indicator of a successful business SEO strategy.
These are some of the most prominent KPIs one should look for from an SEO company, regardless of the price tiers it offers, that are primarily associated with the set of services an agency can provide.
Many people need to know how mobile-firstOpens a new window content – increasingly important – impacts SEO. Will all agencies be prepared for this or should we look specifically for mobile-specialist SEO experts?
Google originally announced mobile-first indexing as early as December 2017. The latest update on that front arrived in July of this year, according to which mobile-first is the default way of indexing websites that are new to the web or previously unknown to Google Search.
That said, all SEO agencies should be prepared for this. While that doesn’t necessarily mean that all of them will be, I advise teams to look for agencies that are strategizing with mobile-first in mind. It’s always a good sign when you are in talks with an SEO agency and they’re the ones to bring up mobile-first and related SEO.
SEO Tribunal specializes in identifying the best SEO agencies, boasting a manual, process-oriented evaluation to rank top players in the space. What aspects of your process can the rest of us copy or replicate in order to discover which agency is best for our individual needs?
We broke down the evaluation methodology on our homepage to be transparent with our readers as far as the selection process is concerned. What makes it so special is the fact that it’s not really something a person looking for an SEO agency can replicate. The reason behind that is the extensive checklists and criteria we evaluate a company against, which is something only a team of SEO specialists can do.
That is why we at the bottom of our homepage, we have a dedicated guide for people on the lookout for an SEO agency, which stretches from defining strategy objectives all the way to shortlisting companies from our table and eliminating them until the perfect match is found.