What You Need To Know About SEO To Cut Through The Bull****.
For people who work in SEO everyday it’s easy to forget what a complex and confusing topic it can be, especially for business owners with little previous experience in the world of search engine optimisation. When it comes to choosing an SEO agency, you need to consider that no business is identical and every business will see varying levels of success. Your expectations on what search engine optimisation is and what it can do is most likely based on a combination of the following:
- Previous agency experience
- Level of SEO knowledge
- Past results
Make sure your SEO goals are aligned with your business goals
It is crucial when looking for a new SEO agency to make sure their expectations are realistic and aligned with real business outcomes, whether that is an increase in leads, revenue, etc. One of the more common agency/client expectation issues I have come across during my time in the SEO industry occurs when clients don’t understand that 70-80% of time used by agencies on SEO is spent looking at the data and not simply implementing constant website changes every day. Successful SEO campaigns are built on a ‘test and measure’ process. If you can get a clear picture of how they work it will reduce stress and better align your expectations so you can efficiently integrate SEO with your overall business strategy.
Ask the Agency ‘What Is Your Process, And Why!’
If you have used multiple agencies in the past or whether you are looking to start for the first time, it is very important to ask what the agency expects to deliver on a daily, weekly and monthly basis (this will give you peace of mind as SEO should be a long term strategy not a quick fix in a few weeks). By finding out the process they use it will help you understand what you are getting for your money, the more structured and clear the process the more likely it is they are an agency who is worth your time.
Example of an SEO process:
- Reviewing existing data
- Proposing a hypothesis
- Testing website changes
- Measuring the effect of the change with client goal, e.g. % increase in revenue, traffic, leads, etc.
- Taking action based on the results of the data
Questions To Ask Yourself Before Choosing A New Agency
- What is your current level of SEO knowledge?
- What are your SEO goals? Do they have real business outcomes? Does the agency’s offerings align with those goals?
- What are the key differences in their SEO process compared to your previous experiences and why?
- How do their offerings directly translate into achieving your business goals?
- What are my expected implementation times, goal deadlines and anticipated results, and are these realistic? What are these deadlines/results based on?
By setting expectations and asking the right questions in that initial conversation with a new agency, you are not only educating yourself on the value of their services but also giving yourself the tools to judge their performance.
I have seen a number of clients sign up with a new agency who set goals and expectations that do not align with their own business goals. The most successful SEO agencies work in partnership with their clients and see SEO not as a separate service but an integral part of a successful overarching business strategy.
