Top 10 Points to consider before hiring an SEO company in the UK
There are many SEO companies to choose from in the UK, and it’s important to separate the winners from the losers. Here are 10 key points to consider to help you make an informed decision. Choosing the right SEO company to invest in, can lead to more earning potential and success for your business.
Decide what you need from an SEO company
- SEO companies can offer a range of services so it will help you and them to know what your goals are.
- You need to decipher for example do you need content marketing or link building etc.?
- How much do you want your sales to grow by in the next 3 months or 12 months?
- You’ll get more out of your consultation if you know what you want and are prepared.
See where they rank on Google themselves
- When ‘SEO agency UK’, or ‘SEO company in UK’ is searched see if your prospective SEO agency ranks well.
- If it ranks well then that can indicate that they have been able to use their knowledge advantageously for their own business.
- However, be weary too of ranking for some SEO companies as their ranking may just represent how many years they’ve been online rather than their expertise.
Read their blogs, vlogs and social media
- They’ll make a better impression when they connect to you with stories on how they were founded and ups and downs in their journey etc.
- Find their social media too as this will help you get a better insight into their story, the team, their premises and number of views on their articles.
- Also these blogs will reveal to you their expertise in the SEO/ digital field.
- The company will be constantly updating their blogs with fresh content.
- A good SEO company will know that it’s important to stay current and up to date in digital marketing and to have a large presence online.
- A great way to choose an SEO agency is to see how current they are.
4. Read client case studies and reviews
- This genuine feedback will help you ascertain if this company can deliver.
- You’ll be able to see for yourself how well previous clients rank on google, if they were happy with their service and if they would recommend the company.
- Read their comment sections on social media too for less formal opinions.
Be weary of attractive websites
- An appealing website does not necessarily indicate that an SEO company is going to deliver.
- Be aware that some great firms may not have the prettiest of sites, but their sites could be fast with clear layouts such as bullet points. This is what you should consider more than a pretty page.
- However, if they offer a range of digital services such as website creation as well as SEO then a nice website is worth taking note of.
- They will be able to see what needs to be added or tweaked to your website to make it more attractive with regards to your brands image.
Are they easily contactable?
- Make sure their contact details are present on their site and other accounts.
- It’s vital to find out how they communicate, whether it’s by Skype, emails or calls so you’ll know what to check regularly.
- Also find out how often and when they will report back to you with status updates, as this can vary between companies.
- They must be contacted easily for any queries and to keep you informed if you do hire them.
Ask them ‘how will you improve my business?’
- An excellent SEO company will know how to start an SEO campaign correctly
- They will get the right information from you such as your business goals first before anything begins and this will form the basis of your consultation.
- They should be able to explain their strategies for on-page and off-page optimisation based on what you need.
Ask ‘how do you keep track of the online progress of a client?’
- The company should be experienced in Google Analytics to find the keywords searchers are using, the number of links from other sites leading traffic to yours amongst other factors.
- The agency will also be able to see how much traffic your digital assets acquire, how many clicks they get, how long a visitor stays on them and if there are any increases or decrease in activity.
- Ideally, this information will be shared with you.
Consider their fees
- Enquire around about fees, as some companies may charge more if they are highly reputable
- How and when would they expect payment?
- Some companies can be paid by the hour, or project-based where one sum is paid for a project. Ask if there are any late payment penalties.
- Even suggest your budget and see if they can work with it.
- It’s important that you and the company are open about payment from the beginning.
Do they make too-good-to-be-true promises?
- If an SEO company says they will definitely make you the number 1 ranked on google in your niche, then this could be an empty promise.
- Trustworthy SEO companies will instead promise to improve your digital assets with on-page and off- page optimisation to the best of their ability, which can all boost ranking and site traffic.
- This is more attainable and more likely. If you do get to number 1 on organic search results, then that is an added bonus.
With that being said, feel free to contact us for more information. We consider all these 10 points to make sure that we can attract new clientele and confidently deliver to a high standard. Our friendly and professional SEO consultants can assure you that by choosing us you have made a great decision for your business needs.
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- I'm a digitally inspired, e-Business professional. I write about digital marketing, social media and how psychology impacts modern day online buying behaviours and how people do business on the web.
