Frustrated by the fact that your business’s website just isn’t rising in the search engine rankings?
Tired of seeing a growing visitor count, but not an increase in your conversion rate?
Just feel like your competitors have a stronger digital marketing and SEO strategy than you currently do?
If so, then you may need to hire SEO experts to help you to get your website — and your brand as a whole — where you want it to be.
But what are the most important questions to ask your SEO company to guarantee that you’ll get up-to-the-minute SEO expertise?
Keep on reading this post to find out.
1. “Can I See a Portfolio of your Other Work?”
Asking a potential digital marketing company to see a portfolio of their other work one of the best ways to understand what to look for in an SEO company.
First of all, you’ll understand if they have the required experience within your specific industrial/business niche. You’ll also get a feel for whether or not they can create content, web design, and linking strategies that will get your target market’s attention.
You’ll be able to assess the size and scale of the companies an SEO company usually works with, and determine whether or not they’ve worked with brands that have revenues similar to your own in the past.
You can also ensure that the variety of sites they’ve worked on in the past have enough variation — in both marketing tone, content, and visual appearance — between them.
2. “Which Tools will you use to Monitor my Site?”
One of the most important questions to as your SEO company?
Which analytical tools, software, and other sites they’ll use to monitor your web traffic, track campaign successes, and even evaluate your presence on social media.
Ask for how long they’ve been using each of these tools, and the sorts of data you can expect to get from them.
The goal here is to ensure that the potential SEO company will continually monitor and track your website — and make adjustments accordingly.
You can’t expect to grow if your SEO company just puts a campaign in motion or redesigns your website, and then just walks away.
3. “How do you Keep Pace with SEO Trends?”
When you’re looking for a reputable SEO company, you want to be sure that you work with professionals who take the time to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in digital marketing.
For example, how will they plan to make voice search or video content a part of your overall marketing strategy?
How do they keep track of changes to the Google Algorithm, and how long does it take for them to update your site in light of these changes?
Ask about any conferences they attend, digital marketing clubs and associations they’re a part of, and even which websites/blogs they read or contribute to.
When it comes to generating traffic — and revenue — for your website, working with a company who is always three steps ahead of the curve is essential.
4. “Can I Speak with Past Clients?”
Of course, one of the essential steps that you need to take before you hire SEO experts to help with your website is to speak with some of the clients they’ve worked with in the past.
With fake online reviews on the rise, the unfortunate reality is that you need to take those glowing “customer testimonials” and rave third-party reviews with a serious grain of salt.
The only way to really know what kind of experience and level of customer care and attention you can get from an SEO company is to speak to a minimum of two references.
Ask them about continued site monitoring, if they felt they were a priority, questions about the specific goals of that website and whether those goals were executed, and more.
Above all, ask if they would work with them again or recommend their services to you.
5. “How will you get to Know My Business?”
The final question you should ask when you’re ready to hire SEO experts to elevate your website and overall digital marketing strategy?
How they plan to get to know the needs, long-term and short-term goals, and overall marketing style of your brand.
In addition to that, you should also ask how they plan to conduct target market research, as well as how they’ll work to understand the needs of your local community. You should even take the time to ask questions about how they’ll manage competitor research.
After your initial meeting, ask them questions that help you to determine whether or not they’ve really done their homework. Ask how they feel what you offer differs from your competitors, what they see as your target demographic, and what data points they’ll use to inform their digital strategy.
If you feel like you’re not being made a priority, run for the hills.
Ready to Hire SEO Experts you can Count On?
We hope that you now have a much better understanding of the five essential questions that you need to ask before you make the choice to hire SEO experts.
Remember that the best SEO companies will be happy to show you their portfolio, provide references, work to get to know your brand, and above all, be willing to talk you through their process.
Looking for SEO expertise you can rely on?
If so, look no further than us.
Spend some time on our website to learn more about the wide variety of digital marketing services we can work with you on.
Then, reach out to us to schedule a consultation or strategy meeting.