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Nov 07, 2012
How to Select the Right SEO Company for Your Business
Search engine optmizaton (SEO) is the process of structuring websites, landing
pages and other online content so that people can fnd it and search engines can
index it and list it in search results. Why do you need SEO? Because billions of
consumers use search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo, to fnd local busi-
nesses, research products and services and make purchases. If you want people
to fnd your business and if you want to rank above the competton, you need
SEO. If you dont have the in-house talent, resources and expertse to dedicate to
SEO, you need to fnd an experienced, reputable and successful SEO company.
Search engines are the top source that people to use today well above online
and printed Yellow Pages, newspapers and other resources. A June 2011 study by
comScore puts Googles worldwide reach at 1 billion unique visitors per month.
According to a New York Times artcle, 34% of Google users click on the #1 link in
search results. So, being at the top of the list can mean big business.
There are many complexites to efectve SEO. To be successful, it is important to remain savvy, strategic and
ethical at all tmes. It all starts with knowing which keywords to use and developing website pages that use
keywords that are related to the product, service or topic of the page and, most importantly, match the search
terms that internet users type into search engines. Efectve SEO can place your site at the top of the list in
search results. Sites that practce ethical or white-hat SEO are ranked favorably by search engines. If your
website uses black-hat or unethical SEO tactcs, however, search engines will punish you by burying your site
at the botom of the list or delistng you altogether. Thats why enlistng an experienced and successful SEO
company may be your best approach.
White-hat practces focus on doing what is best for the visitors to your website such as relevant content, valu-
able resources, sought-afer informaton and easy navigaton. When visitors come to your website via a search
engine query, they see what they want and expect to see and it is a positve experience. Black-hat practces
include keyword stufng, cloaking or hiding keywords, hidden pages and other unethical, spammy tactcs.
Recently, Google rolled out updated algorithms that have the power to destroy the rankings for a huge number
of businesses. In fact, many businesses large and small took a hefy hit from Googles Penguin and Panda be-
cause their SEO practces were deemed unethical. When one major retailers SEO tactcs were deemed uneth-
ical by Google, they went from the #1 spot to #71 in a mater of two hours. If your SEO reputaton is damaged
and your site loses ranking, it will take a great deal of tme and resources to recover. So how do you select a
white-hat SEO company that will help you get it right from the start? First, know what to avoid.
Avoid any SEO company that practces these black-hat tactcs:
1. Keyword stufng: This is the practce of putng too many keywords on your website.
2. Hiding keywords: A common example of this is placing white keywords on a white background or plac-
ing tny keyword-dense text at the botom of a webpage.
3. Duplicatng content: Disreputable SEO companies create multple web pages with identcal content
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then insert keywords into the content
4. Doorway pages: These web pages are created solely to rank in search engine results these pages
redirect a visitor to your website.
5. Automatcally generated content: The process of creatng web pages with content that makes no
sense but is litered with keywords.
6. Too many links: Like keywords, links must be relevant and well placed. Stufng a website with too many
links is a huge red fag to search engines.
7. Hidden links: Similar to hiding text, this is the unethical practce of hiding links in images, in code, or in
the footer of a website.
8. Unrelated links: Placing links to your website on sites known as link farms or sites that are not
relevant to your content can be very damaging and nearly impossible to correct once the damage is
done.
9. Illegal content: Avoid using content from other websites and passing it of as your own and never
use copyrighted and trademarked content.
10. Malicious pages: Of course, always avoid web pages that are misleading, practce phishing or con-
tain malware.
How to fnd the right SEO company
Clearly, a search engine query would be a good place to start, but dont trust your SEO to the frst company
you fnd. Selectng an ethical and reputable company with deep SEO knowledge and experience is paramount.
Remember, an inexperienced or black-hat SEO company can seriously damage your ranking and reputaton. Do
your homework before making a selecton.
Think globally. If you cant fnd the level of talent and expertse that you deserve in your neighborhood, its
easy to work with an SEO company remotely. Much of the work development, keyword research, analysis,
reportng is achieved electronically.
Check their credentals. An established and successful frm will have a wealth of informaton and resources
available on their website. Look for case studies, customer testmonials and certfcatons. Good SEO compa-
nies are certfed by Google.
SEO companies with vast experience ofer a full-range of services to help you get it done right from the start.
From website design and development to keyword research and analytcs, the right SEO company ofers a
mult-faceted approach to success.
Contact potental candidates. Ask the SEO company what types of analytcs tools they ofer. Ask to see exam-
ples of their tools and reportng. Ask them to outline their process for SEO strategy. Ask them what separates
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their SEO company from the competton. Do you feel that you will have a positve rapport with your potental
SEO team? Are they easy to communicate with and quick to respond to inquiries? Here is a checklist of things
to consider during the selecton process.
What to consider when selectng an SEO Company:
1. Only choose an SEO company with a proven track record. Make sure that proper and ethical SEO
practces are in place before you start. Do not sign up for shady schemes and black hat SEO.
2. Any reputable SEO company will have references, case studies and customer testmonials at the
ready. Ask to see them and ask for permission to contact one or more of their customers.
3. The SEO company that you select should be able to recommend best SEO practces for your prod-
uct, service or industry and provide some market research as part of their services.
4. Discuss strategy and tactcs ahead of tme. How can you improve the SEO on your website? How do
you choose the best keywords for your business? Will you use social media? Will you need to use
geo-targeted keyword phrases? Will you run any pay-per-click (PPC) ads?
5. What is the SEO companys back linking strategy and how can it help your ranking with search en-
gines?
6. Find out if the SEO company can provide relevant keyword content in the form of web page con-
tent, artcles or press releases that will atract natural links.
7. Talk about goal setng. How many keywords should you focus on? How much new content will you
add to your site each quarter? What are your goals for increasing website trafc? How many new
inbound and outbound links can you expect to add and in what tmeframe?
8. Which reportng and analytcs tools does the SEO company use? How will they measure your key-
word ranking, the SEO health of your site and the efectveness of your eforts? What tools does the
SEO company use for analytcs?
9. Talk about pricing and budget. Once you determine your strategy, what is the monthly cost and
what kind of ROI can you expect?
10. Last but not least you should like your SEO team. Afer all, SEO is an ongoing and necessary ele-
ment of success and so is the relatonship that you have with your SEO team.
What types of services does an SEO company ofer?
Ideally, you should look for an ethical SEO company that has deep knowledge and experience in a multtude of
online disciplines. If you cant fnd an SEO company that does it all, your account manager should at least have
knowledge and understanding of the following disciplines.
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SEO consultancy services
SEO keyword analysis
SEO strategy
SEO meta tags, descriptons and ttles
SEO reportng and analytcs
SEO content writng services
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaign management
Social media strategy and integraton
Facebook marketng and integraton
Email campaign management
Online public relatons
Business branding and advertsing Video SEO services
Website design and development
Mobile website development
Graphic design
The right SEO company has the talent, resources and deep experience to positon your website for long-term
success.