Let’s be honest. It’s technically possible to run a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy entirely on your own, but it’s ridiculously complicated and difficult to do. So for most people, small businesses, and even large companies, you should probably choose an SEO partner to help you with strategic planning and execution.
But with so many choices for SEO partners on the market, how can you make this critical decision? What should be your top priorities?
Options for choosing an SEO partner
To begin with, you should know what options are on the table. There are four main categories of SEO partners you can choose from, each with strengths and weaknesses.
An SEO agency. First, you can hire a dedicated SEO Company. This is in many ways the most convenient option, as your agency will be able to handle almost everything related to your campaign. Agencies tend to be more expensive than other options, but they also offer more service, support and accountability. Internal hiring. Alternatively, you can create your own team. Using resources already in your department or new hires, you can build a team to learn search optimization and execute it for your business. Depending on your approach here, this can also be expensive, and not as convenient or scalable as working with an SEO company. Freelancers/contractors. You can also choose to hire freelancers or contractors for your work. This is usually the cheapest option, although it is the most difficult to get off the ground. You will likely need to select people with multiple specialties to create a team strong enough to see effective results. Freelancers and contractors also tend to be less reliable than agencies. A hybrid model. If you like certain aspects of all these options, you can try creating your own hybrid model. In this approach, you can use an SEO agency for most of your needs, using freelancers to fill in the gaps, or run your strategy primarily with internal hires, with an agency that only offers certain services.
There are also thousands of options in each of these categories above.
It is essential to carefully select your priorities when choosing an SEO partner.
cost
One of your biggest considerations will be cost. How much are you willing to spend on this campaign? In this industry, you often get what you pay for; While it is certainly possible to find very inexpensive contractors, these are not always the best fit for your brand.
Cheap professionals tend to be inexperienced or tend to cut corners and will ultimately put you in a worse position than when you started. At the same time, you don’t want to overpay for an agency whose services are superfluous or overpriced.
In your research, try to compare your options apples to apples. Don’t just compare costs directly; Be sure to consider what you’re getting for the price with each option. Of course, if you’re on a tight budget, you may not have much wiggle room at this point, so it remains one of your top priorities.
Reliability and responsibility
You should also consider the reliability and responsibility of the partner you choose. SEO is a long-term strategy, so you can’t afford to hire someone who will leave you after only a few weeks, nor can you afford to hire someone who spends months executing ineffective tactics or frankly bad ones
Agencies tend to be more reliable and responsible than other options, as they have access to more resources and have a wider reputation to uphold. But you still need to do your research to make sure this is a company willing to make up for their mistakes and make up for any bad experiences you might have.
Basic skills
SEO is a massive undertaking if you expect reliable long-term results. This means using many different tactics simultaneously. Therefore, before choosing your partner, carefully consider their core competencies.
For example:
Industry/niche knowledge. Does this partner have specific knowledge about your industry or niche? Do they understand your brand and what sets you apart competitively? Can they recommend or create tactics that give you a specific advantage? Strategy and research. Is this partner able to do keyword research and help you plan a high-level strategy? Or are they only able to run under action once provided? Content development. Does this partner practice their own content development? And if so, what kind of content do they develop and what quality is that content? You need large volumes of excellently written content if you want any chance of climbing the SERPs. Technical optimization. SEO strategies fall apart without solid on-site technical optimization. Can this partner help you code and improve the efficiency of your website? Link building. Will this partner be able to help you with link building and offsite content development? Without links, building enough authority to rank for your target keywords is nearly impossible. Peripheral/support strategies. Does this partner offer peripheral or supporting strategies such as email marketing, social media marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and other forms of paid advertising?
Ethics and Practices
An ethical or regulatory breach of SEO could end up leaving you with a penalty that haunts your brand for months. It’s simply not worth the risk, so it’s essential to research their ethics and practices. Are they practicing only white hat techniques? Are Google’s terms of service strictly adhered to?
By extension, do they take your privacy seriously? Can you trust them not to reveal information about your search engine marketing practices?
Resource access and scalability
Your business may be small right now, but chances are you have plans to grow enormously in the future. Consequently, you should pay close attention to this partner’s access resources and overall scalability. If your needs change in the future, will you be able to stay with this partner and switch to a different plan? Will they be able to continue to support your business as you ask for more services or more support?
Communication and Customer Service
Even the best SEO companies and individual experts are not perfect. They are going to make mistakes. They will forget to inform you about things. And they will do questionable tasks of giving initial explanations. When this happens, can you contact them? Do you have a dedicated representative who can help you? How much customer support can you get and how hard will they work to solve your problems?
If you have trouble connecting with this partner, or if they seem indifferent, don’t bother working with them, even if everything else looks good on paper.
Tools and reports
What kind of tools and technologies does this partner use? If your partner dodges the question or refuses to reveal their tactics to you, consider this reaction a red flag. Your partner should willingly communicate about their approach to technology.
Also, they should be ready and willing to provide you with comprehensive reports. They may claim they are doing a lot of work on your behalf, but can they prove it? And can they prove it’s working for you?
Customer reviews and reputation
Finally, look at this partner’s customer reviews and assess their overall reputation. Do people generally seem satisfied with these services? Can you find information online that suggests this partner is trustworthy or not?
Choosing an SEO partner is not easy. This is especially true if you work in a complex or competitive industry or if you have a lot of strict criteria to select from. But with so many options available, it’s only a matter of time before you find what you need.
Image credit: by RODNAE Productions; Pexels; Thanks!
Timothy Carter
Director of Finance
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