How to Choose an SEO Company: Evaluating Their Website

December 01, 2014

An SEO company’s website can tell you a lot about the strategies they will use.

By Maureen McCabe

Continuing our series of blog posts about how to choose an SEO company, we’ve put together this post to offer even more advice on evaluating a potential SEO agency. Undoubtedly, one of the best ways to evaluate the quality of work performed by an SEO firm is to take a look at their own website. A website can offer you telltale clues about how the company does SEO, whether they are using the latest strategies and offer information to you about the overall quality of their work.

Here’s how you can use an SEO company’s website to decide whether or not they could be a potential partner:

1. How Did You Get to Their Site?

Any reputable SEO firm will practice what they preach. Think about how you landed on their website. Did you do a Google search for “SEO company” in your area? Were they one of the top few results? This is a good sign.

On the other hand, if you had to dig deep into Google — say, the 4th or 5th page and beyond — to find this company, you should probably look elsewhere. A well-established agency will have the authority and SEO skills to rank well for their most important keyword terms. Isn’t that who you would prefer to have working on your website?

That being said, having a top ranking doesn’t mean everything. Do your due diligence and take a good look into other aspects of this company’s site to evaluate whether or not they are someone you’d want to work with.

2. How Does the Site Look?

The look and feel of a website can tell you a lot about a company. A clean, professional-looking website that is easy to navigate and easy to read is typically a good sign. Avoid SEO companies whose websites look spammy, sell advertisements or have poorly written content.

Check for signs that the agency can be trusted: logos of past clients, testimonials, awards and logos of affiliates can indicate that the SEO firm has been in business for some time and has achieved good results for clients.

3. How Can You Get in Touch?

A good SEO company understands how to optimize websites for conversion. This should be very evident on their homepage. If the site offers you a clear place to get in touch, request a quote or consultation, this is an excellent sign that they’ll be able to do the same for your website and help you capture more leads.

4. What Kind of Information Does the Site Offer?

Genuine SEO companies don’t try to hide the tactics they will use to improve your online presence. If the website you are evaluating mentions “secret” strategies they cannot reveal, this should put you on high alert. A good SEO company will be able to tell you exactly what tactics they are going to use and how this will impact your website.

Of course, they may have proprietary technologies, software or methods that they may not fully reveal to you, but if they are trying to entice you with their “industry secrets,” they might be using shady tactics that could eventually lead to your site being penalized by Google.

5. Are They Using the Latest Strategies?

Make sure that any SEO company you are considering is on board with current trends in Internet marketing. Their website should prominently display links to their social media profiles and blog.

They should make use of a variety of interesting media such as videos, images, downloadable content and more. This shows that the agency is up to date with the latest in SEO and understands the importance of strategies that involve more than just link building and on-site optimization.

For more SEO tips for small business, check out these blog posts:

Discover Red Flags by Understanding the Ins and Outs of an SEO Contract – Part 3
How to Get Great Customer Reviews Online: Creative Strategies for Customer Testimonials – Part 1
Small Business Marketing Tips: Is it Possible to Get a First-Page Google Ranking?

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