Are you interested in SEO for your small business? You've come to the right place!
When searching for the right SEO provider, you can't go in blind. Cheap or blackhat SEO can easily ruin your business with bad results and penalties. In this case, it pays to be informed. (Click here to find out why you can't afford cheap SEO.)
So, to help you cover your bases, we've outlined a few things you should know going in & things you should find out when talking to a potential provider.
SEO uses a combination of technical (301 redirects, 404 pages, XML sitemaps), on-page (keywords, content, images, user experience), and off-page tactics (organic link building) to make your website more visible to search engines.
There are five major components of effective search engine optimization:
Many small businesses have similarly small marketing budgets. It's not uncommon to find small businesses who hire a family member or friend to do their SEO for cheap (which is actually a very bad idea). DO NOT trust your SEO to an amateur - penalties and traffic problems are only a few issues you can face with inexperienced SEOs.
Your best options are:
Going the in-house route will give you complete transparency and control over the process. However, you may find the paperwork and responsibility of another employee too stressful.
Freelancers can be cheaper than agencies, though they are often shadier as well. Beware of web designers moonlighting as SEOs.
Agencies differ greatly in offerings and strategies - some only do SEO, some do full inbound marketing consulting and implementation. Some are incredibly shady and can ruin your business - others will bring you more success than you could have imagined.
No matter which type of provider you choose, do a lot of research before you commit. Look into their current and past customers (you can even shoot them a quick email to get an honest review), learn about their strategies and tactics, and trust your gut if something feels off.
There is such a thing as bad SEO. Bad SEO can completely ruin your business and your reputation. Check out these 5 SEO Horror Stories for some scary examples. You should be knowledgeable about the difference between black hat and white hat SEO before talking to potential providers.
Black Hat:
White Hat:
Why use goody-two-shoes white hat SEO? Two reasons. First, you'll get higher quality results. Producing great content means the people who are most likely to buy from you will find you faster. Growing links naturally means they're more likely to drive relevant traffic to your site. The more great links and great content you have, the higher you'll rank in Google.
Second, you won't have to fear penalties. Even when algorithms change suddenly, white hat tactics mean you're "safe" from falling off the results pages. Black hat tactics mean you're in danger of sudden traffic loss, ranking drops, and even being kicked out of the search engine completely. Depending on the severity of your infraction, Google might ban you for good.
When you talk to a potential agency, one of the first questions you should ask is "What tactics do you use?" or "How do you plan to improve my SEO?"
If they make any concrete or grandiose promises ("We'll have you ranking #1!"), beware. Do not trust them. No one can guarantee SEO results, because no one outside of Google truly understands the search algorithms. Algorithms are constantly changing, and Google guards their secrets as closely as the U.S. government guarded the Manhattan Project.
If their SEO tactics sound great, look them up anyway. You'd be surprised what Google gets testy about.
Don't just budget for SEO. SEO alone will not bring as much success as a full inbound marketing strategy. How does SEO fit into your overall goals & vision for your business? How will it mesh with
How can you use each tactic to benefit the others? SEO should not stand alone, especially since the vast majority of ALL buyers do their research and purchasing online.
What are your concrete goals for SEO? Do you want more traffic? More leads? Brand awareness? Visibility? If you know what you want to get out of your SEO, it can help your provider shape the strategy to your goals. A great provider will also help you dig deeper into your SEO goals and pull out long-term, actionable SMART goals for your whole marketing strategy.
SEO, as with other marketing strategies, is very much you-get-what-you-pay-for. That doesn't mean you have to throw your entire marketing budget at SEO to see results. However, the amount of time your SEO provider spends on your project equals how much of their time you buy.
If you bid for more of their time and resources, they'll be able to spend more time optimizing your site. The quicker your site is optimized, the faster and more noticeable your results will be.
So, if your SEO budget is pretty small, don't expect your agency to work miracles. You'll still see results, but they'll be more gradual in comparison. Also, don't try to take shortcuts with cheap SEO - you'll soon find it's much more expensive than paying to do it right in the first place.
You'll probably go through a few not-so-great relationships before you find The One For You. Armed with this knowledge, you should be able to spot a bad relationship quickly and understand your own expectations of an SEO provider.
Always do your research, stay informed, and trust your instincts. The right SEO provider will be transparent, make you feel comfortable with their services, and ultimately make you a very happy customer.
Good luck!