It seems that almost daily there are companies sending out e-mail and other marketing materials that make vague, broad, and sweeping claims about low optimization and your need to increase the visibility of your website. The problem is that many of these companies are unskilled and unable to provide the services they are claiming you so badly need. In order to help you wade through the spam and in hopes of helping you understand what SEO is all about we have put together the following feature for you.
What the heck is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization in it’s most basic explanation is three-fold:
- Building or adjusting the current content on a website to incorporate the words people use to search for the types of products or services you sell.
- Putting those words in important places on your site.
- Boosting the amount of links to your website that show search engines your pages are important. Think of these as a form of online recommendations by other sites.
Why Does it seem like everyone is a self-proclaimed SEO Expert?
First and foremost, if any company ever claims to have a "special relationship" or "work with Google", then disregard them immediately. Here's what Google has to say on that point:
"Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" to Google. There is no priority submit for Google…"
We would encourage anyone considering hiring an SEO company to read the full page published by Google in the link above.
How do you know which company to hire to help with your SEO efforts?
The team at Box Clever specializes in website design and SEO and although we would love for you to hire us we want you to feel informed and understand what makes a great partner in your mission to improve your site’s SEO. Here are a few tips on what to ask and what to look for.
- Ask the company to share some previous success stories and examples of the type of work they have done in the past.
- Look for a company that offers online marketing services that will complement your search efforts related to optimizing the website.
- Without knowing where you want to be how will you know if the company can help you get there? Know what results you would like to see and ask for their input on the type of results they think you should expect to see.
- Look for a company with experience in your industry or a closely related industry.
- Search for a company with experience in your geographic area. This is especially important for companies that are reliant on local traffic to make their business a success. SEO for a locally-based company can be very unique and you want someone who knows your area and is able to capitalize on the local opportunities.
- Alternatively, if your business is international or global look for a company with experience developing international and/or global sites.
- Don’t be intimidated by your lack of SEO knowledge. Ask them straight out what their most important SEO techniques are. They should be able to explain to you in terms you will understand how they will plan to help with your SEO efforts.
- Remember to have a keen ear for broad and sweeping statements that simply glaze over their tactics. If the company only speaks in generalities this should raise a red warning flag for you.
- Request that you will want the company to share with you all the changes made to your site, and that you will expect detailed recommendations and the reasoning behind them. If they balk at this request, once again fire up those red flags.
- Simple questions like how long have you been in business and how can I expect to communicate with you are also important. Think about the most positive business relationships you have had with other vendors and ensure you are asking all of the questions that would help you define if this will be another great one!
You are essentially handing over the keys to your website content and this is not a decision to take lightly. Take your time, interview several companies and if you follow these tips you are sure to find a reputable company that meets your needs.
At Box Clever we provide website marketing as one of our services. Our process is focused around content optimization (ensuring the website is written with search in mind), as well as, tracking and reporting on key metrics for your website. There are several best practices that we follow to ensure that the websites we build are constructed with SEO in mind. That being said, there is always room for improvement in terms of marketing any website.
We hope this helps you manoeuvre your way through the seemingly endless barrage of “SEO Experts” out there vying for your business. If you're interested in discussing how we could work with you in this regard, just click here to let us know. Or if you have any follow up questions, we'd be happy to help.