Many Australian businesses are realising the importance of being listed on the search engines and understanding that if they want to be there, they have to use “Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)” and need the help of the experts to do this. Herein lies the problem, more than ever every company is touting that they are the SEO professionals - how do you choose the best SEO company for you?With so many SEO Companies to choose from - exa web solutions, ROI, WebFirm, Position Me Online, Web Profits, E-Web Marketing just to name a few and a sea of Indian Telemarketers. Who do you choose? We’ve put together what we believe to be the top way for you to review an SEO company and arrive at your own decision.A Good Working RelationshipSEO is a long term commitment, work is conducted on a month by month on-going basis so it’s important you feel like you can work with these people for some months to come and have peace of mind that you are being looked after. Go with your gut on this decision and do not be sucked into big sales pitches and lofty promises. Also try contacting the person and see how easy that is and how readily they are to take the time to talk to you.
Every SEO company will present you with a list of keywords and companies they have helped get highly ranked for these, or at least they should be able to do this. But to really discover how good an SEO company is, find out some other clients that have and see how they are ranking. One way to do this is to see if they have any client logos on their website and then search for products and services in relation to this. For example, if they have a bank as a client search for “credit cards” and “home loans” to see if the bank is listed on highly on Google.
Many companies in Australia are outsourcing their SEO, this means that they can be an Australian company promoting SEO services – yet sending all of the work to India to be completed. We see this as not being an ideal option for businesses for a few different reasons. Firstly, if the SEO activities are conducted in-house then you are going to have a clearer picture and line of communication to the people who are actually working on it. We typically see that in-house SEO is of a much higher standard. Simply asking the potential SEO company if they outsource any work is one way to find out however some companies claim to be “international organisations” rather than referring to the work being outsourced – so also asking if they have any overseas offices may shed some light.
Whenever there is a new wave of technology such as SEO that gains significant importance. There is also a large crowd of companies quick to jump on the band wagon to get your dollars by providing these services. Seeking a company and expertise that have years of experience in SEO will ensure that you’re dealing with a company that knows what they are talking about, have been around for a while and should be around for a while longer.
Many companies offering SEO also provide a wide range of other services and SEO is just another “add on” type of service. This usually sees a limited amount of capabilities in SEO and when it comes to SEO you want the best SEO company available as how good your SEO company is will determine if they can beat your competitors SEO company.
Ethical SEO is important. Google will penalise companies that do not practice “White hat” SEO techniques that ensure long term gain. Some SEO companies try to “trick” search engines, this may work in the short term but if the Search Engines find out it can see your website wiped from Google. It’s simply not worth it.In addition to standard ethical SEO practice it is also important to consider the quality of your SEO. Some companies may farm out SEO activities such as link building to countries such as India with little quality control, this can result on having links on dubious websites that are spamming links to your website which overall sends a very bad message to people about your company.
Some companies providing SEO services are conducting very aggressive sales activities. Weekly unsolicited emails, phone calls, and more. Unfortunately, this approach does not always mean that they will provide you with the same amount of attention after your have signed up the company. Some companies are focused on getting your dollars and then outsourcing the work.You may want to find a company that can ensure that they will work with you in the months ahead, face to face meetings with the people who are working on your SEO. Ask about what contact and service you will receive on an ongoing basis.We believe addressing all of these questions, you will be sure to find the best SEO company to suit your needs.Good luck!
