Working With An SEO Agency In 2020
So you have decided to hire an SEO service to help your business succeed in the search engines? You are undoubtedly aware of all the benefits that you can expect to receive if you engage an SEO expert to do your digital marketing for your business.
While most SEO experts will suggest that you implement SEO on your website yourself, others may advise you on what SEO keywords to use and other SEO items like technical analysis and how to build links to further increase your sites visibility in search engine result pages (SERPS). The path that you choose to go down for your SEO journey is important as working with the wrong agency, or with the wrong scope of work – can cost you thousands in fees and get you minimal results.
Types of SEO Services
- Technical SEO
- Content SEO
- Link Building SEO
Technical SEO
Technical SEO can be referenced as all the things which make SEO work, under the hood. Think about the servers, the web apps, the infrastructure behind the beautifully written content and the manual out reach guest posts. Technical SEO is the first port of call for any SEO to ensure that your site has the best chance of ranking. It’s something to note that if you are wondering why your site isn’t ranking for any keywords, the first thing you should do is a quick technical audit. Even for the SEO novices out there you can identify some easy to solve problems just by using google itself. Things that can be included as Technical SEO are:
- Server/cPanel Configuration
- Website speed
- Meta Robots Tags – tags to indicate how your site should be reviewed by robots
- Canonical references
- Schema.org implementation
- SSL Implementation
- XML Sitemap
- Robots.txt configuration
- International hreflang targeting
- Page structure including things like #! urls, trailing vs non trialing slash urls, filters and other configurations
- Javascript loading
- Minifying of CSS and JS
- Page Authority and site siloing
- Crawling and click depth
- ‘Other’ versions of the website
- Pagespeed optimisation
- Caching and CDN management
- Website pointing to non 200 status code internal pages
- Onpage 301 redirects
A strong Technical SEO audit will identify issues like the above and potentially more. When dealing with technical SEO you will want to identify the key issues which are causing a website NOT to rank. This needs to be understood, that not every technical optimisation needs to be complete – as this could be a waste of resources which could be spent on more important things like creating content to increase keyword reach or building your product/brand for longer term benefits.
The best way to work with an agency when dealing with technical SEO is to understand who is doing what, when and the impact that it will have on the site. An easy way to do this is via a WIP sheet, project management tool or a shared technical SEO audit. Have your agency tell you what is going to have the most impact in fixing first, if its something which may take a long time – queue up the next task and see what else can be done to fix the site. If you’re unsure about the task, or what impact it will have, or if there is anything else that could be looked at – ask questions! The more communication there is with technical items, the faster things can be completed.
If you have your own developers or a team of developers, have them discuss with the agency what can and cant be done, show the agency the CMS and what you are working with on your side before you move forward. The technical set up of the site, page templates and other infrastructure is extremely important and may change the approach by the agency to get results.
Content SEO
Link Building SEO
SEO Agency Pricing
Many professional service providers offer their services at a fixed price and charge you monthly basis. These services providers to help you out with one on one consultations with their SEO experts. They can assist you to select keywords and establish what keyword phrases work best for your site.
Types of SEO Agency Pricing
SEO Agency Reviews
What to look for, good reviews, bad reviews, how they get reviews/
Freelance SEO
How to understand if the SEO is a good fit, case studies, client examples, niche examples
It would be in your best interest to try to employ SEO experts who are well versed in all areas of your website. Having these SEO experts help you improve your website is something that should not be taken lightly.
Your company could benefit from the efforts of a SEO expert. An experienced SEO service can help you make certain changes in your website which would greatly enhance its performance on the search engines.
When it comes to SEO, you need to ensure that you are not compromising quality and this can be accomplished by selecting a SEO service which employs only experts. You should also look for a company that has a wide range of service providers to choose from.
Because there are many different companies offering these services, it would be advisable to do some research before you sign up for any SEO service. Ask your friends and colleagues if they have used any SEO services, or contact SEO professionals to find out if they recommend any particular company.
Although a SEO company may charge you a high price, it is still better to pay this price in order to ensure that your website is maintained properly. Also, if you are able to find an expert SEO service, then you are in a better position to determine how your website will perform on the search engines.