Search engine optimisation is a specialist form of online marketing but a very important one. Although it’s just one search engine marketing service on offer, it’s possibly the most effective way of reaching customer’s through search. By appearing in the organic results for a search query related to your business, you appear in front of the customer without overt advertising. In short, it creates the impression that they came to you - not the other way round.
With more and more people making use of search engines every day - nearly 10 billion searches were made in the US in 2009 - no matter what your company’s target audience, search engine optimisation can be a significant worthwhile investment. Of course, choosing the right SEO company can be a little overwhelming. Although most people are entirely unaware that they even exist, it’s a fiercely competitive industry that is constantly innovating and developing new methods to keep up with developments in search engine technology and policy.
If you’re considering investing in an SEO company, here are some questions you should ask whilst making your selection:
1. Do they offer a tailored service? The most important part of SEO is ‘optimisation’. Each client has different needs, and your company is no different. Depending on your audience, your product and your competition, getting the strongest organic results can be extremely different from case to case. One of the most important things to recognise in SEO is that some battles just cannot be won; if you’re a small local business providing the same service as an international giant, it’s foolish to chase after the same keywords even if they are still relevant. It’s also worth noting that a window business will never be able to beat Microsoft in a search for ‘windows’ - search engines have come along way in the past decade, but they’re not psychic.
2. Are they promising too much? No matter what an SEO company might promise, consistently achieving high rankings in organic results on any search engine is a long-term process. There is no instant fix, and if someone promises you one then they’ll almost certainly be unable to deliver. Of course even if they do deliver, your improved rankings may not be based on the right keywords.
3. Do they offer an ongoing service/relationship? It’s also worth noting that higher rankings can be temporary. Unless your site has the spontaneous online popularity of Wikipedia, staying in the top results requires constant monitoring and work to develop worthwhile links that will have an effect on your rankings. It also is worthwhile to ensure that both your on-page and off-page optimisation (what happens on your page and what happens elsewhere) stays up to date with the changes to search engine algorithms constantly taking place at the big search engine companies. Last year Google made an average of 1.5 search improvements for every day of 2009.
4. Could you benefit from localised SEO? 45% of all website searches made on Google are location based. With the increasing use of smartphones for internet access, and the growing reliability of Google maps, more and more opportunities are appearing in the locally targeted search engine market. Search engines are rapidly overtaking local business directories in countries all around the world as the first port of call for finding local shops and services. Localised SEO can help you gain an edge on your competition and generate hundreds more leads for your business with people interested in your area of business in your location. By ensuring that your details are easy to find online and via search, you can reach people doing research from home or those looking for a quick solution to their enquiry.
5. Does their website have active content? One of the most fundamental practices in SEO is based upon frequently updated hosted content. Search engine algorithms give precedence to sites that are up-to-date and freshly updated. SEO is also a fast-moving industry, involving experimentation and research into the latest means of improving organic results via new algorithms, policies and technologies. An active blog or news section on an SEO company website can reveal whether they’re keeping their edge, or resting on their laurels.
6. Do they offer active content services? Of course, if fresh content can help raise your search visibility, then the really important question is how can you incorporate that into your site. Whilst even the most basic SEO company will offer you suggestions on keyword optimisation for your site’s content and recommend that you keep it updated, the fact is your company may not be able to do this on their own. Writing new content takes time away from your business itself, and there’s always the possibility you may just not want the hassle. If this is the case, then choosing an SEO company that will create optimised content for your site can be a cost-effective and time-saving arrangement that will help you get the most out of your search engine marketing.
