Tips for Finding the Right Company

Choosing the right SEO services partner is vital for businesses looking to boost their revenue through improved online visibility and customer engagement. The first search result gets a little over 27% of clicks, while more than 96% of content gets no traffic from Google. This means your business should show up at the top of Google to reach and acquire new customers. 

A reputed SEO agency enhances your company’s website via editorial link building, technical SEO, content creation, and more. They help you select the best keywords and use the right conversion elements on your landing pages to generate more sales. Remember, full-service SEO is more than just rankings; it’s about securing qualified leads that convert into sales.

However, differentiating between genuine SEO experts and those with superficial knowledge can be difficult. There are 304,592 SEO consultants in the US as of 2024, so selecting the best is not easy. Many agencies claim expertise but may lack the depth of knowledge or SEO experience necessary to deliver significant improvements in online business visibility. 

Also, some SEO agencies may promise quick results or guaranteed rankings, which can be misleading. Search engine optimization is a long-term strategy, and instant results are rarely sustainable. Unrealistic promises can lead companies to choose partners who do not align with best practices or long-term growth. 

Therefore, when exploring how to choose an SEO agency, you should look for proven case studies, industry-leading certifications, search marketing awards, positive user reviews, and client-friendly reporting as evidence of their capabilities.

This guide will give you good ideas on how to choose an SEO company to develop a strong SEO strategy. 

 

Why an SEO Agency is a Strategic Partner for Your Business Growth

Search engine optimization offers the highest ROI among every other digital marketing channel. WordStream published a survey to know the ROI generated by different digital channels. The results?

• Organic search offers a 49% ROI.
• Paid search has an ROI of 19%.
• Social media offers a marketing return on investment of 18%.
• Email has an ROI of 14%.

Hence, working with an SEO firm helps your business generate more leads and drive more sales. Here are the top reasons to outsource your marketing to an expert SEO agency:

• Knowledgeable Team: The world’s best SEO agencies have a team of vetted organic marketing professionals. They specialize in on-page optimization, organic link acquisition, technical SEO, and more. From content creation to technical changes based on the latest search engine algorithm updates, SEO services help you outperform your competitors. 
• AI-Powered SEO Tools: World-class digital marketing firms invest in state-of-the-art SEO and analytics tools. AI-based software provides deeper insights into keyword rankings, competitor analysis, website traffic, and user behavior. Tools like SEMrush and HubSpot offer capabilities that might be financially prohibitive for many businesses to afford independently.
• Brand Building and Credibility: SEO agencies help establish and enhance your brand’s online presence and credibility. They design UX-friendly landing pages and content that answer user questions and address their needs. Moreover, SEO firms maintain and optimize your brand’s information across platforms (Google My Business, social media, directories,) to help prospects locate your business online.
• User Experience Enhancement: By integrating effective UX design and optimizing key UI elements, SEO agencies create websites that are clean, minimalistic, and aesthetically pleasing. They also work to optimize website speed, accessibility, and user engagement. By crafting a user-friendly checkout process, they simplify transactions and encourage conversions. 
• Mobile Optimization: When you outsource SEO services to professionals, they help you create mobile-friendly navigation, simplifying menus and buttons to ensure users can easily browse and interact with the site on smaller screens. They also work on enhancing page speed and improving core web vitals metrics. These improvements ensure fast loading, minimal delays, and a smooth, stable browsing experience, which are essential for retaining mobile users and boosting search engine rankings.
• Google-Friendly Content Strategies: SEO agencies craft EEAT-friendly content by writing original and authoritative content that aligns with Search Quality Rater Guidelines. They demonstrate first-hand experience by integrating expert insights and case studies, ensuring the material is well-written and correctly attributed to trustworthy sources. For Your-Money-Or-Your-Life (YMYL) categories, agencies prioritize accuracy and reliability to meet Google’s strict standards. By combining these efforts, they ensure your SEO content strategy is both user-focused and optimized to build credibility and authority in competitive industries.

Which Services Are Typically Offered by SEO Agencies?

It is important for businesses to select SEO agencies that have expertise in areas like technical SEO, content writing, UX optimization, and others. 

Having a qualified and experienced marketing team on your side is always helpful, as they know how to propel your brand forward by applying modern SEO tactics. 

Here are the top services that SEO providers should provide for a well-rounded SEO strategy:

On-Page SEO

One of the primary services offered by SEO agencies is on-page optimization. It covers:

• Keyword Research and Mapping: SEO companies perform detailed keyword analysis to identify high-impact keywords for your business. More than 75% of marketers use keyword research to address consumer’s need for information. Once these search terms are identified and finalized, they perform keyword mapping to match the keywords with their target landing pages. 
• Meta Tag Optimization: After proper keyword mapping, each landing page is optimized for a seed keyword and its secondary variations. The primary keywords, LSI terms, synonyms, and long-tail variations of the keywords are used in the title, description, and content to improve the relevance score of the webpage. A high relevance score for the seed keywords helps the page to rank high in organic search.
• Page Heading Organization: SEO agencies also add well-structured headers to the content. The primary search term is used in the H1 tag. The secondary and long-tail variations of the seed keyword are used in the H2 and H3 tags. The overall header structure organizes the content and makes it more readable to users and search engines.
• Internal Link Enhancement: Link equity or link juice is important to rank pages on your site. SEO agencies create a network of contextual links using natural anchors to improve navigation between relevant pages. Improved link juice helps all the important landing pages on your website gain higher rankings in organic SERP.
• Search Intent Identification and Optimization: SEO experts analyze keywords to identify the intent behind user searches. Search intent can be informational, navigational, transactional, and commercial. Based on user intent, they prepare content that matches their specific needs. For instance, informational queries are addressed through detailed guides, while transactional queries are optimized with clear CTAs and product descriptions.

Off-Page SEO

Off-page consists of activities that occur outside the website. Here are the different off-page SEO tasks performed by SEO agencies that help to establish a business presence online:

• High-Quality Link Building: SEO companies help you acquire backlinks from a number of relevant referring domains, which improves your domain reputation. The top-ranking organic search results on Google have 3.8 times more backlinks than pages in positions 2-10.
• Social Media Marketing: 75% of consumers use social channels to research products and services. Full-service SEO firms also help to build your business’s presence on leading social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others. A prominent brand presence aids in follower growth and brings in relevant referral traffic to your website. Companies with established social media profiles and loyal followers help search engines determine the popularity of a brand. 
• Reputation Management: SEO agencies also assist in reputation management. Nowadays, people search for a brand and its products or services before becoming a customer. SEO firms ensure that wherever a searcher sees your brand in the search engine results pages (SERPs), it is portrayed positively. The brand reputation has a direct impact on conversions. 81% of buyers need to trust a brand before they plan to purchase from it. Digital marketing services help businesses acquire positive reviews and minimize the impact of negative reviews. They also create content around negative keywords to optimize the PAA (People Also Ask) questions that appear for your brand search.

Technical SEO

Search engines like Google rely on bots to crawl and index websites. Proper technical SEO ensures these bots can easily access and understand your site. Without a solid technical SEO framework, even the best content and backlink strategies fail to deliver results.

Here are the various technical SEO improvements an SEO agency offers to help your website perform efficiently: 

• Improve Site Speed: One in four users will abandon a website if it takes longer than four seconds to load. Expert SEO professionals measure and optimize page speed. By using the CrUX (Chrome User Experience Report), they optimize speed metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP) and DOMContentLoaded (DCL). 
• Enhance Mobile-Friendliness: More than 60% of traffic comes from smartphones, and Google maintains a 100% mobile-first index. Agencies perform mobile usability tests and check your website’s performance on different mobile devices. They design responsive layouts and mobile-optimized images to adjust your site for mobile users. Without expert oversight, improper implementation can lead to SEO issues or broken navigation on certain devices.
• Fix Technical Errors: Broken links and 404 errors are identified using tools like Broken Link Checker and SEMrush Site Audit. Duplicate content issues are flagged using tools such as Copyscape or Siteliner. Experts resolve these issues by redirecting broken links using 301 redirects, updating URLs, or canonicalizing duplicate content, preventing penalties and improving user experience.
• Optimize Core Web Vitals: Agencies improve Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) by leveraging tools like Google Lighthouse and WebPageTest. They optimize server response times, reduce JavaScript execution, and ensure stable content loading. Core Web Vitals optimizations are highly technical and require expert knowledge to balance performance and design effectively.
• Set Up Structured Data: Using tools like Schema Markup Generator, Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool, and SEMrush, agencies create and validate schema markup for your pages. Relevant schema markups help search engines understand your content better and can lead to rich snippet results. Proper implementation by experts ensures accuracy and avoids errors that could harm rankings.
• Maintain Website Architecture: Marketing experts design logical and hierarchical site structures to enhance navigation. They create short, descriptive, and keyword-rich URLs while removing unnecessary parameters. Incorrectly changing URLs without expert oversight can lead to broken links and lost traffic, making professional handling essential. Proper site organization with optimized URLs, breadcrumbs, category pages, and sitemaps helps users and search engine crawlers easily navigate your site.

Local SEO

Local SEO helps businesses improve visibility in local search results target local keywords like ‘near me’ searches. It ensures your business reaches potential customers nearby. Here are the key components of Local SEO and their relevance:

1. Optimizing Google Business Profiles: A well-optimized Google Business profile helps your business appear in local searches for the target keywords in your service areas. SEO agencies help you set up and optimize local listings containing business photos, videos, business hours, a delivery area, contact details, and a website link. 
2. Managing Online Reviews: Positive reviews build trust and credibility among local customers. 50% of consumers feel positive about a business after reading reviews and trust them as much as personal recommendations from friends. SEO agencies encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on Google and other platforms while responding professionally to feedback, improving your business’s online reputation.
3. Ensuring Consistent NAP Data: Consistency in your business’s Name, Address, and Phone number across all directories, websites, and social platforms is crucial for search engines to verify your location. SEO agencies audit and correct discrepancies to avoid confusion and boost local rankings.
4. Local Keyword Optimization: SEO firms help your website rank for both implicit (with location) and explicit (without location) keywords. After identifying the most relevant local search terms your prospects might use to find a business like yours, they optimize your website around those keywords. With location-specific landing pages having personalized local content based on your audience’s search intent, they help you acquire relevant local leads. 
5. Local Citations: Building citations involves getting your business listed on trusted local directories, industry-specific platforms, and high-authority websites. SEO agencies create detailed and consistent profiles on platforms like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and niche directories relevant to your industry. These citations establish your business’s legitimacy, improve local authority, and drive referral traffic from highly targeted audiences.
6. Geo-Targeted Content: Creating content specifically tailored to your location allows your business to address local customer needs effectively. SEO agencies develop blogs, landing pages, and FAQs that incorporate geo-specific keywords and address topics such as local events, community updates, and region-specific services. This approach improves relevance for local searches and strengthens your connection with the community.

Content Creation and Optimization

A failed content strategy results in wasted time, effort, and budget. An SEO agency ensures your content reaches the right audience and drives meaningful outcomes. Here are the best ways how digital marketing companies optimize content for SEO:

• Conduct Topic Research and Use Semantically Related Keywords: SEO agencies help you identify trending topics and user queries through comprehensive research, ensuring your content aligns with audience interests. They strategically incorporate semantically related keywords, making your content relevant and comprehensive for both users and search engines. This improves your content’s visibility in search results, capturing a wider range of potential queries.
• Build Content Clusters with Detailed Topic Coverage: Agencies structure your website into content clusters by creating pillar pages and detailed supporting articles that thoroughly cover related topics. This approach organizes your site for better internal linking, improves navigation for users, and signals to search engines that your site is authoritative. 
• Create SEO Landing Pages and Blogs: Around 50% of buyers read blogs and other informative content before purchasing. SEO agencies prepare engaging blog posts and high-converting landing pages. They apply the best practices of creating successful landing pages with a nice hero image, animation, or video. They also add a unique selling proposition, benefits of your offering, social proofs, conversion goals, and more. 
• Frequently Review, Update Content, and Maintain Consistency: Agencies conduct regular audits to review and update your content, ensuring it remains accurate, fresh, and aligned with the latest trends. They address outdated information and integrate new developments, keeping your content competitive in search rankings. Additionally, they ensure a consistent tone across all platforms to reinforce your brand identity and build trust with your audience.
• Optimize for Conversions While Addressing User Intent: Agencies tailor your content to match the target audience’s intent. By crafting action-oriented CTAs, they ensure your audience is guided toward completing purchases or signing up for services. This approach combines user satisfaction with business goals, maximizing conversions.

A well-structured SEO campaign management should cover all key aspects of optimization. Starting from on-page SEO and off-page SEO to technical SEO, content creation, and more, the ROI should be justified. 

Tips for Choosing the Right SEO Agency for Your Business Growth

Your choice of choosing an SEO company should be based on specific criteria. Here are some actionable tips to find an SEO company that offers long-term results:

Evaluate Portfolio

Look at agencies’ past work and the results they have driven for clients. From B2C to B2B SEO, check their range of projects. Do they have experience in working with a diverse range of industries? 

You need to ensure you choose the right SEO agency that has the capacity to handle large projects when your business scales. Look for long-term results by reviewing the case studies. Check specific SEO performance metrics like increases in website traffic, conversion rates, online reviews, etc. 

Look for innovative thinking and creativity in their expert SEO strategies. A comprehensive SEO agency portfolio assessment will help you pick a forward-thinking SEO service that is capable of achieving your business goals.          

Review Client Testimonials

Client reviews and testimonials highlight the customer’s perception of the agency’s services and help you choose the right SEO agency. Reading client testimonials enables you to learn about the agency’s strengths and weaknesses. Customer reviews and ratings also let you analyze the agency’s credibility and service quality. 

Check the agency reputation by analyzing client reviews on multiple sources like the company’s website and on review platforms like Clutch, Google Business, and more. Watch out for fake reviews, as they might be misleading. Genuine reviews mention the actual client name and the company name they represent. Conduct a Google search for the companies they have listed as their clients to know more about them. You can even call some of their past clients to learn more about SEO processes and results.

Check Industry Experience

It is important to evaluate the industry experience of your SEO company when outsourcing SEO. Every industry has its own unique customer persona, language, and set of competitors. If you are in a niche industry like healthcare, e-Commerce, or SaaS, you should look for an SEO agency that has handled similar clients.

For instance, an e-Commerce-focused agency should showcase proficiency in optimizing product pages and managing technical SEO for large inventories. SEO agency expertise ensures custom SEO solutions to deliver better results.          

Ask About SEO Techniques

You should only work with white hat SEO agencies since they use ethical search engine optimization techniques that follow SEO principles and search engine guidelines. 

Before choosing an SEO agency, request a detailed explanation of their approach to link building, content creation, and SEO audit process. For example, ask if they prioritize editorial backlinks or use schema markup for structured data. Ensure they avoid risky shortcuts like link farms (PBNs) or keyword stuffing, which can result in search engine penalties.   

Here are some spam policies that manipulate Google search systems. Sites performing black-hat SEO may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all. Hence, you should make sure the chosen SEO company does not engage in any of these policy-violating practices. 

Analyze Agency’s Website

The best way to determine the efficiency of any SEO service is to examine their own website. A well-optimized agency website demonstrates ability to implement SEO best practices effectively.

Check if their website is ranking for keywords related to SEO marketing. Analyze if it is also professional and mobile-friendly. Evaluate the user experience and the content quality. Doing so will give you a solid idea about the agency’s capabilities and work expertise.

Beware of Unrealistic Promises

Black hat SEO companies will make false promises that most business owners want to hear, but they lead to short-lived results. Guarantees like “Page 1 rankings in 30 days” or “Rank 1 on Google for your business keywords” are misleading, and you should be cautious about these. 

Ethical and white-hat SEO takes time, and guarantees indicate reliance on manipulative black-hat SEO practices. A trustworthy agency should set a realistic timeline, such as a 6–12 month plan for measurable progress. They will also not offer any ranking guarantees. You have the right to ask for a detailed explanation of how the SEO agency plans to achieve what they claim to do with your site.

Avoid agencies making unrealistic and unsubstantiated claims. If you come across false promises about guarantees for SEO services, it’s best to stop working with them. Instead, choose a service that relies on ethical practices that offer long-term growth and consistent SEO results. 

Learn How Pricing Works

Choosing an SEO company also requires you to analyze their pricing. To get a fair rate based on the market standards and the services requested, you should review and compare the SEO agency pricing models of your chosen SEO services. Some might offer project-based pricing, while others might provide an hourly or monthly SEO retainer package. 

Before choosing an SEO agency, request clarity on their SEO pricing structures and discuss the scope of work included in each of the SEO agency proposals. Look for hidden SEO agency costs that might exceed the rate offered. For example, some agencies might charge you separately for content writing or link building. Be wary of such costs and have them discussed and negotiated beforehand to avoid surprises later.           

Be Wary of Companies Offering Extremely Low Prices

Cheap SEO is different from affordable SEO. Companies offering extremely low pricing fail to keep up with the industry’s SEO standards. You are investing in SEO for long-term growth and opting for generic, one-size-fits-all strategies might lead to long-term damage to your website performance.

Agencies charging unusually low fees rely on risky tactics that damage your business’s credibility. Poor-quality tactics like content automation or low-quality link building like those from large-scale directory submissions and private blog networks hurt your brand’s online reputation. 

Ask how they allocate resources for tasks like outreach or content creation to ensure quality isn’t compromised. Don’t just pick agencies offering super low prices, as they are more likely to offer generic SEO with poor customer service. You should always look for top-tier agencies using modern and proven search engine optimization tactics.         

Ensure They Provide Transparent and Detailed Reporting

Transparency in SEO services leads to successful client partnerships. The agency should openly share strategies, progress, and outcomes. 

The SEO company should offer regular reporting with actionable insights and clear metrics to help you track your SEO performance effectively. 

A detailed SEO report should include key metrics like organic traffic, keyword rankings, and conversion rates. It should highlight landing page performance, technical health (site speed, broken links, Core Web Vitals), and backlink profiles to showcase progress and areas for improvement. 

Clear, visually engaging dashboards and actionable recommendations ensure clients understand their SEO performance and the value of ongoing optimization. Your chosen SEO service should address common challenges like setting realistic expectations, avoiding conflicts of interest, and maintaining open communication.

Common Red Flags to Avoid

If you know how to evaluate SEO agencies based on the common red flags, you can avoid the trap of unreliable agencies. These red flags are your savior when you are wondering how to choose an SEO company:    

Promises of Instant Results

Beware of agencies claiming they can deliver top rankings overnight. SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that requires constant updation based on ongoing algorithm updates. Such promises rely on risky tactics like manipulative link schemes or keyword stuffing, which can result in penalties and damage your site’s reputation.

Use of “Black Hat” SEO Techniques

Black hat tactics, such as cloaking, private blog networks (PBNs), and spammy backlinks, may yield short-term gains but frequently lead to severe penalties or de-indexing by search engines. A reliable agency should clearly outline ethical, “white hat” methods like high-quality content creation and authoritative link building.

Lack of Transparency in Reports

A lack of detailed reporting is a significant red flag that indicates poor practices or ineffective strategies. Without transparent reports, businesses cannot determine what specific actions are being taken or how these efforts align with their goals. Lack of clarity may conceal substandard work, such as low-quality link building, irrelevant keyword targeting, or minimal effort on critical tasks like content creation or technical SEO. Hence, you should demand clear, regular insights to ensure accountability and to verify that their investment is driving measurable progress.

Unrealistically Low Prices

Low-cost SEO services signal poor-quality work and outdated tactics like directory submission that can harm your website’s performance. These agencies may cut corners by outsourcing to unskilled providers or relying on black-hat techniques, which can lead to penalties and costly fixes down the line. Additionally, hidden fees are common, as initial pricing rarely covers essential services like content creation, technical audits, or detailed reporting. You should consider the low pricing criteria in your SEO agency selection. Investing in reputable agencies with transparent pricing ensures you receive high-quality, sustainable results without risking your site’s credibility or long-term success.

Lack of Proven Results

Agencies without verified case studies or measurable outcomes lack the expertise to deliver meaningful results. Proven results, such as increased organic traffic, higher keyword rankings, or improved conversion rates, demonstrate an agency’s ability to execute effective strategies. Without tangible evidence of past successes, businesses risk wasting time and resources on ineffective tactics. Always request detailed case studies, client testimonials, or data-driven examples to ensure the agency can meet your goals and deliver a strong return on investment.

NinjaPromo: Your Go-To SEO Agency for Lasting Growth         

As a top-notch SEO agency, we provide full-scale SEO solutions for businesses across industries. Our expertise includes EEAT-friendly content creation, editorial link acquisition, and multimedia asset creation, ensuring your website ranks higher and engages effectively. By developing linkable assets and enhancing brand visibility, we help position your business as an authority in its niche. 

Our team consists of UX designers, analytics experts, and verified SEO specialists, all working together to implement data-driven strategies that align with your unique goals. We carefully weigh the benefits of SEO vs PPC, tailoring our approach to leverage both for maximum effectiveness in our digital marketing strategies. 

Utilizing advanced SEO tools, we track performance, uncover opportunities, and continuously refine strategies to ensure impactful outcomes. With content writers crafting high-quality, targeted content, we optimize every aspect of your digital presence to boost organic visibility and drive conversions. 

We prioritize seamless collaboration, offering real-time communication through tools like Trello to keep you informed and involved. Everything is bundled into a single monthly subscription, providing you with an all-inclusive solution that eliminates hidden costs and fragmented efforts. Partnering with us means investing in ethical, transparent, and effective SEO practices that prioritize long-term growth. 

Let’s help you achieve your digital goals with strategies built for success. Reach out to our team today and discover how we can transform your online presence.