Choosing the right SEO agency to optimize your website for better Google rankings (search engine optimization) is an important component of your company's marketing strategy. Search engine optimization must be tailored to the needs and specific industry of your business.
Even if an SEO agency has optimized your website, it does not necessarily mean it will attract visitors (traffic). And even if visitors reach your website, they may not convert, meaning they might not provide their contact information in exchange for content such as a free downloadable whitepaper. You need specific SEO techniques to achieve high visibility in Google's search engine results pages (SERPs). You should establish the key points for this when choosing your SEO agency.
These are the questions you should ask your preferred SEO agency:
1. How does the SEO agency determine the keywords that will be the focus of the optimization efforts?
Research is a crucial element of SEO success. If your SEO agency does not have a standardized, documented, and traceable research process, your entire SEO project is unlikely to succeed, as it will be unclear what exactly is being optimized.
Always request a keyword list and a process description in advance. You need to clearly understand how the agency plans your search engine optimization and whether it seems reasonable to you.
2. Will the SEO optimization project improve your entire website?
A good SEO agency will provide recommendations for improving all areas of your website—from the design of your website to user experience and lead generation effectiveness.
Ensure that all aspects are optimized—insist on an analysis of your website concerning design and layout, navigation, coding, content, and link structures.
Particularly, the coding, content quality, and the design of incoming and outgoing links on your website are crucial factors for the success of your search engine optimization.
3. Will the websites of your competitors also be analyzed?
A good SEO agency will assess which competitors in your industry already have an effective SEO strategy. If there is no competitor analysis, how will the agency know who to compete against? A website should always be part of your overall business strategy—and thus also part of your competitive strategy.
If your SEO agency does not understand the difference between your online and offline competitors, they are unlikely to know how to tailor a strategy to outperform them.
Does the SEO agency offer a link-building strategy for your website?
Your SEO agency should also promote your visibility on other third-party websites to obtain valuable links for your website. Ensure that your SEO agency develops a detailed plan for this.
Only when a detailed plan is established and discussed in a strategy meeting with you can you assess how professionally and sustainably your SEO agency will manage link-building. Often, such strategy plans are not focused on the keywords that are crucial for your success.
The SEO agency must first understand your business, your industry, and the search behavior of your target customers before a keyword discussion and link-building strategy can even take place.
Additional questions you should definitely ask your SEO agency
- Ask for references—within your industry or with similar target customers.
- Inquire about successful results in optimizing for Google and Bing.
- Ask how long the SEO agency has been in business and how long they plan to work on your project—request a framework contract.
- Find out how many pages (webpages) will be optimized and at what price.
- How will your website be maintained, monitored, and what reporting on progress will be provided? Remember: SEO is not a one-time event!
- What strategies are offered beyond SEO? Does the agency also specialize in traffic generation or conversion rate optimization (CRO)?
Das sind die häufigen Fehler bei der Auswahl einer SEO-Agentur
- Choosing an SEO agency that promises a #1 position or first-page ranking in less than 6 months.
- Choosing an SEO agency that offers a quick fix, such as adjusting keywords without optimizing the entire content, including inbound and outbound links.
- Choosing an SEO agency that uses outdated SEO tricks that Google has long penalized (e.g., using hidden links or texts to increase keyword density).
- Using dubious backlink schemes that link your website to sites irrelevant to your business.
- An SEO agency that changes the content on your well-performing website without consulting with you first.