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In the marketing industry, new techniques and strategies are emerging every day. Brands with an online presence dedicate a significant portion of their budget to search engine optimization and will continue to invest for the future.
For brands, you need to start optimizing your web presence now, otherwise you risk staying behind your competitors. If you do not have knowledge of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and your company lacks marketing talent, you can outsource your natural SEO strategy by entrusting it to an agency.
What is an SEO agency?
The SEO agency is a digital agency specializing in techniques for optimizing the visibility and reputation of your business on search engines (like Google or Bing).
Why use an SEO agency?
You may need to hire an SEO agency to answer these questions:
Does my site technically meet the search engine’s requirements?
How do I modify my site without losing my current SEO?
What is the most suitable SEO strategy that I can implement?
How can I optimize my visibility and be first on search engines?
There are more and more companies interested in natural referencing and the number of SEO service providers is increasing accordingly.
Unfortunately, the market is saturated and choosing a competent specialist can be difficult. It is therefore important to know how to recognize the signs of quality and thus avoid choosing the wrong partner
Common traits of a Poor SEO Agencies
Choosing the wrong SEO partner can do a lot of harm to your business. We will review the signs that help identify an unserious SEO agency.
1- Unattainable promises
You are looking for an SEO partner because you want to be present on the internet. An agency assures you that you can double your traffic in a few months. This is attractive, but in reality it is unlikely.
It’s a bad sign when a digital service provider promises to quickly rank your unoptimized website on the first page. SEO is a long-term process. You are running a marathon here, not a sprint.
It takes several months to see the effects, or even years, depending on the sector of your business. Nothing is impossible, but please be aware that no SEO technique can guarantee that you will achieve exceptional results quickly or that you will maintain this progress for an extended period of time.
This is why, choose an SEO agency that is transparent with you, both in its actions and in its results.
3- A lack of interest in your business goals
The second sign to watch out for revolves around your business goals. A competent agency will seek to understand the nature of your objectives and how SEO will help achieve them. In my opinion, a successful SEO campaign is a ROI campaign that integrates your business objectives.
For example :
- Are you looking to generate potential customers, but your partner agency is only interested in traffic?
- Although you want to improve your local presence, the strategy put in place for you only focuses on rankings in general?
These types of misunderstandings can cause problems later. You may fail to understand the impact SEO can have on your business.
3- A poor website and weak content strategy
Before entrusting the SEO of your site to an agency, make sure that their digital strategy is up to par! If their website and content are ugly, outdated, irrelevant, or concerning in some way, that’s a sign they’re not following their own advice.
Relevant agencies understand the importance of content relevance and user experience. So pay attention to these two elements. They can help identify a supplier who is not up to standard.
Be sure to do a quick Google search to determine how the prospective partner ranks on key terms. Search for the following expressions: “SEO agency”, “SEO in [CITY NAME]” as well as any other related terms that come to mind. Take note of the agency’s ranking on each keyword. Does it appear among the first results? Does it appear on the first page?
4- Poor communication
If the potential partner does not seek to understand your objectives, it is likely that they will not know how to communicate effectively either. Test their communication skills through a variety of methods. Call, email. Pay attention to response time and tone of responses. These signals can help you identify an agency that might not be a good fit for your team. In my experience, a company satisfied with these campaigns always ends up internalizing SEO skills through training and/or support.
Common characteristics of a skilled SEO agencies
Before choosing an SEO agency, it is important to bring your team together to discuss your content and your marketing objectives (we will come back to this part in a future post). From there, you can choose a partner who will help you achieve specifically what you have planned.
As you begin the process of finding a partner, keep an eye out for the following characteristics. They are the sign of a skilled SEO agency.
1- A personalized strategy
SEO isn’t just about improving rankings. Indeed, it is also about generating relevant and qualified traffic. Ranking well is good. Creating content that attracts visitors and turns prospects into customers is better.
A good agency will talk to you to understand your target, your services and your objectives. She will know how to use this knowledge to develop a unique strategy, because there is no universal solution or magic formula when it comes to SEO.
2- White hat methods
It is essential to check that your future partner uses white hat techniques.
There are SEO tactics that allow you to get results in a faster time by manipulating the system in ways contrary to engine guidelines or by trying to manipulate Google’s ranking algorithm. If this allows rapid progress to be made, the consequences for companies that choose this type of method can be significant.
These so-called “black hat” tactics can lead to penalties including complete removal of the website from Google search results. NEVER use these techniques on your main business website.
White hat SEO, for its part, respects Google’s instructions. Don’t be afraid to confront a potential partner if their methods seem shady or unethical!
3- Put words into action
A competent SEO agency will deliver on its promises and do its best to meet expectations while a very competent SEO agency will provide proof that their campaigns and methods work. She will share with you data, case studies, recommendations and projects carried out for other clients.
These high-performing agencies aren’t afraid to share information about their past work or the strategies they employ. They will also not hesitate to engage in more in-depth discussions on complex and related topics. In my opinion, SEO is just one acquisition channel among others, a good agency must have an overview of digital channels.
4- Appropriate analysis tools
Effective strategies can be implemented without purchasing expensive software. An agency must at least train its staff and clients in the use of the Google suite: Analytics, Ads, Search Console. Not only must she be able to configure Google Analytics, but she must also know how to use reporting, extract the necessary and relevant data and explain it to you in an intelligible way.
5- Prioritize conversion
An SEO agency must be aware that while traffic and rankings are extremely important, it is the end customers who make the company money. Conversions drive your business forward and an effective SEO partner will choose a ROI strategy that leads to real customer acquisition.
Conclusion
When choosing an SEO agency, it is absolutely essential to start by explaining your business goals. To do this, you need to know your priorities and understand how SEO can help you achieve them. Only then will you be able to find the perfect partner for you!
