5 Questions To Help You Find The Right Agency

Ask The Right Questions To Find The Right Digital PartnerThere is no doubt about it.Your business needs to stay competitive in the search results.Otherwise, you risk losing sales to competing businesses.But with barely enough time, you simply do not have the time to build your campaign, let alone the experience. The best solution is to work with an SEO agency in Perth to bring your rankings to the first page. The only problem is that there is plenty of agencies to work with.So how do you choose a marketing company to hire?By asking the right questions.Like the interview process for finding competent employees, you must follow a similar approach. The reality is that the search landscape is ridiculed with complexities. Working with an experienced company means efficiently navigating through those waters and ultimately bringing more sales to your business.Here we look at the five questions you must ask to find the right SEO company in Perth.1. How will you increase our search engine rankings?Start with the most straightforward question.Companies that hesitate to outline how they intend to improve your rankings in the search results should generally not be trusted. It is akin to lenders approving loans without knowing what the company will use the money for; they simply won’t do it. SEO requires a strategic approach, not just targeting random keywords or building links from irrelevant sources.Any good SEO will have a process they employ, ideally, one that has generated measurable results for other clients. As you sit down in your initial consultation, it is also a good idea to ask for case studies; this way, you can see how their process has resulted in a profitable outcome.The more specific the response, the better.So look for an SEO agency that walks you through the exact steps of improving rankings, from conducting a technical SEO audit to identifying which keywords to target. Vague responses tell you that the company may not be as experienced as you thought.2. How will you keep me updated on changes to the website?Communication is critical for any business relationship.And the same applies when working with an SEO company.You both need to be on the same page to reach your business objectives. Poor communication can lead to subpar work with no one to be held accountable. So be sure to ask this question during your first consultation and ask for specific examples.SEO companies are tasked with addressing specific aspects of your site, from fixing technical errors to optimising the content. This means you will need to give access to your website (another important reason to hire a company you can trust). Risks can be mitigated by having all the changes in-house or by yourself, but the downside is that changes will take longer to implement.Either way, changes need to be tracked.Most SEO companies will send regular reports on a weekly or monthly basis with details of where your site currently ranks and any changes made. This allows you to see the actual work that the company carried out.3. Do you follow all search engine best practices?Google (and other search engines, including Yahoo and Bing) continue to update their ranking algorithm constantly.Practices that were once effective could now be detrimental to your site rankings. The SEO company you work with should keep up to date on the latest algorithm changes and follow best practices. Google provides a set of Quality Guidelines for webmasters to follow but any good SEO will also take them to heart.This part of the Quality Guidelines is important:

We strongly encourage you to pay very close attention to the Quality Guidelines below, which outline some of the illicit practices that may lead to a site being removed entirely from the Google index or otherwise affected by an algorithmic or manual spam action. If a site has been affected by a spam action, it may no longer show up in results on Google.com or on any of Google’s partner sites.

SEO companies that engage in questionable tactics (e.g. spamming links, keyword stuffing, etc.) to increase rankings are doing more harm than good to your site. Recovering from a penalty is possible, but it can take months or even years to bring your rankings back to normal. Look for a company that follows best practices and even ask for specific examples.4. What is your link building strategy?Links to your pages are one of the most crucial ranking factors.Each one is essentially seen as a vote. The more you have the higher you rank in the search results. This was certainly the case years ago but now there are many different factors to consider. With the release of the Penguin algorithm update, too many links from irrelevant sources could result in a ranking penalty.Google considers both the quality and relevance of your links. A link from an authoritative source in your industry will carry far more weight than a link from a blog comment. It is in your best interest to avoid any SEO company that:

Uses automated tools to build links in massBuys links from questionable link networksSubmits links to irrelevant directories or sourcesSuch practices are against Google’s Quality Guidelines and could get your site in trouble.The SEO agency you work with should use link building strategies such as:Creating engaging and relevant content for your target marketGuest posting on relevant blogs for quality linksSubmitting to directories that are in your industryCollaborating with industry influencers

These are the exact strategies that can withstand future algorithm updates and deliver results.So before hiring an agency, ask about the link-building strategies they employ. A good SEO company can tell you the exact methods they use to build quality links.5. Do you guarantee search engine rankings?This is more of a trick question.Stay away from any agency that makes promises of number one rankings in the search results.Google even states the following:

Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a “special relationship” with Google, or advertise a “priority submit” to Google. There is no priority submit for Google. In fact, the only way to submit a site to Google directly is through our Add URL page or by submitting a Sitemap and you can do this yourself at no cost whatsoever.

No reputable SEO company in Perth can guarantee top rankings in Google or make similar claims. The best any agency can do is provide a guarantee of satisfaction, but even then, you should look closely into these before making any arrangements.ConclusionSEO is increasingly important to rank in the search results for your target keywords. But the last thing you want is to work with an inexperienced agency or one that relies on questionable tactics. These are the questions you must ask to gauge how knowledgeable an SEO agency is.