How to Hire the Right SEO Agency (What to Look For)

The SEO algorithms change now and then. It’s difficult for the professionals to get a grip on it, let alone for us.

Since we do not know what is going on, it’s difficult to entrust someone with the job. It’s difficult to assess how well they will perform or how well they know their job.

Isn’t it? Plus, the dense competition in the market has further added to choosing just one agency with the job. That’s because a lot of them seem to be promising just what we need.

If you’ve browsed the market a bit, we bet you’d think the same. So we’ve compiled a few techniques that can help you with filtering your options, narrowing down your choices, and choosing the best SEO agency of all.

#1. Inquire about their Strategies and Tactics

Step one is to inquire what they do. Remember, this step comes before diving into their reputation or their plan for your business. This is where you determine whether they genuinely possess their claimed skills or not.

If they use black-hat SEO (and try to convince you of its usefulness too), drop the plan right there. Similarly, do your research over valid SEO strategies and tactics and check them against your research. For example, content farming has long been a discarded SEO strategy. It involves bulk production of low-quality articles, which helps gain a better ranking on search engines. However, since it is discarded strategy, you might get penalized for using this strategy.

#2. Checkout their Reputation 

Once you’re satisfied with the methodologies they use to do good on search engines, take a step ahead and check out their reputation in the market. You can do that by reviewing the opinions of their clientele and checking out their portfolio. Check out the success rate of their former clients. Ideally, an established and genuine agency will provide you with their past work and client reviews without any queries.

#3. Spot the Red Flags

Remember, when you’re assessing an SEO agency, you’re assessing a bunch of professionals who are helping you decode and dominate a search engine. They know how to make their way. So, even when you’re done with your manual analysis, there’s a high chance that you’ve been fooled. So, to recheck your assessment, spot the red flags.

The most common red flag for SEO agencies includes unreal claims like promising you a guaranteed 100x reach within the first month. If they say so, they’re not helping you decode and dominate the algorithm. Instead, they’re helping you cheat it, which could penalize your website and adversely impact your reputation in the long run.

#4. Prioritize Transparency

 If you are entrusting the job to an SEO agency remotely (which is a common practice nowadays), you ought to prioritize transparency. Know where they are located and how you can track them back if need be. Any reputable and reliable SEO agency will prioritize transparency on their end too. For example, check out the E-centres website. These guys downright offer the best SEO in Ireland. Despite being the best, you’d scroll down on the footer of their website, and find their contact details listed clearly.

Whether you’re hiring them for local SEO in Ireland or you’re hiring them remotely, you have all the necessary information at hand to trust them in the first place.

#5. Ask for Technical & Search Audit

Before you sign the contract, ask for a technical and search audit. Technical audits may include internal linking, server connectivity, URL parameters, crawlability, response codes, etc. On the contrary, search audit includes competitor analysis, updation of obsolete content and on-page optimization, and generating buzz via social media content.

In either type of audit, the SEO agency identifies the current and prevalent issues with your websites and proposes solutions.

They also identify how much time and money investment the process requires. They will provide you with an estimate of the positive business impact of their efforts.  

Final Thoughts

Summing up, finding the best SEO agency will require lots of checks and rechecks. We recommend allocating at least a week or two for the process. Once you’re in touch with the right agency, you’ll see the tables turn for good.