Choosing a great SEO agency for your marketing campaign may be a tough task. You will find lots of agencies around who specialize in Search Engine Optimization, but how can you trust that each will really push your Google rankings to the top?

It always pays when looking for an SEO agency to not just look into their past and current client base, but in addition to ask about their achievements. What Google rankings have they attained for past clients? How long did it take? And how much did the web page traffic increase? Quite often, it may take around 3 months or maybe more for rankings to improve on Google and traffic should increase from about 50% upwards. At this stage, you might also want to inquire in the event the agency offers any subscriptions for post-optimization upkeep. A good company should, since maintaining high SEO rankings requires ongoing care.

It also helps to look for an SEO agency that offers a full array of services. ‘On-page services’ like website analysis, content optimization, page optimization, internal link building and ranking and traffic management should be offered. ‘Off-site’ SEO services should include keyword research, competitor analysis, external link building, and off-page promotion. It could also help to ask your prospective company for anybody who is required to approve anything before they go ahead with it. If they say ‘yes’, it’s really a good sign they are honest and prepared to work closely with you. To boost your rankings, an SEO agency needs to employ an assortment of tasks, not just 1 or 2, so be wary of companies that only offer limited or dodgy services.

The right SEO company is necessary to provide the proper SEO services and features to the business. Not every SEO can handle all the several types of businesses within the market. Hence, some SEO agencies have a tendency to focus on certain niche markets to hone their skills and creativity. There may be special requirements from certain niche markets which only skilled and creative SEO agencies can handle. These may cost a little more than the other general SEO company operators. It will depend on the SEO industry vision and modus operandi.

Every SEO company will operate differently depending on their modus operandi and business objectives. Although most have similar offerings and services, some may stand out more than others with regards to service standard and creativity.

Something else to be aware of is any agency that offers to improve your rankings through suspect methodologies like spamming, keyword stuffing, hidden text, high-ranking doorway pages and link-farming. These are often referred to as “black hat SEO” and can get you banished from major search engines, which can be hugely detrimental to your business. Also keep an eye out for automatic, bulk submissions to major search engines. Automatic submissions are not considered best SEO services practice and it is must more beneficial for you if a business conducts manual submissions. Always make sure that an SEO agency is open about their methodologies used – any secrecy could mean they are using “black hat” techniques.

It’s vital to understand that high prices within an SEO agency don’t necessarily mean the top quality. Instead, choose a company based on their client base, reputation and their very own site optimization and Google rankings. Similarly, if a company is offering you “guaranteed” #1 rankings for a ridiculously low price, it’s probably too good to be true. Collecting several quotes is the best way to start and always make certain quotes are supported by a contract, so you know exactly what you’re getting for your hard earned money. It’s going to also help to ask what their payment terms are and if they have any fees for early termination.

Finally, a trustworthy SEO agency should offer and conduct thorough and specific keyword research as a part of their SEO services. Most businesses shall include keyword research as a given, but be wary of any company that asks you to provide the keywords for their work. While they might ask for your opinion, the keywords used should be based on their research, analytics and competitor scope, not about what you tell them. Remember, they’re meant to be the SEO experts – not you! “Guessing” your keywords isn’t efficient and a great SEO agency will research your keywords thoroughly before recommending them.