SEO services are very expensive and it is important to make the right choice when selecting a firm or consultant. Due to the technical nature of SEO it is almost impossible for a manager to know exactly what they did or didn’t do, much like sending your car for a service.

There is also some SEO’s that perform unethical ‘black hat’ practices that might lead to your website being excluded from searches, making it very imperative to choose wisely.

Where to look:

These companies are in the business of being visible on searches. It therefore makes sense to go to your favorite search engine and search for SEO providers in your area.

Any SEO provider worth its salt will show up there and will be easily contactable through their website. Study the website for background information, customer testimonials and the qualifications and experience of the technicians.

It’s recommended to shortlist at least three companies and then contact them for a presentation on how they plan to better your rankings and a all inclusive quotation.

How to choose:

Now that you have made a shortlist and understand how the candidates will work on improving your ranking you have to select one. Most search engines are very clear on what they consider good practices; make sure that your short listed candidates adhere to these guidelines. Check on the references they gave you by searching some of them online to check their ranking.

Ask them if they would analyze the websites of your biggest competitors to make sure you achieve a higher ranking. After assessing your website they must be able to give you an estimation the potential ranking and increase of traffic to your website. Ask them what strategy they will use to achieve higher rankings; will it involve recoding your website or making visible changes to your existing body of text?

Some SEO’s might prefer to redesign the whole website in a search engine friendly way. Be weary of SEO’s offering guarantees as they do not ultimately decide which ranking your website will receive. Google warns website owners to beware of anyone that claims to have a special relationship with them or have a ‘priority submit’ to Google.

Closing the deal:

Some SEO’s have pay per click deals but these are not recommended for long-term high rankings and should only be considered for specific projects like an event or once-off promotion, as they are very costly in the long run. Make sure that your selected SEO monitors the traffic and agree on reporting that would suit your needs.

Check how these reports translate on your sales figures. If you are experiencing high volumes of traffic but not an increase in sales it is likely that the keywords are irrelevant and are getting you visitors that are not interested in your product or services. Make sure you get an all inclusive quotation with no hidden costs to ensure a value for money proposition.

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