The Seattle metropolitan area is home to globally renowned companies. These include Amazon.com, Microsoft Corporation, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, Starbucks Coffee Company, Alaska Airlines, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Nordstrom, Weyerhaeuser, and Costco. Apart from these heavyweights, there are several other smaller companies and businesses in the metro area.
Given the above, your organization needs to constantly give its A-game to thrive in such a competitive environment. A strategy that will help is search engine optimization. You’ll need to hire a company that specializes in Search Engine Optimization in Seattle to get the best possible results. If you’re wondering how to select the right SEO company, this article will give you all the information and tips you need to make this happen.
Gather Requirements from Stakeholders in Your Organization
Before you start the process of selecting an SEO firm, you need to get certain information from your company’s stakeholders. You need to find out what their requirements are. Chief among these requirements is the budget. Ask them how much they are ready to invest in SEO.
Another thing you need to find out is the company’s goals. What do they want to achieve by hiring this set of professionals? They also need to inform you of their estimated timeline for the execution of the goal. This will guide you in choosing the right SEO company that can deliver on the goal within the specified timeframe.
Ask them about the level of involvement. Will the outsourcing firm be saddled with the entire project? Or will they integrate and collaborate with the in-house team?
Other things you need to find out are who’ll be the middle person between the agency and your company and the specialization of the agency. With these pieces of information, you would be able to filter firms faster. You can also accurately inform potential agencies of the strategy, timeline, and expectations of the stakeholders. Above all, you’ll be able to select the perfect SEO firm.
Research and Discover What Makes a Good SEO Company
You need to research carefully to discover and understand what makes a good SEO company. This will help you know good companies when you meet them. Some features to research include:
Certifications: The agency you want to hire must possess proper certifications. If an agency has Google Premier Partner certification, it means Google has recognized it as one of the top 3% of agencies. You can visit https://myrestraining.com/ to learn how to become a Google Premier Partner. You can rest assured that such a company will deliver the goods.
- Case Studies: When you contact the agency, they should be able to provide you with case studies upon your request. This will allow the firm to showcase their abilities.
- Award: Awards tell you that the organization has had an excellent performance. The award might be for approach, service, or results.
- Reviews: There must be reviews of the SEO company on third-party websites. With reviews, you’ll find out what people, especially previous clients, are saying about the agency.
- Experience: Years in operation and the number of jobs handled are very important when determining the experience of the firm.
- Transparency: This refers to how they charge and document their process. Your organization should be carried along and clear on all the details involved in the process.
List Potential SEO Agencies
Now that you know what good SEO companies look like, it’s time to find them. You can get potential candidates through referrals, social media, online searches, industry events, or conferences. Remember to only list agencies in Seattle; you don’t want to do business with a firm that’s far from your organization’s HQ.
Assess Each Agency
Your assessment of each agency should be against the features we discussed above. They need to be able to provide you with case studies. In the case studies, find out what the client wanted to achieve, the measurement metrics the agency used, the timeframe of the campaign, and the final results and testimonials from the client. Ensure that you confirm that the client truly exists and is not made up by the firm by getting their contact information and speaking with them.
Go ahead and read reviews from third-party review websites and social media platforms such as Facebook. You can check out this post to discover the benefits of Facebook reviews and why they are important. If the reviews are full of negative comments or poor ratings, remove the agency from your list.
Ask Each Agency Questions and Request Deliverables
Call the agencies still on your list and ask them very important and relevant questions. Find out how they’ll measure results, when results will be evident, the cost of their services, the strategy execution process, etc. You should also request deliverables to further help you assess their ability and the cost of the job. After doing this with all the agencies, you can then choose your pick.
Conclusion
Business in Seattle is very competitive, and companies must stay on their toes to remain relevant and productive. Investing in SEO is a strategy that most companies in the metropolitan area are not sleeping on. Therefore, we’ve shared some tips that will guide you in choosing the right SEO company in the article above.