Check their reviews, especially the 1-star ones. It’s hard to trust anyone these days, so make sure they can back up their claims with real results and references.
As an agency owner, I always pay attention to the questions a company asks me. Do they ask about your customer’s buying journey? If not, they might just be trying to sell you SEO without caring about your niche. No agency is great at everything, so pick one that knows your industry well.
Did you check their references and how they plan to reach their goals?
When I hire an SEO agency, I want to know two things: will they get the results I need, and how confident are they? I always check references and talk to 2-3 past clients. Good agencies are happy to connect you with past clients.
Lucia said:
@LizCampbell
Won’t they just connect me with clients that are already happy with them?
Ask for three different clients instead of just one.
@LizCampbell
Keep in mind that most reputable agencies won’t share client details due to NDAs, but smaller agencies might.
Get a legal guarantee. People will tell you it’s crazy, but we’ve offered one for years. It works!
Wyatt said:
Get a legal guarantee. People will tell you it’s crazy, but we’ve offered one for years. It works!
What would you include in that guarantee? Is it about how long it’ll take to rank or about traffic and leads?
@Lucia
We guarantee first-page rankings in 180 days or refund the client. We handle everything from web design to SEO so we can control the results.
Wyatt said:
@Lucia
We guarantee first-page rankings in 180 days or refund the client. We handle everything from web design to SEO so we can control the results.
People say you can’t control rankings, but honestly, you can. I wouldn’t offer a guarantee because SEO is always changing, but we map everything out for our clients and aim to beat their competitors on content, links, and technical SEO.
Whether you should go for a specialist or an agency depends on your industry and goals.
Make sure they know how to handle keyword research, ranking strategies, and building your site’s authority through content, backlinks, and PR. Ask them hard questions about their process because, at the end of the day, it’s your business on the line.
Here are two quick tips: 1) Look for free SEO reports, and 2) Ask what questions you should be asking an SEO agency.