Is SEO worth it and what are the good qualities to look for in an SEO company?
SEO is a widely used term nowadays, due to the rise in technology and online presences of numerous businesses. Having an online presence is definitely something that is very important when it comes to running a business, however there are so many businesses now online that it can be difficult to differentiate and make your business stand out from the crowd.
Consumers now have a large choice when it comes to businesses from any fields they are looking into. As a result, it can be very difficult for business owners to increase their own brand awareness amongst a sea of other brands. For these reasons, brand awareness, reputation and ranking is everything when it comes to being successful online and to stand out from competitors.
This is where Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, comes into play.
SEO can provide a significant amount of benefits for any business, and can help one to stand out from the competition. It does this by returning the business’s website on the front page of search results, as well as improving the structure, content and professionalism of the website as a whole.
Due to several businesses losing out on money because of dodgy and poor quality SEO companies, SEO is often something that is looked at with scepticism. This reputation can often mean many businesses are losing out on the many benefits that SEO can bring them, if it is applied correctly and properly. It is important to look out for certain qualities in an SEO company Sydney in order to determine whether or not they are proper and will be worth the investment into their services.
It is important to know these qualities and look at whether or not certain SEO companies have them or not.
Is SEO worth it?
SEO is definitely worth it for any business with an online presence, if applied correctly. SEO provides numerous benefits for companies, especially small to medium enterprises which may struggle to differentiate themselves from the competition. It is well known that SEO is a lengthy process that can take some time in order to see results for your business. Achieving a front page rank from 0 does not happen overnight, despite what any company will tell you.
This process is usually one that takes quite a few months to start showing rankings improving. This is because the SEO process involves numerous aspects which all combine to help climb the Google ranking board and bring consumers to your website. These aspects involve turning your website into one that is professional looking, well structured, has informative content with backlinks, increasing online mentions and having relevant search terms and key phrases that will catch the attention of the Google search algorithm. It also involves improving the online presence of the business on other sites, and increasing online mentions. This whole process can take some time and therefore the results for your investment and efforts will only come after a few months at least. However, achieving a front page ranking is extremely beneficial for a business, and can bring in huge number of users, leading to higher conversions and also increased brand awareness.
Therefore, SEO is definitely worth it for a lot of businesses, if not all of them that have an online presence (which they should!).
What are the qualities to look out for in a good SEO company?
There are many SEO companies available out there who claim to be able to show you incredible results, however many of these will be putting out false claims to make money. With so many SEO companies out there on the market, it can be difficult to a good one that delivers what they promise. There are certain qualities to look out for in a good SEO company that will ensure you get what you are paying for.
Experience in SEO
A company that specializes in SEO should definitely have the experience to back it up too. Experience is something that is invaluable, and it is very important to choose a company that has considerable experience in helping small businesses with their SEO and achieving front page rankings.
An SEO company with experience in the industry will know how to deal with certain situations that arise and also how to optimize your business properly for the most efficient SEO configuration. They should be able to develop good SEO campaigns which in turn will bring results. They should also have a sound understanding of local and international markets, and how these affect SEO aspects. Experience is everything in just about any business industry, and SEO is no different.
A good reputation and reviews
Just like any other field of business, a good company should have a good reputation and reviews. This is especially important for SEO, as you will be investing an amount into a third party who you are trusting to deliver results.
If an SEO company is good, there will be plenty of reviews to show this as successful clients will definitely want to say something about it. This also means that you will be able to access numerous reviews online that say positive things. The beauty of the Internet is that you can find reviews for anything online, and you will be able to see if an SEO company is good or not.
Reviews can be found online on Google reviews, blog posts, discussion forums and articles.
They employ the most up to date techniques and methods
A good SEO company will be looking to constantly update their techniques and methods to adapt to the constantly evolving technological landscape.
This ensures that they are looking out for changing and emerging technologies, and since they are handling your business too, this ensures that your business will also stay up to date. This is very important, as too often have previously successful businesses fallen behind on technology and ended up losing out to competitors in the future. With new technologies constantly emerging and existing ones changing, it is very important for any business to constantly stay on top of this. As an SEO company is based on technology, it is important that they stay up to date. It is especially important that they monitor changes to the Google algorithm which forms a core part of their work, as this algorithm has thousands of changes made to it every year.
A team of professionals
A professional team is the hallmark of a good SEO company.
Just like any other company, a good SEO company should be comprised of professionals who specialize in SEO and, to put it simply, know what they are doing. A team of professionals will also ensure that they will be constantly learning and updating their skills, due to the ever changing environment of technology and the Google Algorithm. They will also know which tools to invest in and which technology to choose in order to do their work best. They should know how to work as efficiently and effectively as possible, as well as how to optimize your website best for maximum SEO capabilities. A good SEO company will be employing a variety of different workers who specialise in different components that make up an SEO team. These will include copywriters, web designers, link builders as well as a sales team. A good SEO company will also enable their employees to work on and upgrade their skills continuously and regularly.
They will be ethical
Many SEO companies out there may opt to use black hat techniques in order to achieve results; however these are not ethical at all. Some of these include doorway pages, invisible text in order to boost results from search engines and spamming. These techniques can give quick results for a business, however they are not ethical and they are not allowed in Google’s terms and conditions, meaning that your business could very well be banned for doing so. Google has strict guidelines and constant monitoring in order to check for breaches in these guidelines, which means your business can and will be caught at some point and removed. A company that provides black hat techniques is representative of themselves as a whole, and they should not be trusted.
It is recommended to find an SEO company that provides ethical white hat techniques in order to achieve results. Although this may take longer, you can ensure that you will not be banned by Google. White hat techniques involve the use of link building, content creation, website optimization and keyword and relevancy focus. These will help your business achieve its SEO capabilities in an ethical way that will not see you banned.
Realistic objectives
Getting to the front page of Google is not something that is easy to do, and it will take time, no matter what anyone says. A realistic SEO campaign can take a few months before seeing proper results. Anyone who knows SEO knows this, and a good SEO company will be upfront with this and will not overpromise and under deliver. It is important to set realistic objectives, and a good SEO company will do just that. An SEO company that tells you that you can achieve an objective within a short time is lying, and you want one that is going to be honest with you and committed. Getting to the front page is something that all businesses are trying to do, and some of them have some serious resources and funding behind them dedicated to this. Therefore, getting to this position will take time and money and a good SEO company will tell you this and be realistic about your objectives.
Regular communication
A good SEO company will be communicating with you regularly and giving you updates on how your campaign is going.
Ideally, they should also be providing reports of the changes that have occurred as a result of their SEO efforts, in order for you to see that it is helping your business and that you are making your way towards your objectives. A company that does not do this and leaves you in the dark is not a good one, as you want to know what is happening and not just be paying for nothing at all. Most of this communication should happen through email and over the phone, and maybe even video calls in order to properly communicate what is happening and updates on your campaign, so you understand what is going on. A good company will set out their communication methods in a contract or other similar document, and you must ensure you agree with these forms of communications and that they work well for you.
They must be flexible
As your business starts to bring in more customers and increases in growth, older SEO strategies that may have previously applied might not anymore.
A good SEO company should be able to provide strategies that change over time or new ones in order to fit your growing business. They must be able to assess how your business is and afterwards provide new strategies that fit this as a result. This can be done by using the communication between the SEO company and the business in order to find out new updates and changes in the business, and recording this down. If any changes become significant, they will be able to make new strategies accordingly. Furthermore, they will keep in touch with the industry that your business is in and make changes to strategies based on changes in the industry. Flexibility is the hallmark of any good SEO company, and you should definitely look for one that is adaptable. SEO is inherently an always changing environment due to emerging and new technologies, as well as changes to industries and growing businesses. Therefore, a good SEO company has to be flexible in order for their work to be successful; otherwise they risk being left behind and taking their clients with them.
They will tell you the specifics of what they will do for your business
A good SEO company will be able to tell you specifically what they are going to do for your business. You will need to know what are the specifics of what they are going to do for you, as every business is different and some may be in different situations or industries which will mean that different things need to be applied. While many people know that the aim of SEO is to achieve a good front page ranking on Google, it is important to also know what the specifics of this entails. This can include content creation which has specific keywords or key phrases that have been researched and found to return your business in search results, the implementation of back linking on your website, improving online reputation and brand awareness through online mentions, installation of plugins that can help to maximise SEO capabilities, the performance of an SEO audit for your website or certain pages on your website, content and the links as well as ongoing maintenance of your website to keep it SEO relevant.
These are just some of the major SEO components that a good SEO company will partake in, and it is important they tell you what they are going to do so you can judge how professional and experienced they are, as well as how they are going to bring your website to the front page of Google.
They actually improve your rankings
This is what you are here for right?
A good SEO company will of course actually help your website improve its ranking on Google. You will want your money that you are investing to have something to show for it, and they should be able to improve your rankings over time if they are a good company. SEO takes time, but it is about building up your business in order to be as SEO capable as possible, and this should start to show results over a few months. If they cannot do this, then they cannot fulfil the primary obligation of an SEO company. It is important to look at client testimonials and reviews to ensure that results will come over time, otherwise you will be wasting your money.
In summary, SEO is definitely worth it in the long run, as technology and an online presence is the future of all business. Having good brand awareness is something that is very important in all aspects of business, and SEO will ultimately help to create more conversions and thus, more customers.
A good SEO company will have a variety of qualities that will ensure they know what they are doing. It is very important to research and consider these qualities, and look out for them in a potential SEO company. These qualities will determine whether or not an SEO company is worth working with and whether or not your money will be going to the right places.
We are a friendly and reliable team that pays detailed attention to your projects and management of your brand. Our team at SEO Shark has a passion for all things online. We constantly innovate using the latest professional techniques and strategies.
