Forums Forums White Hat SEO My company is looking for a new SEO agency. What should we look for during our search?

  • My company is looking for a new SEO agency. What should we look for during our search?

    Posted by seohelper on October 12, 2021 at 2:43 am

    My company is not happy with the SEO agency that we are currently partnered with. Our contract ended back in 2019, and this agency hasn’t really provided much for us, outside of content writing (which ranks well but does not give us conversions). I remember tasking them to focus on backlinking and improving page performance, and I recall them being dismissive about it. They just give us the cold impression that they are there to get paid.

    Leadership is not happy with them, and frankly, so am I. I’ve been tasked to explore all options, which includes searching for a new agency to partner with. When looking for a new SEO agency, what are some things that I should be looking for? Success stories? Low turnover? Or should we invest in semRush (or something like that) and do it ourselves?

    Appreciate the help, and I look forward to hearing the responses!

    EDIT: Please provide advice and guidance. No offers or “DM me for info” or anything like this. Currently not looking for any of that at the moment. Just advice.

    HelloBello30 replied 2 years, 5 months ago 1 Member · 29 Replies
  • 29 Replies
  • thomasonbush

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 2:55 am

    Prepare to be bombarded with people from this sub trying to get you to hire them specifically. Lol

  • HelloBello30

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 2:56 am

    If you find ANYONE who is offering some kind of pay for results model, take them.

  • [deleted]

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 3:17 am

    if someone promises you and traffic numbers or first page rankings, run. ask what they provide on a continuous basis, not just up front or the first few months.

  • mel34760

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 3:41 am

    RIP your inbox…

  • InvisibleInkling

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 3:53 am

    I wrote a LinkedIn post recently listing 8 SEO red flags. Here is the gist of it:

    ⏰They require lots of time to do who knows what

    A real SEO expert can show you exactly where they are investing their time and why. A scammer will act super busy reorganizing the same 3 spreadsheets a thousand times.

    ?They send you incomplete keyword data

    If they ever send you a list of keywords that doesn’t include volume and competition numbers (at the bare minimum), they are scamming you.

    ?They pretend there are SEO emergencies

    Unless your site is completely broken and non-functional, there is no such thing as an SEO emergency. But a scammer will act like there is one, either because they screwed up or they can’t think of any other way to show their value.

    ?Their claims don’t match actual results

    Their reports look amazing and suggest lots of traffic coming to your site. But you’re not seeing more sales or revenue, and they don’t have an explanation as to why. Dump them.

    ✍️They rarely talk about content marketing

    Once again for the scammers in the back: SEO does not exist without content marketing. It should be a major part of any SEO strategy.

    ?They use black-hat SEO tactics

    Black-hat tactics lead to major Google penalties that can seriously damage your business. If it seems sketchy, it is.

    ?They recycle the same tactics over and over

    There are some tried and trusted SEO techniques out there, but there should also regularly be new, exciting methods that align with the latest updates on any given search platform.

    ?They talk in riddles and circles

    SEO isn’t as scary and complex as scammers want you to believe. If they can’t explain what they’re doing in clear terms, then they’re using smoke and mirrors to get your money.

  • IcicleDisaster

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 4:25 am

    You should hire for the role internally. Agencies are built to put the fewest hours towards each account.

    Good ranking content is about the best you can expect from most decent agencies. You might very well find someone worse.

  • M33tm3onmars

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 4:37 am

    Depends entirely on what you want SEO to do for you. It sounds like you want SEO to be a revenue driver, but depending on the industry, that takes different forms. It’s hard to advise without knowing the industry or conversion type (lead, sale, form submission, etc).

  • ClickWhisperer

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 4:53 am

    You’re expecting from your SEO what your marketing leads should be providing to your content team instead. Your SEO’s role is to bring you qualified traffic with the key terms that are part of your strategy. If that is happening, but conversions are low, it’s because there’s a weak offer, or lacking means to cause the conversion.

    Are you also setting a remarketing cookie so you can run display ads targeting the visits that came from search? SEO is just one part of the equation, the front side.

    I’ll help you too if you want.

  • aspiring_autist_

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 5:18 am

    I think paying any agency monthly recurring fees is a ripoff. If you are looking for page conversions, have someone write a good landing page. Better yet, get a freelancer web designer to redo your site.
    Get a good contact form on all pages and maybe do some Google ads.

  • Viper2014

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 6:16 am

    > Or should we invest in semRush (or something like that) and do it ourselves?

    ​

    SEO is not that easy.
    There are 3 categories that you should be aware of

    * OnPage
    * OffPage
    * Tech SEO

    ​

    if your conversions are falling, then OnPage SEO might not be the problem. Tech SEO might be the solution for you.

    Also, do you have the budget for an agency? If you don’t then go with a freelancer.

  • naniseo

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 6:59 am

    Just Google seo agency “in your city”. Hire the one that you find first. Because seo agency itself is a high competitive kwd. This will be the best. Also search for the similar terms and at least find 3 companies that ranks in the first page and then shortlist the best one. Do not go by gmb result go only by the search results.

  • selfstartr

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 8:09 am

    Its tough! I run an SEO agency now but before, I worked in house for some big brands – so I had to hire SEO agencies too to support me.

    What I find is most pitch look the same! They all talk a good game but usually all offer the same stuff. Too many audits at the start, then drips and drops of updates.

    (Spoiler: Most sites don’t need tons of big tech audits…especially if using a something like Shopify. Agencies do this because it’s cheap to do and a nice deliverable to bill for).

    It sounds boring, but I think case studies and “do they tell you how it is” is the most important. Realistic expectations etc. I run a mile from B2B Software companies for example, because it’s so hard to get clients results in that niche. (Low search volume and high competition = not worth it for almost any client)

    What happens when things go wrong? How much importance do they put on link building? (it should be a lot but most agencies can’t do it). Do they outsource?

    What tools do they use? Can they provide a forecast? Im using SEOMonitor for SEO Forecasting these days and it keeps clients happy because they have a realistic traffic estimate in 12 months time. So no miss matched expectations!

    Good luck OP!

  • Acceptable_Media7802

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 8:47 am

    What kind of website do you have ?
    What isn’t good enough for you ?
    In which object you want to grow ?
    What is your niche / Product ?
    There are so many factors with SEO you must go and learn some of that stuff since it’s very very IMPORTANT .

  • Ok_Compote_653

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 8:57 am

    It seems that you are not struggling with SEO, rather than Project Management.

    You should have taks in place and also use a project manager software to keep track of the tasks you are assigning.

    You as a owner are in charge of setting up KPI’s and deliverables.

    SEO in essence is about Technical, Onsite and Offiste. This sounds easy but in the end if you break each part in different task it becomes diffcult.

    When managing a remote team/agency you need to have an overview of the tasks and create deadlines, timelines and priorities each one.

    Good luck and sorry for the bad quality. I have faced the same issue but learned my lesson the hard way.

  • Krcun96

    Guest
    October 12, 2021 at 9:06 am

    Ohhh here we go again, a bunch of people trying to get hired…

    From my personal experience , couple of freelancers can be much more effective and cheaper.

    But you will still need the person who will check on their work.

    So my advice is to hire one or two SEO (let’s call them experts) :D. And break the tasks to

    1. Technical SEO
    2. Onsite SEO
    3. Offsite SEO

    All those 3 when they are breaked to into separate tasks can be managed without too much effort.

    ​

    SEO Agencies are RIPPING you OFF!

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