1. Find Company that ranks on the top on Google

This goes without saying & still, many businesses often ignore this advice. Many businesses think they should go with an agency referred to them by a friend or some Business networking.

Seriously? I mean, how laughable is that? You are looking for an SEO agency that can help you rank better on Google, that can help your customers find you easily on Google & you’ll go for a “word-of-mouth” referral? This concept clashes with the basic idea of SEO itself.
If an agency can’t rank its own website on Google’s first page, how will they do that for you? So the trick is simple, enter SEO agency, then your location in Google’s search box & hit enter. Find out the top 3 or, let’s say, top 5 agencies that appear on the top & start filtering.

For e.g.

When you’ll hit “SEO agency Bella Vista” or “SEO Bella Vista” in Google, here is what you’ll see

Yes, you’ll find my Company on the top. So what does this tell you about our SEO services? If we can get ourselves on the #1 position, what will stop us from bringing your Business on #1?

I hope you get the point.

2. Find an agency that can explain what they are doing

SEO involves a lot of technicalities, agreed. It needs a bit of technical knowledge to understand steps included in SEO, agreed. But it’s not some “Voodoo” that can’t be explained at all.

SEO is all about

Understanding a Business–> it’s products & services–> finding the right target audience–>creating strategies to reach them –>being in more traffic–>get more conversions
–>boost sales.

I agree that every Business is unique & needs fine-tuning to get the best results; these are some of the fundamentals that your SEO agency should know & should be able to explain them to you.

If they can’t, they don’t know a thing about SEO.

It’s time for you to move on!

3. Dig deeper before hiring an agency

As I mentioned earlier, SEO is a saturated market. You’ll find hundreds of so-called SEO experts online. So before you hire any one of them, dig deeper into their past performance & their Business model. Select an agency that is reliable, trustworthy & easily communicable.

Try to find out what their existing & past clients have to say about them. Check out reviews on websites like Clutch & Glassdoor. And don’t forget Google reviews, but don’t believe every review you see on Google.

Check out my blog here on how scammers & competitors misuse Google reviews for their benefit.

4. Choose an Australian agency

Every month, I meet at least one Business owner who has burnt their hand with off-shore SEO agencies. Some take the money & flee, some can’t deliver what’s promised, some steal your private data & some outsource your SEO to a third party.

I am not saying all of them are crooked, but why take a chance? When you can get the best services from reliable Australian agencies that understand Australian culture & demography, why look overseas?

5. Chose an agency that’s transparent & communicates

For any campaign to succeed, Transparency & Communication is the key. You are investing a fortune in your SEO agency. So as a client & a Business owner, you have an absolute right to know where & how your money is being utilised.

So always choose an agency with transparent operations & detailed reporting structure.

For, e.g. at Web99, we communicate with our clients at every step & offer them monthly reporting. This reporting helps them how their hard-earned money is being utilised & how it’s benefiting their Business.