Step by Step: How to Impress Your Boss When Choosing SEO Agency?

Talks with agency representatives

The more information you give to the agency representatives at this point, the easier it’ll be for them to tailor the offer to your business needs. During the meetings, discuss the objectives your supervisor hopes to achieve. Before every conversation, even the online one, prepare a notebook with a ready-made table for notes where you can compare the working standards of several agencies. Analyze the offers and remember to ask:

• How does the agency analyze the company profile? Does it want to know about your offer, key products or potential customers? Does it try to understand your user personas?
• What are the costs of doing SEO? This is probably the most important factor for every boss. What settlement models are offered by the agency? Does the contract include information about a fixed, monthly subscription fee or a specific amount paid for achieving given objectives? Do the agency offer previously prepared packages or does it tailor the offer to your brief? An individual approach may be a key to success. Consequently, the prices may vary depending on performed activities and expected results that should be obtained within a given time. Do you know what’s the SEO budget prepared by your supervisor?
• What’s the time needed to see the first results of SEO activities? Don’t believe in someone who promises great improvements overnight. There are numerous aspects that affect the time period needed to see the first results of the performed activities. It’s crucial to take into account your company’s domain history (has it been penalized or banned by Google?), industry competitiveness, the structure of your company website (the number of subpages and products), or the way your market rivals fight for top Google positions.
• How precise and reliable will the SEO audit be after signing the contract and does the agency intend to conduct such an audit at the beginning? To what extent will the agency’s specialists examine your website? The SEO audit is a starting point for all possible activities. To plan your entire route in Google Maps, you need to know the starting point. The same applies to the SEO world. If some agency wants to cooperate but doesn’t mention this element, you should start being suspicious.
• Will you have access to the current SEO strategy and reports after signing the contract? Each management board, including your supervisor, wants to have full control over every spent dollar. Make sure that the SEO agency will be providing you with comprehensive statistics and plans concerning the next steps that will be taken as a part of the planned strategy. The reports should include information discussing the effectiveness of activities related to internal and external linking. One report a month is a standard solution. It needs to summarize SEO activities, obtained links, changes of Google positions of specific phrases and subpages as well as the ongoing implementation of the objectives set by you and the SEO agency.

• Will the SEO agency give you specific tips on website optimization? Or maybe it’ll implement the modifications for you? It would make the whole process of increasing website visibility much easier for both you and your supervisor. It’s impossible to conduct an effective SEO process without optimizing the page and its interface so that they’re compliant with SEO and Google principles. Collecting data from Google PageSpeed Insights and Mobile-Friendly Test is the starting point for the activities.
• Will the SEO agency ensure the appropriate quality of the website content? Quality content is the key to success when it comes to any SEO activities for online stores and websites. It helps to improve sales and thanks to it, your online store or website is visited more frequently. Check if the selected SEO agency hires professional copywriters who are familiar with your industry.
• Will the SEO specialists take care of Google Ads and Facebook Ads campaigns as part of the cooperation? Although these aren’t basic services of every SEO agency, they’re a perfect complement to organic activities. If all the elements are bundled together in one strategy and handled by one team of specialists, the results are even better.
• Do you understand all the points and paragraphs of the contract? All provisions in the concluded contract must be clear to you. If the SEO agency used some professional terminology you don’t understand, ask for clarification. The expected time needed to see the first results of SEO activities is at least 4 to 12 months – after this time, you’ll notice a real difference when it comes to your brand visibility, website traffic, or a number of micro-conversions. Compare the contract drafts prepared by a few agencies and select the one you think is best for your company.

After collecting all the answers to the above questions, compare your notes and choose 2-3 agencies that offer the finest reports and are able to achieve the expected results within the specified budget. A sense of security and control are other important factors that will surely impress your boss. Arrange meetings with the top 3 agencies – this time, your supervisor should accompany you. With the collected data and materials, it’ll be definitely easier to make the right choice.