For the uninitiated the world of SEO – search engine optimisation to those who are not familiar with the term – can be a perplexing one. You have a website which you naturally enough want to be successful. You have a vague idea that to achieve your ambitions for your site you will need some specialist help. But beyond this, how do you go about choosing the right internet marketing help?
Well, if you find yourself in that position here are a few pointers to help you assess the merits of any prospective appointees:
It’s worth asking any company you are considering whether they can guarantee you number one position in the rankings. Strangely enough, the answer you are looking for here is “no”. Nobody knows exactly the key to Google’s algorithm (or any of the other search engines for that matter) so it follows that no-one can guarantee you first place in the SERPs . You should treat with a hefty dose of scepticism anyone who claims they can.
Ask them about their specialisations. Some companies concentrate on the organic listings, while others may hone their skills in Adwords or PPC marketing. Still more such as http://www.flauntdigital.co.za/ppc/ will combine all these different disciplines to provide a holistic service.
Ask any candidates you are considering about sites they have already done work for and check those sites out. As in so many areas of business, recommendations are a great form of social proof. If a company is unwilling to divulge this data, then that should raise a red flag.
Another simple tip is to check out their own site. As well as checking where they rank for terms such as “SEO”, some metrics worth checking are the Page Rank of their site and its Domain Authority. While not conclusive, high PR and DA should indicate a decent amount of white hat SEO has been devoted to the site. And if a company cannot do this for their own site, it’s unlikely they will do so for you.
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