Last Updated on April 17, 2020 by
With the number of companies hiring in-house SEO specialists to take care of and manage this aspect of digital marketing, it goes without saying that having an ongoing search engine optimization strategy is crucial these days. Even for companies that are not interested in having an employee that takes care of SEO internally, making the decision to outsource to an SEO vendor has proven time after time that it is a sound investment. Not only does it allow the business to grow, and scale up… but it’s also great for brand awareness and promotes longevity. So, for those of you out there that are a looking for a search optimization company to work with, here you’ll be able to get a sense of some of the most common pitfalls you’ll want to avoid so as to ensure you have a successful campaign.
Source: cbinsight.com
One of the things we want you also to keep in mind during the selection process is that there are a lot of SEO companies to choose from. For some businesses, that seems overwhelming and as a result, they sometimes settle for the whichever company seems the most aggressive or convincing. Although such a decision is both bad for business as well as your investment dollars, it’s not on our list of 4 pitfalls to keep in mind when working with a search engine optimization vendor.
It’s also important to remember the fact that there are so many different companies out there offering SEO in the various regions and countries. With this being the case, it’s important to know these 4 reminders that will help promote an SEO strategy that will produce the desired results. Understanding these points can be the difference between massive success vs never wanting to work with another SEO vendor. The fact that an SEO campaign can go so bad is something that has always been puzzling to us since anyone can do an analysis and use the tools necessary to succeed with SEO in any industry online.
So, that are the common pitfalls you should do your best to avoid when working with one of these agencies?
1) Don’t Hire A Search Optimization Company Just Because You Have The Budget To Do So
Source: cdn1.channelpro.co.uk
In the past, we’ve written many articles about the importance of making sure you’re ready to work with an SEO vendor before hiring one, so we won’t go into much detail in this regard. However, what we will say in this regard is… make sure that you have everything in place to support having an SEO strategy built and implemented. Ask yourself these questions to see the types of things that need to be “in place”:
– Do you have a development team or individual that can implement the recommendations that an SEO expert might give you?
– Are you open to creating content that will support your SEO campaign and the recommendations you receive from your vendor?
– Do you have the time to communicate with the vendor for approvals and other feedback regularly?
– Do you understand that SEO strategies typically don’t result in immediate improvements?
There are other questions and thoughts to consider in this regard, but just look at those 4… did you answer “NO” to any of them? If you did, you might want to get those things resolved BEFORE working with a search optimization company.
2) Don’t Assume Cheap SEO Services Are Good For Business
There are plenty of businesses out there that send out emails night and day advertising the cheap SEO optimization services they have to offer. Additionally, there are others that have paid ads on search engines and on other websites that talk about providing SEO services for as little as $199 per month. While there are tasks that those companies can do for you that COULD help with your SEO strategy, don’t assume that what they’re offering is the same or similar services that a company charging $4,000 per month is offering.
Source: blogs.digium.com
We often get requests from business owners that assume cheaper is better in this regard, but that is not typically something we ever recommend. The reason is because most of these cheaper SEO companies are usually implementing strategies that are mostly automated and completely ignore SEO best practices and search engine terms of service agreements. Applying that type of strategy will result in penalties that will make SEO progress that much harder, and in some cases impossible.
3) Don’t Assume Overnight Success Is Automatic; Although It’s Possible… It Depends On The Strategy Implemented
SEO is a race, not a sprint. However, there are companies out there that are either missing just a few things for their organic traffic and rankings to see massive improvements OR they have the budget and internal bandwidth from current employees to support and implement an aggressive, but safe, SEO strategy. Since neither is the case for many businesses looking to get an SEO campaign up and running, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s a process, and it’s worth the wait.
Source: cdn2.hubspot.net
4) Don’t Disappear After You Hire A Search Engine Optimization Company
Since a good search engine optimization strategy involves a variety of aspects, many businesses hire a vendor thinking they can completely rely on them to take care of everything that relates to this aspect of digital marketing. While that is an option when working with a full-service search optimization agency, most of the time these are not the types of firms hired. A full-service agency will take care of not just the SEO campaign, but also any development work or site structure changes needed, content creation and marketing, and branding outreach.
One of the biggest factors that will determine whether or not a hired vendor will provide all of these services is your available budget. If you’re not in a position to support a team of people at the digital marketing agency taking care of all these tasks for you, then it’s best you don’t disappear and take no interest or responsibility in the SEO campaign.
BONUS: Don’t Ignore Bad Signs & Vibes You Get From The Vendor
Source: latinbusinesstoday.com
There are far too many companies that have been in 6, 12, or even 24-month agreements with search optimization companies that they have not enjoyed worked with for most of the term of their engagement. It could be due to the lack of reporting, lack of response, lack of results, or otherwise. Unfortunately, many businesses will just ignore those experiences and continue to pay for services that they are neither happy about or interested in. Making that decision is such a waste of money, but even more importantly a huge waste of time since their competitors succeeding with SEO are continuing to dominate that area of their market.
Therefore, a business should speak to the decision makers at the SEO company to put a plan in place to make sure the campaign immediately improves or the agreement, if one is in effect, should be canceled, and they should look for SEO services from a more reputable company. Keep in mind, as mentioned earlier, there are far too many SEO agencies out there to choose from for anyone to be dissatisfied with the one they’ve hired.
The greatest pitfall as it relates to this subject is ignoring SEO entirely, but you’re not going to do that… right?
That is a pitfall that more businesses make than any other related to SEO. The fact that you’re even thinking about it and reading this article proves that you’re not one of them. Sure there are other pitfalls and mistakes we could have highlighted, but these are 4 of the most important.
Now that you have this information under your belt, it’s time to go out there and find a vendor that is best suited to provide the SEO services you business needs and deserves. If you require any help in this regard, be sure to let us know. Nomvo!