Q&A: Our company is planning to out-source our SEO. We have lots of companies pitching, what are the major things we should be looking for from these agencies?

Question: Our company is planning to out-source our SEO. We have lots of companies pitching, what are the major things we should be looking for from these agencies before we hire one?

Answer: You will hear many similar promises or processes from SEO agencies so it can be difficult to tell them apart. Based on several SEO pitches I have run for clients and reviewing a lot of proposals talking to a lot of clients on SEO courses, here are 7 important questions that I would advise asking - it"€™s vital that you do all you can to find the best fit possible!

1. Exactly how will they improve our results? Some SEOs may be unwilling to disclose techniques, but ethical techniques are well understood and documented and so an open relationship about SEO methods is essential. It will aid internal learning as well as ensure that you integrate better. Take an example product or group of keyphrases you will target for SEO and ask the agencies to audit the current performance against competitors and the process and techniques they will deploy to improve SEO. Beware of companies that focus just on the on-page copy and markup optimisation to the exclusion of internal and external link-building which is really where the rubber hits the road.
2. How will we measure improvement from the work done and over what timescales? If the company only refers to ranking positions of obscure keyphrases or obsesses about "€œbrand terms"€ this is a warning. They should ask for a detailed list of keyphrase groups that you will be targeting and look at performance in different groups in terms of visits and conversions to lead or sale (goals). The more accountable and open about time-scales your potential agency is, the better. Ultimately you want an agency that"€™s working next to you in the trenches and trying to help improve results at the bottom line, that"€™s what keeps you and them in gainful employment.
3. Have they worked in similar sectors and geographies? Can they demonstrate success? SEO approaches will differ widely by sector, i.e. B2B vs B2C vs not-for-profit, as well as different types of transactional sites, so experience of creating buzz and building back-links from relevant sites requires experience of the sector in order there"€™s less learning for them at the expense of your budget. Of course, it"€™s probably ideal that they"€™re not working for a competitor at the same time!
4. Who specifically will you be working with, how and when? SEO changes fast and the sector is still growing, so many agencies will have less experienced staff. You need to ensure that you get experienced SEOs working on your account or in the very least reviewing and directing it. For larger projects, having specialists in different aspects is beneficial, for example, technical site SEO, copywriting, link-building, analysis, etc. In addition to this, meet with your potential team and see if they"€™re the kind of people that you can work with, they"€™re going to be a key extension of your internal team. You don"€™t have to like everyone to the point of exchanging Christmas cards, but trust and respect is crucial. As is clarity on how, when and with who you"€™re going to be communicating with.
5. How will they integrate the natural optimsiation work with paid search? I"€™m assuming here that you"€™ll be doing some paid search. Natural and paid are two sides of the same search coin and you can ensure that they compliment with a short term and long term game planning. Ultimately you want to be in a place where as many of the truly valuable keyphrases are well optimised, but still covered tactically in paid search as is relevant, it"€™s always better to see paid search playing that tactical support to natural.
6. How will they integrate (and compliment) natural search within the wider marketing mix? Success in off page natural search is essentially link building, and in the era of all things social media it"€™s fundamental that your social media efforts are helping underpin those link-building efforts. You need to know that your prospective agency can demonstrate an understanding of this with real examples, as well as give confidence that they can work with another team, potentially another agency, when it comes to content generation and social media marketing.
7. What exactly will we be charged for each month in ongoing work? After an initial period of auditing and on-site optimisation, most SEO companies naturally want an ongoing relationship, but the monthly cost can be high, and quite often too high. Find out the typical breakdown of activities and costs? Costs for reporting and tracking can be high given that off-the-shelf options are high. How much time will go into reviewing and building new links and creating content vs measuring and management. A good agency will want to be transparent and share this with you as it"€™s in their interest as well, of course.

Finally, ask can we visit your offices? Many SEO outfits are small and potentially chaotic in their processes. A visit to their offices can help build confidence or not...