How to Find an SEO Firm That Won’t Ruin Your Business

by Anna McHenry March 21, 2013

With an increased dependence on internet search engines results for providing exposure for businesses, having a good SEO firm on your team is an invaluable resource. A reputable SEO firm will research keywords and make the necessary adjustments to your website to get it to rank as highly as they can and expand your company’s online presence. A good firm will check through the written copy on your website and make adjustments where necessary. It will also promote your site and determine the most effective keywords in getting traffic to your site.

Conversely, having a bad SEO firm working with you can ruin your business. Because the details involved in working with SEO are confusing for most people to the point that they are more than willing to hire a specialist to do the tasks for them, it is easy for companies that are not reputable or that do not exactly work for the good of your business to get inside. Here are three tips for finding an SEO firm that won’t ruin your business:

 

 

Get Knowledgeable Yourself

 

The more you know about optimizing your website for the individuals who use search engines, the easier it will be to identify an SEO company to work with that will add value to your website. You are the expert in your industry, and the more of your knowledge you can impart to the SEO firm, the better the experience and results will be.
Also, the more you understand about the process, your future decisions regarding your website and the issues related to it will be different. You will be able to come to these conclusions from an educated standpoint and you can then avoid many of the issues that arise the first time through.

 

 

Focusing on Content not Just Rankings

 

Stuffing your website with keywords and irrelevant links that equate to spam is not something that can work long term for maintaining search engine rankings. You may find your site ranking higher, but for a very short period, if at all. Even if there are quick, visible results, you do not want to catch the attention of Google in a negative way. First, Google will penalize websites that use these practices, and you do not want your company to be penalized by the biggest search engine in use. Also, a good SEO firm understands that building links requires the investment of time and money and does not happen in a day and a night.

 

 

Beware of Pricing

 

The old adage that you get what you pay for is applicable in looking for an SEO firm to work with. If the prices seem too low to be true, they probably are. Worse, the low-cost services you purchase with these cheap SEO firms will be a bad reflection on your company. Some SEO firms offer content that is low priced because it is of obviously low quality. The articles can be rife with misspellings and grammar mistakes. The content can also be plagiarized and filled with keywords to the point that they make no sense to read.

An SEO firm may also offer you cut-rate prices because they are not well known or do not have a good reputation. Research the companies you want to use and find out the level of their work. Having an SEO firm that will offer low-quality services can do more damage to your business internet presence than not working with a company at all.

Anna McHenry
Anna McHenry is the Director of Client Services here at McKremie. She tweets from @McKremie so stop by and say "hi" on Twitter.

Leave a Reply