After hours of discussion, you have finally hired a suitable SEO agency for your company. Voilà, this is an excellent decision for your company’s growth and productivity.
Now that you’ve found a company that suits your multifaceted needs, you’re all set to conduct your first meeting with all excitement.
And, why not?
You have diverse expectations from them. You are confident that your business will scale up to the next level- all thanks to your decision to invest in Search Engine Optimization services.
Did you know that about 97% of people learn of a local company online first than anywhere else?
You’re well aware of how a search engine optimization company will work wonders for you. Thus, during the first meeting, your SEO agency must enlighten you of some essential tasks they may undertake for you efficiently. Some of these are:
- Keyword Analysis:
One of the most critical components for any SEO campaign is Keyword Research. Ensure that the enterprise you choose for yourself identifies keywords for organic optimization campaigns in the best manner.
Some factors that play a pivotal role during keyword research are:
- Who is your target audience?
- What keywords are your competitors targeting?
- What is the number of keywords needed for boosting your current company profile?
- Do the keywords divide based upon the customer’s micro-moments?
- How many keywords are long-tail?
“Long-tail keyword searches have a click-through rate 3% to 5% higher than generic searches.”
Know that the keywords that start with why, what, where, and should are those that searchers usually ask using voice search. After all, the future of SEO is voice-search over the traditional text-based search. Your expert must be able to identify the best question keywords as per your niche. Also, see if your partner uses specific tools like Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, Moz, SEMrush, Answer the Public, and others.
Ultimately, keywords are a life-blood of a good business organization, and agencies must lay a clear focus upon these.
- Technical On-Page Audit:
The professional you hire may perform a technical audit. Still, only the competent ones review every aspect of the website. Yes, experts are all thumbs up for this since it can directly impact ROI optimization.
57% of marketing executives say on-page content development was the most effective SEO tactic.
Experts recommend performing the audit at the beginning of an optimization campaign and taking note of the results. But, will you be able to do everything on your own? Maybe not!
For instance, if you’re operating in Atlanta and wish to upscale your business, then looking out a professional SEO company may be the best decision for you. Yes, a local atlanta seo company may serve a checklist to ensure the best of services for your enterprise. These may be:
- The company must inquire about your campaign objectives. What’s the desirable goal that you’re looking forward to achieving with Search Engine Optimization?
- Enumerate KPIs well before time so that there isn’t a scope for discrepancies at a later time. Know that these Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) must be easily measurable.
- The pages on your website must be grouped according to target keywords.
- Ensure performing a competitor analysis to find relevant keyword opportunities, content topic effectiveness, and missed link opportunities.
- Check if the website is mobile-friendly or not because studies show that more than 60% of Google searches come from mobile devices.
- Optimize your site pages for target keywords. These include the title, description, SEO-friendly content, and meta tags.
- Optimize the internal linking and navigation.
- Make the URL structure user-friendly.
- Add proper alt tags on all the images and perform image optimization for increasing the page speed.
Analyze your website based on Google Search Console and Google Analytics data. Also, take proper steps for speeding up your website because the page load provides customers with a better user experience.
- Content Audit:
A content audit is the starting step of search engine optimization. Yes, with a content audit, you can easily align your content based on the searcher’s intent. Your search engine rank is sure to increase if the content syncs with the searcher’s intent.
“If You’re Going to Post Content on Your Site Anyway, You Might as Well Take the Time to Make Sure Google Takes Notice of Your Effort.”
– The Content Factory
Indulge in a detailed content audit before you open doors to an SEO agency. During a content audit, examine all the website content and learn what’s working for you and what isn’t.
Now that you have all the necessary information ensure asking the professional to provide content audit details for implementing website suggestions. This process helps in evaluating the company content and checking if it meets the search engine algorithm.
- SEO Tools Selection:
The company you hire must choose the perfect tools for carrying out essential tasks. Above all, it’s about improving your rankings.
The search engine experts are well aware that all business needs are different. Your Search Engine Optimization campaign expectations depend on your business goals. Know that there are numerous tools available, and selecting a tool must rely on specific tasks that interest you.
For instance, the company you hire may suggest you purchase an outreach tool for amplifying your link-earning efforts. These hold the most important when you have a few broken or insufficient links- the ones that may affect your Google ranking.
Likewise, the experts may urge you to buy a paid SEMrush version as it can help them accomplish several search engine-related tasks. However, before purchasing these tools, ensure asking your agency to provide you with the reasons for selecting a particular device and how it will benefit their overall campaign.
- Website Monitoring and SEO Reporting:
A competent Search Engine Optimization team should do regular website monitoring and Search Engine Optimization reporting. Thereby, always ask the kind of reports they will be able to provide and when. Also, inquire about their mode of communication. Will they be able to communicate in person? Do they prefer an email, or will they be able to take chats or calls?
Website Monitoring:
Numerous tools work well in assisting you in website monitoring. But, professionals are all thumbs up for Google Search Console as it highlights some of the most critical issues like:
- Google Console sends you a notification that Google isn’t able to crawl or index your website.
- You can receive alerts if Google finds out spam or other site issues.
- The console helps you in highlighting and fixing server errors, security-related and site load issues.
SEO Reporting:
Your team should enlighten you about the set of reports from time to time. Know that these reports contain instruction-related issues that need your attention and solicit approvals. And after obtaining these reports, should an enterprise proceed with optimization tasks or not.
Some of the most common SEO reports that you must ask your team are:
- Keyword Research Report
- Competitor Analysis Report
- On-page SEO Audit Report
- Link Audit Report
- Link-Building Report
- Monthly/ Weekly Work Report
- Keyword Ranking Report
- Traffic and Conversion Report
Know that these reports play a vital role for an organization like you. These reports help you ascertain whether your search engine optimization is moving in the right direction or not. Also, if the professional is leading you to growth and productivity.
Final Thoughts- When All you Need is a Digital Push
If you’re thinking of hiring a search engine optimization agency, or you’ve already made the decision, ensure that you set the right expectations for both parties right from the beginning. After all,
“Good SEO Is Paying Attention to All the Details That Most Bloggers Ignore.”
– Ryan Biddulph
The team you hire should start with an optimization-based mindset always. After which, they must focus on reaping the benefits of what the audience is looking for while delivering SEO -friendly results at the same time. Not only this, but the experts suggest being watchful of the red flags during the very first meeting. After all, each phase of the SEO strategy must lead to a long and fruitful partnership.
