Seems like these days, SEO companies are a dime a dozen and each one is going to rank your website “at the top.” There are claims of being “on top” in 10 days, the proverbial “white hat” only SEO services, the really, really cheap SEO services… the list goes on and on. Regardless of the claims, it’s up to you to do your due diligence in choosing the SEO services that are right for your budget and your goals. In the following paragraphs, let’s discuss a few considerations when doing your research on Atlanta SEO services.
If you’re considering partnering with an Atlanta SEO service, perhaps one of the best pieces of information to acquire about the company is to ask to see some of their work and a list of references. When asking to see their work, specifically ask for a few keywords that they are ranking their clients websites for and how much search volume that keyword has. You are interested in knowing how much search volume the keyword has because it’s much easier to rank a website for a very low search volume keyword than it is for a medium to high search volume keyword. Anything less than 700 local monthly searches is considered to be very easy. If this is the case, maybe the Atlanta SEO service is fairly new at search engine optimization, only has a few clients or does not know what they are doing. What you’re looking for is a SEO service that is currently ranking websites for medium (2,500 local monthly searches) to high (22,000+ local monthly searches). Competition within this range of search volume requires some skills and knowledge to stay on the first page of the search results.
After you have been given some keywords and know their approximate local monthly search volume, go and search for these keywords and locate where these client’s websites are ranking. If you see several of them on the first page, that’s a great sign. If you see one or two or perhaps all of their clients websites ranking within the first three search results, that’s a really great sign. The difference between being within the top 3 search results and just on the first page of the search results would be the tactics and strategies used for your SEO campaign. Of course there are other variables that influence the position your website may rank of the first page of the search results, such as competition or a possible Google update, but regardless of outside influence, ranking in the top three is a job well done. Once there, its a constant challenge to stay there.
There is nothing wrong with asking for a list of references, after all, you will be investing in this Atlanta SEO service’s ability to drive a positive ROI for at most 6 months if they are not able to perform. Most SEO services require a 6 month investment because SEO, regardless of what tactic used, is not an overnight reuslts kind of service. It takes time for websites to rank, especially for higher volume, more competitive keywords. An effective SEO company should be producing results between months 3 and 6 of the campaign.
When you speak with a few of their clients on their list of references, you might consider asking a few of these questions:
- How long has the company ran their campaign?
- How is their customer service? Do respond to emails in a reasonable amount of time, answer all of your questions?
- Are you satisfied with their services?
By asking any of the questions listed above, you are gathering great information that will tell you how they run their business, which usually is an indication of how they might work with you.