6 Questions to Ask From SEO Agency Before Hiring Them

6 Questions to Ask From SEO Agency Before Hiring Them – SEO is great way to get free traffic to your website and can do wonders for businesses when implemented the right way. I have worked with very small businesses and helped them compete head to head with the big boys of the markets.

However, I have seen people struggle finding the right SEO provider who can help them grow businesses. The problem is that there are 1000’s of SEO companies, agencies, consultants and freelancers mushrooming in the market today and hence the choice of which one to choose becomes difficult.  Here are 6 questions which can help you hire the right one from the list of SEO provider you have shortlisted.

What keywords does your website rank on?

There are different ways through which you get in touch with an SEO agency or a freelancer. You might have seen their ads on Google or might have heard about them from a friend or might have found them on LinkedIn. Whatever the method was, it is important to ask “on what keywords their site rank on search engines”. Any expert agency or freelancer should ideally rank top 10 on their city based keywords. For example, if you are based in India, they should ideally rank on keywords like “SEO Company in India” or “SEO freelancer in Delhi”. If not, then then it might be worth talking to someone who rank on these phrases.

Can you please share some references / case studies of clients you have worked?

Before hiring a Number One SEO company it is important to ask for some case studies or references or clients or success stories. Everyone is proud of the good work they do and try to showcase them on their website. I don’t see any reason why anyone would hesitate to showcase studies or references except when they don’t have any. Try to stay away from these companies as their working model is only to trap new customers and make money in initial 2-3 months before you realize nothing is happening.

What is your SEO methodology?

You cannot achieve results without the right SEO strategy. SEO strategy is something which may be different for every business but methodology and basics remains the same. You company should be able to share their SEO methodology on a high level or on a low level. Company who purely focuses on backlinks from directories and bookmarks should be a warning sign to move away.

Can you tell me what the top SEO roadblocks in my site are?

Most SEO companies and freelancers do a free SEO audit of the site. Sometimes it is using a free tool and sometimes via manual check. It is worth asking a quick question on a call from the SEO head of the company or a freelancer about some roadblocks or SEO mistakes in your site. Someone with good knowledge should be able to pick that up in no time by simply looking at your site or the source code.

Can you guarantee rankings for my site/keywords?

This is my favorite question because each and every customer asks this question from me. Frankly, no one can guarantee rankings for your business in SEO. Although rankings should be part of your KPI’s and should see steady uplift, a smart person would not focus on keyword rankings but organic traffic improvements over next 3 months and business growth.

How long would it take to rank my website on page #1?

I have worked with lot of clients in very competitive businesses and keywords with search volume of more than 100000/month and have achieved results after 2-3 years of hard work. If you are in a competitive business and this company promises you page #1 in 2-3 months then this is a warning sign.

There might be lot of other questions which I might have missed in this short blog. If you have had a good or bad experience hiring an SEO agency, then feel free to reply on the comments below and we will be happy to answer them.

About the Author:

Aditya is a seasoned digital marketing consultant with more than 10 years of experience in search marketing. He likes to write blogs on digital marketing, business, and finance. Driving best practices, Aditya has implemented SEO, SEM & SMO strategies at Justgoweb digital for some of the key customers across the globe.