For a modern business to thrive it must master SEO and make the most of its online presence. But when working with a digital agency to achieve this, it is worth remembering that not all firms are going to perform as well as expected.
Here are six examples of what to look for when assessing prospective agencies if you want to avoid engaging the worst of the bunch.
Lack of communication
Working with an SEO agency should mean that you are able to communicate and collaborate on the efforts to boost your site’s visibility. If, however, the company refuses to impart what steps they are taking or is otherwise incapable of maintaining a dialogue, this is a deal breaker.
Insufficient clarity
Being told what your SEO agency is doing to enhance your search rank is one thing, but unless they can explain the techniques they are using in ways that you understand then give them a miss. The same applies for false claims about optimisation techniques, so insist on clarity of communication, especially in the age of mobile search – http://searchengineland.com/report-nearly-60-percent-searches-now-mobile-devices-255025.
Impossible promises
SEO is a tough, ever-changing skill to master, so if an agency boasts that it can put your site at the top of Google’s SERPs, it is probably making a promise it cannot possibly keep. Any kind of concrete guarantee is unsustainable because of the regular updates made to search algorithms, so avoid firms dealing in absolutes.
Narrow vision
SEO is not something which exists independent of other influencing factors and it is just one spoke in the wheel of modern marketing techniques. A good firm, like http://www.rycomarketing.ie/search-engine-optimisation-seo.html which is an SEO agency in Dublin, will be able to offer an holistic approach which embraces other areas, including social media and other important facets.
Automation
Google is always getting better at detecting duplicated or generic content, so agencies which offer you the option of automatically creating pages to bulk out your site are not likely to improve optimisation, but rather harm it in the long run.
Bad linking
Inbound links from authoritative third party sites will be an SEO advantage, but if an agency puts forward the idea of effectively buying links to your site from many other pages then this is a real red flag. Only accept good linking practices, informed by effective content marketing.