Well done search engine optimisation, often called SEO for short, is designed to allow web pages to show up in search results when individuals search for services rather than simply company names. The idea is the fact that people looking for things online will be able to discover a business website with virtually no prior familiarity with the business or its name. You'll find all manner of tricks and also techniques which fall under SEO, however the good sustainable methods (also sometimes called "white hat SEO") are based around the concept of making your web site easier for search engine to read and understand, meaning they rank you higher in searches for appropriately relevant terms.
It's not uncommon to decide to outsource SEO to external marketing agencies and other companies, but there are actually far too many dodgy types out there who like to take companies seeking SEO - especially local and small businesses - for a really expensive ride. How then does one actually go about finding a good, honest and legitimate search engine marketer?
It really is actually incredibly easy to discover a quality SEO agency online. Go to a search engine like Google or Bing and type in "SEO agency." Ignoring the paid advertisements at the top, whichever firm has landed at the very best of the search results are what you want - they has to be very good at SEO or their very own website would not be so high within the natural listings!
To narrow things down a bit, you could try extending your search. Say you reside in Essex and want a local agency - just type in "SEO agency Essex." Or if your web page is specialised and you want particular help with it you may add your industry or site type - "SEO tourism" or "SEO eCommerce" for example. This can be a great way to locate niche SEO agencies that have specialist expertise in your field.
Sometimes SEO agencies (or at least people claiming to be SEO agencies) attempt to solicit companies by sending them emails or submitting contact forms with various enticements and offers. However if you see something like this come in then it really is best to ignore it - if a business which supposedly specialises in search engine optimisation is reduced to spamming inboxes to get business rather than, say, doing SEO so their very own website ranks highly and people can find them anyway, chances are they are not good. The same is true of SEO services advertised on paid ads at the very best of search engines or on banner advertisements on other sites. If their search marketing is any good, what makes them having to pay for their placements?
Another thing to bear in mind is to steer well clear of any SEO agency that promises you "top position for x keywords" or something similar. Nearly all modern major search engines used personalised searching, meaning that everyone sees web pages in slightly different ranking positions based on their personal search history. Absolute rankings are a thing of the past, any anyone claiming to deliver
click this link now sort of service is lying through their teeth. Modern SEO will use sustainable "white hat" techniques in order to bring useful traffic to your web page, not use exploits and dodgy tricks, which can constantly get them slapped by search engine updates like Google's infamous Panda and Penguin algorithm changes.
Once you've found an SEO company that looks mostly all right you'll need to ask them some questions before you leap into their services. And the usual checks like existing client list and testimonials, it's a great idea to speak to someone directly on the phone or in person.