Getting ahead of your competition is probably a priority. If you’re tired of watching your competitors get all of the sales, it’s time to start boosting your brand’s profile. Erecting billboards and paying for print ads can help you get noticed. However, you’re still probably missing out on reaching a large portion of your target audience.
Partnering with a Broomfield SEO company is a great way of boosting your brand’s visibility and attracting customers to your business. However, not all SEO service providers are equal. So, how do you know if your SEO partner is doing its job? You can watch out for some red flags.
What is an SEO Provider?
A company providing search engine optimization (SEO) services has a key goal. The service provider works diligently to help boost your brand’s online profile. Did you know online users perform around 8.55 million searches every day on Google? This number goes up when you factor in the other search engines like Bing and the super-private DuckDuckGo.
If your business isn’t easily visible on the web, you’re losing out on a ton of potential customers. This is also when SEO can help. SEO is all about improving your online presence using a variety of tools like keywords, authoritative links, and engaging content. There’s a lot more to SEO but those are the basics.
Unless your business has an IT department familiar with SEO best practices, you’re probably going to need some outside help. An SEO service provider can handle every aspect of your website optimization or you can pick and choose from the offered services. Being able to pick only the services your business needs helps keep down the overall cost.
Yes, farming out your SEO needs can be expensive. So, if you start noticing any red flags from your service provider you may not be getting the full value for your money.
Red Flags to Avoid in an SEO Service Provider
Finding the right SEO partner is probably going to take some time and effort. This isn’t something you can usually do in a few minutes, it takes a bit of time and research.
As you’re browsing through the various services and possibly even interviewing a few of them, keep an eye out for any of the following red flags.
The SEO Service Guarantees a Specific Search Engine Ranking
No one understands search engine algorithms, not even the developers. Just ask Google how they rank websites and everyone is probably going to shrug their shoulders. The algorithms do their thing without explaining anything.
Search engines are also constantly updating. So, even if you figure one out it’s probably already changed. This means search engine results are also changing. A webpage may hold the top spot in the rankings one day. By the next, the new algorithm may have dropped it down a few spots.
If an SEO service provider promises your website will always be in the top spot, consider it a huge red flag. If Google can’t even predict its search engine results how in the world can an SEO provider?
Your website may hit number one in the search engine rankings and hold the spot for a few weeks. Unfortunately, this probably means black hat SEO tactics are being used and eventually your website will be penalized. Recovering from unscrupulous SEO tactics is tough and some websites never get back to the top spots.
Promising Next Day Results
If an SEO service provider claims your website can move up in the search engine rankings in 24 hours or less, it’s a big red flag. SEO when done right is a long-term project. You should see a steady improvement in your site’s rankings but not overnight.
Search engines need time to crawl a website and produce rankings. This isn’t something that usually happens overnight. Besides, even Google reports its algorithm typically only crawls websites every three to six months. Sure, you can get lucky and have your site crawled immediately after implementing SEO practices but it’s unlikely.
Instead, the SEO service provider is probably using black hat tactics and you already know this can create major problems for your website. You may need to start all over again if the tactics are too damaging.
Amazingly Low Prices
Have you ever heard the saying that the price is too good to be true? This adage especially applies to SEO services.
Mastering SEO best practices isn’t an easy task. Even the experts are constantly learning new practices. Remember, every time a search engine algorithm changes so does the SEO practices.
This means SEO is a continual learning process that easily becomes a full-time job.
Since SEO is complex, you should expect to pay for the expertise. If a service provider is offering ridiculously low prices, take it as a red flag. You may even end up paying more in the long run. You may need to bring in another SEO service provider to fix any mistakes left by your original partner.
Transparency Is a Problem
During your meeting with a potential SEO partner, pay attention to how they answer your questions. Are you getting actual answers or is the service provider ignoring your questions? Maybe they keep changing the subject every time you ask a question. If you’re having trouble getting a straight answer, it’s probably a red flag.
Transparency is key in a successful partnership with an SEO service provider. You probably don’t need to know every little detail about the process, but you do want to be kept in the loop.
Find out if the service provider is planning on staying in contact throughout the process. You also want to ask about any performance reviews. Will you get copies of your website’s performance or does the provider simply let clients know everything is working out okay?
Choosing a Great SEO Service Provider
SEO isn’t something you probably want to tackle on your own. You also don’t want to ignore it. Partnering with the right SEO service provider has advantages but watch out for any red flags. Even one red flag can be disastrous for your website.
