Choosing the right SEO company is crucial for your business. But how can you tell if your SEO company is legit? In this blog post, we’ll provide some actionable insights, drawing from the experience of seasoned SEO experts, Tim Brown and Cody Warren.
Evaluating Your SEO Company: What You Should Know
Imagine visiting a doctor who doesn’t take their own prescribed medicine. Or observing their patients who remain sick. Would you trust them? Probably not. This analogy applies to SEO companies. If they aren’t practicing effective SEO for their own website or their clients’, it’s a red flag.
First Tip: Use ahrefs
Start by signing up for a 7-day, $7 trial subscription of ahrefs. This tool helps you investigate your SEO companies by allowing you to:
- See how many keywords they’re ranking for
- Calculate how much they would spend on Google ads for their traffic.
Case Study: Evaluating SEO Companies and Clients
Consider an example of a marketing agency claiming to provide efficient SEO services. Input their website into ahrefs and study the metrics. In our case study, the SEO company had a decent URL rating (20) and domain rating (50). But their traffic value was $1,200 per month, which is low for an agency offering SEO services.
In contrast, a good SEO company would have a higher traffic value. As an example, our traffic value is at $67,400 per month. We would have to spend that amount every month on Google ads to match the organic traffic we get for free from Google.
Understanding Key SEO Metrics
For SEO beginners, it’s helpful to understand the terminology:
- Domain Rating: Average value of how much power your website has
- Backlinks: Number of links coming to your site
- Referring Domains: Number of domains referring to your site
- Keywords and Traffic: Terms that your site ranks for and the visitor traffic it attracts
Interpreting SEO Metrics
When evaluating the SEO performance of your potential company’s clients, check if the keywords they rank for are competitive and valuable. If a client ranks for over 10,000 keywords but their traffic value is less than $10K, they might not be targeting valuable, competitive terms.
Evaluate the ROI on SEO
Also, consider the return on investment (ROI) from SEO. If a company is spending thousands of dollars monthly on SEO and getting a traffic value of less than $1,000, something is off. A good rule of thumb is to expect a higher return after a few years of consistent SEO work.
Watch Out for Fake SEO
Beware of fake SEO, which can manifest in two ways:
- Companies pretending to have knowledge they lack
- Companies that conduct audits but don’t do substantial work
While audits are valuable tools to outline improvements, they do not make someone an SEO specialist.
Conclusion: How to Determine if an SEO Company is Legit
To determine if an SEO company is legit:
- Use ahrefs to examine their website and their clients’ websites.
- Ask for examples of clients they have been working with for a few years to see their SEO results.
If you see clear results, it’s a good indicator that the SEO company is worth considering. Remember, it’s crucial to check the long-term results of their clients, not just the new ones.
To sum up, sign up for a $7 trial of ahrefs when looking for an SEO agency – it’s a great way to vet them.
Remember, your SEO company should be able to walk the talk. If they can’t manage their own SEO effectively, how can you trust them to handle yours?