How to Pick from All the SEO Companies out There

In a time when SEO is everything to a company’s marketing efforts, it pays having a professional team handling yours. Finding the right one will take some work though. There are some distinguishing factors that the best ones have, so you’re going to want to know how to spot them.
If your business could benefit from some help with their SEO (hint: everyone’s could), it’s time you think about hiring a company for the job. It won’t be long, though, before you realize there are too many SEO companies out there to count. While it’s certainly nice having options, this time that blessing can be a real challenge. So here are some things to think about that should help you bring that list of potential SEO companies down considerably.

Experience
In today’s world, it seems like everyone is an SEO expert. This is one of the reasons why SEO companies are a dime a dozen. Unfortunately, because this is such a necessary tool and so many people who need it don’t truly understand it, a lot of these snake oil salesmen get hired.
Even if they have good intentions, becoming a true expert at SEO takes time. So that should be one of the first things you look for in any SEO companies up for the job.

Resume
Of course, they could have a decade of experience and not be the SEO company for you. Improving your search engine rank takes a number of talents, and chief amongst them is understanding your market. That’s why many SEO companies have a specialty when it comes to industries. One may be the best at helping, say, law firms get ranked. However, if a restaurant hired them, their results could lack considerably.
On top of that, you obviously want to make sure they’ve had successful campaigns in the past. Don’t simply take their word for it either. Call up the client they served and get their opinion. You definitely want to know how long it took them to secure that success. But it’s also worth asking what it was like working with them. Given how important SEO services are and how much they can cost, the last thing you want is a company that you’ll constantly be fighting with. 

Services
Another good way to get rid of some of the one-hit-wonders out there is to ask potential companies about the services they provide. Specifically, you want to confirm the main three. These are:
•    On-Page Optimization, like HTML tags, keywords, meta descriptions, etc.
•    Off-Page Optimization, like backlinks, directory listings, etc.
•    Technical Optimization, like website design, etc.
You may be surprised to find how many companies only handle one or two of these. Again, this is because a lot of these so-called “companies” just learned one to get in the business. Without having all three working in tandem, your SEO will suffer, plain and simple.

Marketing Chops
Somewhere along the way, SEO became divided from traditional marketing strategies. The two are certainly different, however, they overlap considerably too. This means your chosen company should be able to provide you with content that outlines the benefit of your product or services to readers. If you just get a handful of paragraphs with a few keywords included, this really won’t do much for you. Remember, having a user find your website is great. Turning them into a customer is ideal.

A Good Fit with the Rest of Your Company
If your company consists of just you and your laptop, you still want to make sure that you can get along with any SEO companies that are up for the job. As we mentioned before, getting ranked can sometimes feel like you’re in a foxhole with your SEO team and those are cramped quarters during the best of times.
Finding the right fit is even more important for larger companies though. Chances are your SEO company will be interacting with your IT department, customer service, your sales team and more. If they can’t all play well together, you’re not going to get what you need from your SEO.

Excellent Communication
Lastly, you may assume that a company specializing in marketing tactics would be great at communicating, but this is an assumption that often proves wrong. A lot of times you’ll find that many SEO companies fall short here. This is unacceptable. Try to get a sense for their communication style when you interview them to ensure they will update you regularly and respond to communications in a timely manner.While an SEO company can take your business to the next level, it can also stop your progress cold in its tracks. Consider the above to ensure the chicago SEO companies you pick is more benefit than burden.
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3 Myths about Choosing a Marketing Agency

There are a lot of things out there that can help a business grow: your devotement and passion as a business owner, a good idea, having the tools and resources to actually do your job, a sprinkle of luck, and so on. Unlike what some people think, it is never just all about luck when it comes to a business and most of the things out there can be controlled perfectly.

Take your marketing campaigns, for example. For many small business owners out there, the question of a true marketing campaign has not even arisen because they believe that the fact that their business is small also means that they should not market their products and/or services. However, this is completely untrue: marketing campaigns can help businesses of all sizes and even more, they can be crucial for their success.

If you have decided to work with a marketing agency to help you market your products/services out there, then you should first understand exactly what a marketing agency is and what it can do for you. Many people out there believe in certain “myths” that have been circulating out there for quite a lot of time when it comes to what marketing is, but the truth is that these myths are completely unfounded.

Here are 3 of the most commonly spread ones:

Marketing is One and the Same as Advertising

For many people out there (even for people who work in the field and tag themselves as “experts”, marketing and advertising are one and the same thing. Still, you should understand the fact that marketing may involve advertising as a technique, but the reverse will not be true as well. In fact, advertising is the slice of a bigger cake called “marketing” and understanding this difference can help you realize the fact that marketing may be completely different from what you have believed it to be until now.

Online Marketing is One and the Same as SEO

Another myth that has been out there for a very long time is related to the fact that the only thing Internet marketers do is optimize websites for the search engines. Yes, online marketing agencies out there do that in most of the cases, but they can do much, much more than that. They can organize for paid campaigns, online advertising, email campaigns, social media campaigns and so on. Even more, there may be agencies out there dealing with separate niches (for instance, you may find agencies that are marketing-oriented, but which will only provide you with the content you need for your website).

The Price Is Important

This myth is only partially true. In one way or another, marketing agencies that ask for a price that is much below the market price for their services can be tricky and you can end up paying money to receive nothing that leads to actual results in exchange. However, at the same time you should know that even large and extremely important marketing agencies out there can design campaigns that will fit into small budgets and that you should make the difference between the price for the service and the budget for the campaign itself.

Marketing is a very important part of a business (be it large or small). However, many people out there still do not understand what marketing is and, most importantly what it isn’t. There are at least 3 myths out there on what marketing can provide them with and you should definitely get acquainted with them if you plan to hire a Chicago search marketing agency soon.

For more info about Chicago marketing strategy firms visit us.

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