If you want a quick guide to buy search engine optimization services for your small business, this blog will break down in very simple terms 3 DOs and 3 DON’Ts you need to keep in mind if you’re going to trust your digital marketing to an SEO agency.

You should, by the way.

SEO services provided by an expert digital marketing company is the most cost-effective and most results driven action you can take to propel your business to the next level.

The myth is it costs an arm and a leg. It doesn’t.

The myth is that you are only successful if you get to page one of Google. That’s not entirely true.

The myth is SEO is easy and you can do it yourself with little to no experience. You can’t.

10 times out of 10 we recommend hiring an SEO agency rather than an internal marketing employee to work on your website optimization.

Why? A few simple reasons.

• SEO agencies are teams of people that actually cost less than a single marketing employee.
• SEO agencies are required to get results. If they don’t, fire them.
• SEO agencies have one job: to make your website perform in the search engines.
• SEO agencies have expertise in looking good to the search engines where your marketing employee may know some but is likely not an expert.

So, if you’re a small business, a medium sized business, a large business or a franchise business and you’re not trusting your website optimization to a team of experts, you need SEO services.

The 3 DOs when searching for small business search engine optimization.

#1. DO Shop Around
Chances are you know somebody who has some experience in marketing. Your sister’s brother has a marketing company or your good friend knows a guy.
It’s all right to look at these companies as viable options. But if you look at them as your ONLY option, now you’ve made a mistake.
Shopping for a digital marketing agency should be like shopping for a home. You should really be sold on the place. Maybe this SEO agency seems like the dream home you’ve always wanted for your business, but if you don’t look elsewhere, how do you know it’s truly the one?
In short, look around. By doing so, you make each agency really work on why they’ll stand out.

#2. DO Get As Much Free Stuff As Possible
Remember, digital marketing services are complex but many times they aren’t outrageously expensive to produce.

As a small business owner who’s thinking of hiring a company for their digital marketing services, you should be vying to get as much free stuff as possible.

• Have them give you a website assessment for FREE.
• Have them walk you through their client dashboard for FREE.
• See if you can talk to the project manager you’ll be working with for FREE.
• Have them do competitor analysis for FREE.
• Have them conduct preliminary keyword research for your company for FREE.

#3. DO Check References & Reviews If you get bad vibes from an agency, trust your intuition and talk to someone else.
If you get good vibes though, that doesn’t mean that the relationship is going to be perfect or even good.

You need more buying power and you get it from checking references and looking at reviews.
Start with reviews. Check their Google Reviews; check their Facebook reviews; and there are some other great sites out there for agencies specifically like Clutch and UpCity.
Then, check GlassDoor.

The 3 DON’Ts when buying small business search engine optimization.

#1. DON’T Buy On Price First
Take our word for it, there is some cheap SEO services out there. Like CHEAP SEO services.
If you buy on price first, you’re doomed for failure. If you want cut-rate search engine optimization, you should keep your money and not bother.

#2. DON’T Expect The Agency To Do All The Work
Marketing companies that specialize in SEO are experts in one thing, getting your website found.
You know what they aren’t experts on? Your company.

#3 DON’T Buy It And Then Not Use It
Agencies need to guarantee results. If they don’t, you need to fire them.
But do you really have the right to fire them if you’re not participating in its success?

Conclusion Small business search engine optimization can be full of potholes but it doesn’t have to be. Just by paying attention to the 3 DOs and the 3 DON’Ts provided in this blog, you’ve saved yourself a world of pain and will likely land a top agency who can truly help your business.

About Agency Jet
We like to think we’re that top agency because we’ve got the proof. Here are some important things to know about us:

• We have a 96% retention of clients after six months and 84% retention of clients after one year. These are unheard of numbers in our industry.
• Monthly calls are mandatory with us. We believe in full transparency, a free education and world-class results.
• You aren’t passed off from one person to the next. We keep you working with the same project managers and client strategists for the life of your campaign.
• We are one of the most highly reviewed agencies in the country. Don’t believe us? Check here.
• We guarantee results. We tell every single client that if they don’t see better keyword rankings and more Google traffic to their site by month 4 to fire us. Nobody has.
• We put our clients first. That’s no blanket statement. Our mantra is “client first, employee second, investor third”. In other words, we always put your needs before our own.

Want to chat more with us? We offer a 100% free and educational website assessment and competitor analysis. It’s no sales pitch. We’ve delivered over 2500 of these in the last couple years and we’ve asked everyone, “Did you find this assessment helpful?” and the answer is always “yes”. Click the button below to get yours!
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