How to Evaluate Your SEO/SEM Company: 10 Questions to Ask

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Are you ready to outshine your competition and skyrocket your online visibility? Staying ahead of the game is essential, and utilizing the power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the way to do it. These strategies will not only boost your online presence but also drive a flood of traffic to your website, propelling your business to new heights.

However, with ever-changing algorithms and best practices, it can be challenging to stay on top of the latest trends and strategies. That's where hiring a reputable SEO/SEM company comes in. They can help you develop and implement a customized strategy that will improve your search engine rankings, drive more traffic to your website, and ultimately grow your bottom line.

But with so many companies to choose from, how do you evaluate and select the best one for your business? Here are ten questions you can ask as part of a thorough SEM/SEO company assessment.

How will you communicate with me, and how often should I expect updates and reports?

Clear communication with your SEO/SEM agency is an absolute must-have so you can stay informed on their progress and strategies. A reputable company should provide a designated point of contact for your business as well as regular updates and reports on their performance.

At a minimum, they should offer monthly or bi-weekly check-ins and detailed monthly reports.

How do you do keyword research and choose target keywords?

Keyword research is crucial for the success of an SEO strategy. An experienced company should have a thorough process for researching and selecting target keywords that align with your business objectives.

This may include analyzing your industry and competitors, identifying user intent, and using keyword research tools. Check that they also plan on targeting long-tail keywords, which are less competitive but still relevant to your business.

How do you measure SEO/SEM performance and results?

Measuring performance is essential for determining the effectiveness of any marketing strategy. Good companies will have a system for tracking and analyzing key metrics such as traffic, keyword rankings, conversion rates, and ROI.

Additionally, they should be able to set specific, measurable goals at the start of the campaign and regularly monitor progress toward those goals using tools like Google Analytics.

How do you incorporate social media in an SEO/SEM strategy?

When it comes to digital marketing, social media's role is only growing bigger. Therefore, any company worth your time should know how to leverage social media to drive traffic to your website, increase brand awareness, and improve search engine rankings. Inquire about whether they have a creative team that develops shareable content and actively engages with social media audiences.

What strategies do you have to prevent Google penalties?

Google penalties can negatively affect a website's search engine rankings. Therefore, your SEM company evaluation should include assessing their tactics and practices.

Check if they have a method for avoiding penalties, such as staying up-to-date on the latest Google guidelines and best practices and regularly auditing your website for any potential issues.

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How do you handle and address Google algorithm changes?

This is one of the most important SEO company evaluation questions to ask! Google regularly updates its algorithms, which can severely impact a website's rankings. If an agency doesn't have a plan in place to respond to algorithm changes, then you risk losing big on your investment.

A credible SEM company will regularly inform you of any updates and changes and adjust your website and ongoing campaigns to fit an evolving strategy.

How do you improve the Core Web Vitals of a website?

Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics that measure load times and user experience on a website and include the following:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Main content loading time
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Measure of visual stability
First Input Delay (FID): Responsiveness

Improving these vitals can lead to higher search engine rankings. Therefore, SEO professionals should have a plan for improving these vitals, such as optimizing images, reducing code bloat, and implementing lazy loading.

Do you have a plan for SEO on the mobile version of the website?

With the majority of internet users accessing the web from mobile devices, it's critical your website is optimized for them. As such, a strategy for optimizing the mobile version of the website should be on your SEO performance evaluation checklist.

Consider whether they use a responsive design or implement Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).

Will you improve domain authority?

Domain authority is a metric that measures the strength and credibility of a website. Therefore, your SEO company selection should depend on whether they have systems in place to improve domain authority. For example, a solid strategy would be to build natural, high-quality backlinks from reputable sites and regularly create new, relevant content to establish the website as an authority in the industry.

What do you do for off-page SEO and local rankings?

Off-page SEO refers to optimization efforts that take place outside of a website, such as building backlinks and managing online business listings. Local SEO focuses on optimizing a business's online presence for customers searching for products or services in a specific geographic location.

As part of your SEO agency evaluation, you should ensure they work on improving off-page SEO and local rankings by building backlinks, managing online business listings and encouraging customer reviews.

Summary: How to Choose an SEM/SEO Company

By using these questions as part of your SEM/SEO company evaluation criteria, you can gain a better understanding of different strategies in the industry. You'll also be able to make more informed decisions about your SEO and SEM efforts.

At WEB ROI, we understand the importance of evaluating and improving your SEO/SEM, and we're here to help your business succeed. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help your business achieve next-level success!