4 common pitfalls to many make when working with an SEO Agency

For many businesses’ SEO is one of the first points of calls when it comes to improving their online strategy. After all, all businesses want to reach a higher seo score and ultimately have more customers. The fundamentals for many will seem fairly straight forward and, in many ways, they are. You want to provide valuable content to users that in the eyes of Google and other search engines best matches the searches query. Everything should be geared towards this, from the navigation, meta description, and content of the website. One of the Best Place’s for this is Springhill Marketing so look no further for what you need.

However, many make the mistake of taking a quick look into SEO and feeling confident enough to take on all the optimisation tasks inhouse. This is one of the main mistakes many businesses make when looking into an SEO agency. In today’s article we have a look at this mistake and other common pitfalls digital businesses make when looking for and working with SEO agencies.

• Not grasping a full understanding of the time needed for SEO

As mentioned, many businesses feel after a brief foray into life with an SEO agency that they can take on the responsibility inhouse. This is a mistake on several levels. Firstly, if you do not have the years of experience a professional SEO agency like Hooked Marketing will have, you may miss issues on your website that are harder to spot. Additionally, as SEO is a constantly evolving field you may not have time to properly keep up to date with industry best practice. However, an SEO agency lives and breathes this stuff. They will be able to keep you informed on the best strategy to keep your business competitive on search engines converting well on the website.

In addition to the potential issues of taking on SEO without the experience, there is also a big opportunity cost. Sure, hiring an SEO person in-house may save you money on retainer fees, however, this is also a salary that could be used to bring in more salespeople or service areas in other parts of the business. This must also be considered when deciding on your SEO strategy.

• Looking for fixed packages with little room for flexibility

Fixed packages can work for SEO agencies, but the nature of the field means there is often room to expand quicker if you allow for a little flexibility. With Google releasing updates at ever-increasing rates, there are often opportunities for growth that can be taken advantage of. One area where this is exemplified in the recent changing of many Google Shopping listings from paid to organic. This could give your business a chance through some website tweaks to get some more long-term sustainable traffic. However, you and the SEO agency are bound by a fixed package with little room for manoeuvre on the hours, you could miss opportunities like this.

• Not allowing enough time for the proper SEO research

Another mistake that you should avoid making when working with an SEO agency is not allowing enough time for the initial research stage. When agreeing on the work to be done many do not understand the length of time a good SEO strategy needs, and it all starts with the research stage.

Keyword research is an in-depth task that provides a lot of useful information when it comes to the targeting of profitable traffic to your website. The size and importance of the task often means it takes a lot of hours. We recommend that you allow the SEO agency all the time they need to get to grips with the keywords that would be best for your site to target. Without good keyword research, you cannot possibly hope to have a good SEO strategy.

• Not understanding the timeframe that is needed for SEO

One of the most common mistakes many make when investing in SEO is expecting their rankings to skyrocket overnight as the result of ‘magic bullet’ of an SEO strategy. This is not the case. In most situations, SEO is a long-term game, with an 8-12 month time frame before profitable progress can be made.

Now there are anomalies to this as with any trend, however, they should not be taken out of context. What search engines refer to as ‘domain authority’ is built over time through providing good content to users that develop high-quality links back to your site. Try to allow enough time for the SEO agency to develop a long-term strategy and put it into practice.

Do your research online for the best SEO agency for you

As this article will have hopefully demonstrated, SEO is a constantly evolving field and to get the most for your business, you need to go with an SEO agency that is willing to learn and develop over time. Conduct some thorough research online to find the best agency for you. Arrange consultations and phone calls and make sure you try to get the best possible fit for your business.