Austin Search Engine Optimization Firms - 5 Key Qualities
Choosing an Austin search engine optimization firm is a big decision. Basically, you will pay this firm to manage all aspects of your search engine ranking and visibility — two key components of your overall web marketing success. So you want to choose a search engine optimization firm that has certain qualities. I've labeled them the "5 Key Qualities" of an Austin SEO firm:
1. Full Disclosure of SEO Techniques
In a similar article on this website, I talk about SEO firms causing harm. Yes, these people are out there. And yes, their techniques can cause you more harm in the long run by incurring Google penalties and total bans. When interviewing search engine optimization firms in Austin, ask them about their techniques. They should list things like copywriting, selective link-building, networking, etc. If they say, "We don't disclose our techniques," or if they mention the things on this list ... tell them goodbye.
Special tip: If you really want to test an SEO firm's knowledge of current SEO techniques, ask they how they go about varying link text (and why they feel its important). If they have a deer-in-the-headlight look, beware. Using the same link text over and over with inbound links is one of the most common reasons websites incur Google penalties today.
2. Copywriting Skills
Some search engine optimization firms in Austin (and elsewhere, for that matter) have strong technical backgrounds but lack writing talent. In my mind, good writing skills are essential to SEO success. So if your SEO firm doesn't have in-house writing talent, it means you'll be doing some of the writing yourself.
What kind of writing? Web content, articles, blogging, press releases, you name it. These are all key components of a well-rounded SEO program. So ask your Austin SEO firm to see some writing samples. If it's stuffed with keywords to a ridiculous degree, or if it's poorly written in any regard, find another SEO firm.
3. "Big Picture" Thinking
Search engine ranking is a beginning, not an end. Search engine optimization can make people aware of your website's existence, but it will not persuade them to buy, subscribe, contact you, or respond in any way. A good search engine optimization firm will realize this, and will therefore offer ways to integrate SEO into your overall web marketing plan. They will always keep the big picture in mind.
4. A Marketing Mindset
When choosing an Austin search engine optimization firm, you'll generally run into two kinds of people. Those with more of a marketing mindset, and those with more of a technical mindset. The technical folks are web programmers who read a few books on search engine optimization and hang out their sign as SEO professionals. These people think in terms of data, and they often forget that people are the real object of focus.
The marketing-minded folks, on the other hand, tend to think of the bigger picture of human interaction. They want those web visitors to do SOMETHING upon reaching your website. When you find an Austin search engine optimization firm that has the technical skill as well as the marketing mindset, you may have just found your firm.
5. Results and Reporting
Even if an Austin search engine optimization firm has good technical skill and "big picture" marketing awareness, it does no good if they can't deliver results. Ask them about the results they've delivered for clients in the past — specific before-and-after case studies. Also ask them how they plan to report their results back to you. If they tell you not to expect anything for a year or so, tell them goodbye.
Conclusion
I hope this checklist helps you in your search for the ideal search engine optimization firm. Of course, if you'd like to forego the whole screening process and sign up with an SEO consultant who already embodies these traits, please give me a call.
Sincerely,
Brandon Cornett
Austin SEO Guy
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