Last modified on: April 15th, 2024
Looking to invest in SEO services for your small business? Find out how to determine the right SEO service for your small business in 2024.
Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is becoming a vital tool for business owners. It’s a surefire way to increase business visibility on search engines like Google.
Let’s say that you offer roofing services. With the right SEO services, you can get your site and business in front of more potential customers online when you rank on the 1st page of Google for search queries like “roofing in x town or city”, and variations like roofing services, roof repair, roof construction, etc.
With the right SEO tactics completed consistently over time, your website pages can generate a lot of new business opportunities for you.
As a small business, it can help to diversify your marketing efforts, as it can be risky to just rely on one marketing channel like paid ads.
While Google Ads, social media marketing, and offline marketing are all great ways to generate business, SEO can synergize with ads and other efforts, and provide you with a potentially higher ROI in the long run.
Small Business SEO Services
Here are 6 tips for finding the right SEO service for your business.
1. Define Your Goals
The first thing to you’ll need to do is decide on the outcome you’re expecting to receive from an SEO service. While no reputable SEO provider can guarantee specific website traffic or ranking results, you'll generally want to look for an SEO service that helps:
- Improve user experience
- Boost website rankings
- Increase brand awareness
- Maximize website visibility
- Attract more customers
- Increase leads or sales
Once you set clear SEO goals, you’ll have a better understanding of the type of SEO service to look for. Defining your requirements is the first step.
Keep in mind, that SEO isn't a silver bullet that can run a business for you. Relying solely on SEO is risky, as search engine algorithms and search behavior are always changing. Diversifying your marketing efforts alongside SEO is recommended.
2. Research SEO Providers
Now that you’ve defined your aim, it’s time to look into SEO companies. There's a variety of competent SEO experts out there. The common types include:
- SEO freelancers
- SEO agencies
- Digital marketing agencies
If you're a small business, an SEO freelancer or smaller-scale agency could work well and tend to offer affordable SEO services. There are also small business SEO companies that focus on SEO campaigns for businesses of a certain size and type.
There are a variety of ways to find SEO service providers:
- Ask fellow business owners who have used an SEO company before.
- Discover top-rated SEO companies on a company finder site like Clutch.
- Submit a proposal on Upwork and connect with potential SEO freelancers.
- Use Google to find a local SEO company if you prefer local.
- Connect with SEO professionals at offline marketing events.
To find the right SEO provider, consider filtering candidates based on:
- Affordability: Are the SEO service plans in my budget range or customizable?
- Experience: Does the provider have a track record of successful SEO results?
- Suitability: Do the SEO services aim to generate results aligned with my goals?
- Communication: Am I okay with the communication and reporting provided?
3. Set Your Budget
Determine the amount you're willing to spend on SEO services on a monthly basis. You'll want to consider the amount of time it could take to see improvements and benefits from SEO based on your goals.
According to Google and based on experience, SEOs generally require four months to a year to help your business first implement improvements and then see potential results. SEO is a long-term investment in your business.
The right budget for SEO is one you can afford for ideally twelve months. With SEO a higher budget should result in a higher volume of work performed in a given time period, which can improve your chance of seeing results quicker.
You can learn more about developing a budget for SEO here.
4. Check Reviews, Testimonials, Results
It's always a good idea to check reviews or request testimonials, including past results. This information can provide detailed insight into the SEO services company, including what it's like to work with the SEO firm, the type of SEO work and results received, and recommendations.
Here are some questions to consider when checking reviews or testimonials:
- Will this SEO agency help me achieve my SEO goals?
- Is the SEO company easy to reach and communicate with?
- Does the SEO provider consistently generate results?
Real people will give you all these pieces of information.
After checking out reviews, consider checking out the SEO provider's website for more potential information related to the company and services provided.
5. Request a Consultation
Requesting a consultation is a good way to get a feel for the SEO service provider. Most SEO agencies and professionals provide an initial consultation, in order to gain a better understanding of your business and offerings, and vice-versa. Sometimes a website or online presence audit is also provided to show how the provider can potentially help your business.
An initial consultation is a good time to discuss your goals, in which the SEO provider can let you know if their services could help you meet your goals, potential SEO strategies to follow, and give you an estimate on what the SEO services will cost to tackle your goals.
With a little SEO provider research and a basic understanding of SEO tools, you’ll be able to make a more efficient and informed decision for your business.
6. Understand SEO Tools
You don’t need to be an expert on SEO software tools. That’s why you’re considering hiring a professional, after all. However, it’s good to know what experts are talking about, which are often metrics found in SEO tools.
A basic understanding of SEO metrics will make it easier to communicate with the provider and make more informed decisions.
What do search engine optimization tools do?
While there are many specialized tools, all-in-one SEO software and commonly used local SEO software are worth checking out for learning about a variety of tool uses. These SEO tools provide data and reports on website rankings, keywords, links, and include site audit features for identifying technical SEO issues, and features for optimizing site elements and page content.
There are many useful SEO tools on the market. Having a basic understanding of how they work and why they're used is a great way to boost your SEO knowledge.
Wrapping Up
In today's world of doing more business online, it's essential to expand the visibility of your small business in search engines to generate more leads, sales, and business opportunities. Hiring an experienced SEO service provider can help you with this.
While hiring in-house is an option, a salary and the necessary training are often more expensive in terms of time and money than hiring an SEO provider who already has specialized expertise, resources like software tools, and the ability to implement an effective SEO-based marketing strategy.
Looking for low-cost SEO services? Check out the leading affordable SEO packages.
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