5 Signs that You Need to invest in an SEO Agency

Hiring an SEO agency to design your web positioning strategy is an important step for your business. So far, you might have been working on your SEO internally. But there comes a point when you stop seeing results.

Perhaps the time has come to hire an SEO agency to be your partner. But how can you tell that time has arrived? In this article, we help you identify the signs and tell you exactly how to find the ideal SEO agency.

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5 signs you need an SEO agency

Gathering visits to your website is always important. But there are some cases in which it’s even more important because of its business model. If you have an online business, for example, your lead generation might be largely derived from your website.

For this reason, you should be aware of the signs that tell you when it’s time to hire an SEO expert or an SEO agency. Here are 5 signs that it’s time to reach out to an SEO agency.

illustration of words related to SEO — Source: Pixabay

1. A drop in traffic coming from search engines

Google is continually updating its algorithm. Sometimes, these changes are not noticeable in your organic traffic. However, there are other times when your traffic falls dramatically overnight and you don’t know why.

If the traffic drop has taken place overnight, it’s often a configuration error in the sitemap or in the robots.txt file. Just review your last actions to undo what caused the decline.

There are many reasons for a drop in your organic traffic and identifying them is key to recover your web positioning.

However, another possibility is that you might have been hit with a Google penalty. If you’ve done something that Google considers bad practice, it can cause your website to disappear from the first page of the search results or even disappear from it.

So, how do you know if your website has been penalised? If you’re not familiar with this type of situation, you’ll need an SEO expert to help you identify the problem and find a solution.

Improper use of keywords, a questionable link building strategy… There are many reasons that can lead to a penalty. Identifying them is essential to overcome this situation.

laptop with analytics on a desk — Source: Unsplash

2. Your sales mainly come from organic traffic

In e-commerce businesses, for instance, organic traffic is an important factor for sales. For this reason, you can’t afford a drop in web traffic as otherwise, turnover will be greatly affected.

In this case, an SEO agency would be a reliable investment. The actions you put in place thanks to an SEO specialist will help you recover traffic and improve conversions.

This way you’ll recover the investment you make in the SEO agency and improve your digital marketing strategy.

If your business relies on SEO, don’t risk it! Find a partner to help you improve your rankings.

3. Increased workload

Developing an SEO strategy takes time. It involves a whole series of on-page and off-page actions that multiply as your business grows.

How many resources can you devote internally to SEO? These resources are likely to be limited and possibly result in a positioning decrease.

Having a web positioning agency that coordinates your SEO actions will not only give you better ranking results. It also enables you to dedicate your internal resources to what you really need, while the agency takes care of all the technical work.

Relying on a web positioning agency for your SEO strategy will bring you better and faster results.

4. A nice website… that nobody sees

Well, no one might be a bit exaggerated. But it’s not giving the results you expected after investing time and money in SEO. What could be the problem?

smartphone, notebook and a pen on a wooden table — Source: Pixabay

Sometimes, when facing a web (re)design process, the visual aspect prevails. You want your website to be beautiful and to make it attractive to the visitor. However, from an SEO point of view, it may not have the right architecture or there might be a lack of aspects that directly influence its positioning.

Counting on an SEO agency that performs a web audit or that accompanies you in the process of web (re)design is a guarantee of success. They will advise you on the most suitable architecture for your site, as well as help you optimise the content.

5. Not being aware of the competition

It’s okay to go your own way without copy-pasting everything the competition is doing. However, when talking about SEO, conducting a competitor analysis is of vital importance.

Studying what other companies similar to yours are doing to get better ranked can bring you new ideas or strategies. With the right SEO agency, you’ll always be aware of your competitors’ actions to detect unique opportunities.

How to find the right SEO agency

Finding an SEO agency online is not hard, but finding the one that fits the needs of your business is a different story. Therefore, we’ve listed a few tips to take into consideration when exploring your options.

Look for client reviews

References or success stories are essential. Many SEO agencies claim to be experts but that’s something you will need to double-check. In case they don’t have a testimonial section on their website, there are other ways you can look for reviews.

Google My Business might be a great option to read experiences from clients. Together with websites like Trustpilot or Clutch, you’ll probably get a good impression of the satisfaction rate from others.

google my business illustration — Source: Yeeply

Make sure they offer custom proposals

If they only offer fixed packages, alarm bells should start ringing. As the strategy and effort of an SEO agency are different for every single project. Usually, depending on the type of business, it’s maturity and its needs a custom proposal is created.

Agencies that offer a closed price without taking into account the nature of the business are simply not reliable. Either they use black hat SEO techniques, which will end up penalising your website, or they don’t have the required expertise to carry out large projects.

Verify the combination of on-page and off-page actions

To improve a website’s SEO it’s recommended to mix on-page with off-page actions. But what’s the difference between them?

On-page SEO refers to factors you can control on your own website. Such as including keywords in the copies on your home page or optimising your blog content to rank for new queries. Off-page SEO refers to the ranking factors that occur off your site such as backlinks from other websites.

illustration of white hat SEO elements — Source: Pixabay

Ask about short, medium and long-term objectives

It takes time to see the results of your SEO actions. You won’t get immediate results so it’s important to be patient. That’s why it’s recommended to ask an SEO agency how long it will take before you see the first results.

When hiring an SEO agency it’s common they’ve planned a minimum period of time in which the first results can be measured. Besides, it’s important to ask which objectives are going to be achieved and when.

If the SEO tasks are performed well, it will not only influence the rankings of your website but also the number of visitors. But don’t worry, if the actions that are being implemented are the right ones, the results will follow.