An SEO agency must align its strategy with that of your company. Why? SEO is part of a digital strategy that must be integrated into the company’s objectives if you want effective results. What are your medium- and long-term quantitative goals? What is the role of digital marketing? Do you plan to launch new products and when?
You should not limit your digital marketing strategy to SEO. Success depends on a multi-channel strategy that integrates both online and offline channels.
Once you have defined your company’s objectives and shared them with your SEO agency, it is easier for them to set goals that fit with the company’s strategy for the SEO campaign.
One very important thing to take into account: SEO is about teamwork and taking action. For your SEO audit to be effective, the recommendations must be applied. In order to do so, the SEO agency may intervene directly on the website, in which case all recommendations will be implemented as long as you have provided the necessary access.
Or you or your team may make these changes yourselves. In this case, you must verify that the changes have actually been made, or risk not achieving the expected results. The role of the SEO agency is to explain and, if necessary, train the person or people who will be in charge of implementing these recommendations.
In any case, there must be regular and constructive communication between you and the agency in order to build trust.
Each SEO agency has its own methods, processes, and strategies to position your pages on Google. And some have unsavoury SEO practices that it is best to avoid. If you do not work in the field, it can be difficult to understand SEO methods. Or maybe you don’t want to, or can’t take the time to understand them, which is why you have contacted an agency.
On the other hand, you rightly expect to see the results of your SEO campaign. Your agency must provide you with reports that are as complete and easy to understand as possible. This is often mentioned in a clause in the contract. If there is no contractual reporting obligation, consider looking elsewhere, because your agency is not credible.
If all of these recommendations are applied, the results will be more or less effective depending on the agency’s expertise and methods. Whether the results are positive or negative, your agency must be upfront with you. Sometimes the expected results are not achieved for a variety of reasons: competition, insufficient resources, etc. This is why it is important to study the competition when setting your goals. An SEO expert will be able to tell you how feasible an objective is, based on the level of competition and investment.