First, we should make it clear that these 4 things don’t apply to every single organic SEO company. We aren’t including companies that flood your inbox with emails proclaiming ‘CLICK HERE TO RANK #1 IN GOOGLE IN 24 HOURS’.
We’re strictly referring to credible organic SEO companies that help you rank the right way; through a healthy combination of experience and zeal. After all, true SEO requires passion to decode its many mysteries.
If you’re wondering what to anticipate from an organic SEO company before making the plunge to hire one, read on for the 4 things you should expect (and require).
1. They will provide you with a complete keyword analysis.
A keyword analysis will point out what you are doing correctly, as well as what can be improved upon. You should expect the organic SEO company to analyze where your meta descriptions, titles, use of tags, and which keywords you are currently targeting (if any).
If instead you are presented with a list of vague tips and advice, you should be very cautious as it’s possible this is mass produced to other recipients. A keyword analysis should be thorough and identify custom keywords for you or them to implement.
2. User-intent is a priority.
If your organic SEO company is selecting keywords without consideration of user intent, it’s hardly worth targeting them at all.
For example, maybe your business facilitates cat adoptions and through SEO achieved the #1 spot in Google for ‘cute cat picture’. Wow! Great job. Although you experience an increase in website traffic, you notice your bounce rate (users who leave your website after only viewing one page) is increasing as well.
To make matters worse, your ROI is practically non-existent. There’s a simple reason for all this; you weren’t considering user-intent. People searching for cute cat pictures may look at the furballs you have for sale and even share pictures of them with friends, but at the end of the day they just wanted a cute cat picture, not the whole cat.
It’s important look at the different angles when considering keywords. While ‘cute cat pictures’ is pretty straightforward, many cases aren’t as obvious.
3. They use long tail keywords.
As you probably know by now, even if a keyword is searched billions of times, it doesn’t mean you’re going to rank high for it. Unless you’re already ranking highly for a number of keywords and have a high domain authority, it’s best to start small- or actually the opposite in this case.
The longer the keyword (in literal terms it would be keywords, more than one), generally the less competition you will be up against. Also, since the keyword is more specific, the searcher is more likely to purchase. For example..
- Broad keyword: scarf
- Long tail keyword: womens cable knit skinny scarf
The obvious caveat is ensuring it’s not so specific that few search it at all. Balance is an important attribute for any organic SEO company.
4. Content not only targets keywords, but converts readers.
At the very dawn of SEO proceedings, most people zero-in on simply ranking. “Sure! Go crazy writing content! Whatever it takes to get us ranking.”
Well, having a giant stockpile of blog posts is fine and dandy, but what happens when you realize the text is a bit.. Shoddy. If your company is writing only to rank and quality falls by the wayside, readers will be left thinking your business is unprofessional and perhaps even spammy.
Your organic SEO company should focus on solving a problem for your target audience. In that way, you’re returning to the roots of why search engines like Google came into existence in the first place: to connect searchers with the answers to their questions.
