4 Things All Top-Performing SEO Agencies Do

Increasing website traffic is a key element of growing your business and building revenue. Creating a top-notch SEO strategy and consistently executing it is a great way to grow your online presence, but SEO requires lots of practice and expertise. While hiring an SEO agency is a great solution, choosing an SEO agency that's best fit for your company is no small feat. Not all agencies are created equal, so knowing the things top-performing SEO agencies do to set themselves apart can help you make an informed decision on the agency you want to hire.

In this blog, we'll discuss the qualities of a great SEO agency and how to identify which agencies will go above and beyond to achieve the results you're aiming for.

Top-performing SEO agencies will:

Build an SEO strategy custom-fit to your business

SEO strategy is complicated, to say the least. It involves much more than just picking keywords to improve search rankings. A great agency will work with you to build a complete SEO strategy fully formed to your business goals. A bad SEO agency will ask what keywords you want to rank for and blindly follow your suggestions without explaining why trying to rank for "clothes" not only isn't feasible, but it's not going to increase your revenue.

SEO can improve your bottom line, drive revenue, and strengthen your website's online presence. But for this process to work effectively, a top-performing SEO agency should get to know your business before building a strategy. Stay away from agencies that use a copy-and-paste strategy across all clients. A quality SEO agency should get to know your website, learn your brand and services, understand your audience and how they search, and then advise on the tactics that will best fit your brand. Agencies should prioritize what's important to your business while using their search engine marketing expertise to ensure you're seeing the best possible results.

Have expertise in marketing

SEO is not about ranking for keywords. It's about driving business outcomes through high-quality traffic. A great agency will be able to use its marketing expertise to help drive those business outcomes and to see the best possible results. Having a capable team of experts who can support your business in areas adjacent to SEO, including copywriting, content marketing, social media, and even website development, should lead to a stronger partnership between your website, ranking higher in search results, and growing revenue. A good agency will employ these professionals in-house to advise on strategy and optimize online presence.

By working with an agency that employs experts in different areas, you'll quickly see results. Your digital presence will be fully optimized - from executing link-building strategies to creating high-quality content optimized for SEO, the right agency will do it all seamlessly in-house.

An SEO-only agency might be able to achieve those great search results, but without expertise in marketing principles and digital marketing practices, they won't be able to capitalize on that traffic and drive measurable business results.

Your website and SEO strategy go hand-in-hand, so regularly optimizing your website should be a key part of working with an SEO agency. The agency you partner with should have a well-rounded team of individuals dedicated to improving your site ranking and overall user experience.

Have multiple dedicated copywriters in-house

Writing is an essential aspect of SEO strategy. The best agencies prioritize collaboration between SEO strategists and copywriters throughout every step of the process. While agencies may assign writers to your business, most agencies choose to employ contract writers for client projects.

The problem with that approach is that contract writers often don't work closely with SEO specialists and instead focus more on word count and tone rather than keyword placement and shareability. They tend to be less involved in the overall process by nature - they just aren't as embedded in the project as an in-house agency writer is. At the end of the day, a contract writer isn't invested in your brand because they aren't your partner.

Having copywriters in-house is extremely advantageous from an SEO perspective. Copywriters can work closely with SEO specialists and incorporate SEO best practices, write content around keywords, and optimize the content in any way the SEO specialist recommends at the forefront rather than having to backtrack after the content is created.

There should be multiple writers in-house, not just one, because one writer can't accurately focus on every client an agency supports. Having multiple writers who can align their skill sets with specific clients will make for better-quality content that's written with an SEO focus.

Continuously update its strategy

SEO experts should understand that SEO strategy is ongoing and requires consistent evaluation, including adjusting for industry and business changes. Agencies should understand the type of monitoring and back-end work that goes into SEO strategy and all that it takes to ensure a website is performing its best - and that performance is reflected in search results.

For instance, if your business comes out with a new product and needs to create content around that product, conducting keyword research to understand search volume and competition, making sure new pages link to old pages, ensuring that any new pages are getting indexed and ranked by search engines, and that there aren't any broken links are just a few of the many ways organic search should be monitored by SEO experts. And these things don't just happen overnight but require lots of ongoing work.

A good SEO agency also recognizes the way people search is not stagnant. Ranking for a target high-volume and high-intent keyword is a huge accomplishment that will positively impact your business, but if market conditions change or searches suddenly adopt a new way of looking for your services or products, then that number one ranking can lose its value quickly. The best SEO agencies are constantly evaluating the search landscape and adding new keyword opportunities to the mix.

SEO agencies should routinely audit client websites to make sure meta descriptions, URLs, and other SEO aspects are all optimized to rank highly. Keeping on top of trends and changes is important, so make sure the agency you choose prioritizes staying updated on new developments and makes changes or recommendations to your SEO strategy accordingly. Top-performing SEO agencies will help you get ahead and stay ahead by being proactive and elevating new opportunities and ideas for online success.

Lastly, a strong SEO agency should be highly analytical and will consistently track and report on website analytics. A data-focused approach is crucial for understanding what's working and what's not, and for testing and applying new tactics, so choosing an SEO agency that prioritizes using data is critical.

Work with Perrill

Working with an SEO agency shouldn't mean more work for you. The best-fit SEO agency should feel like an extension of your team and their goals should align well with your own. They should prioritize clear communication and transparency, taking you along throughout the process. Don't settle for an agency that doesn't prioritize your needs - choose one that's responsive, works to understand your business and goals, and will go the extra mile to achieve results.

If all of the above sounds like what you're looking for in a partner, Perrill might be the agency for you. At Perrill, we're a people-first agency. Our relationships with our clients are important to us and we understand that working together to create a custom-made, thorough SEO strategy paired with smart digital marketing techniques is the key to organic search success.

Reach out today to learn how a unified digital approach can work for you.