Is Your SEO Agency Earning Their Keep? Here's How to Tell

Navigating the SEO Landscape: Evaluating the Performance of Your SEO Agency

You've hired an SEO agency. Congratulations! You've taken a significant step towards improving your digital marketing strategy. As a small business owner or a marketing professional, you understand that SEO is a crucial part of your overall online presence. But how can you be certain that your SEO agency is doing its job? 

Here at WD Morgan Solutions, we understand your concerns. As a veteran-owned inbound marketing agency based in Saint Petersburg, Florida, we've made it our mission to help businesses grow and succeed through effective digital advertising. We've created this comprehensive guide to help you determine if your SEO agency is truly earning its keep. 

1. Keyword Rankings are Improving

The first indicator of a successful SEO agency is a steady improvement in your website's keyword rankings. Your agency should be targeting relevant, high-traffic keywords that your potential customers are likely to use when searching for your services.

Over time, these keyword rankings should improve. While it's unrealistic to expect overnight results, if you're not seeing a positive trend after a few months, it's time to have a conversation with your SEO agency. They should be able to provide you with regular reports showing progress over time. 

2. Organic Traffic is Increasing

Improving keyword rankings should lead to an increase in organic traffic to your website. This is the number of visitors who visit your site through unpaid search results. Increased organic traffic is a clear sign that your SEO strategies are working. 

Your SEO agency should provide you with detailed analytics reports that show where your website traffic is coming from. If you see that organic traffic is steadily increasing, that's a positive sign that your SEO efforts are paying off.

3. Quality Backlinks are Being Built

Backlinks are links from other websites that lead to your site. These are important because they can significantly influence your website's authority and rankings on search engines. However, not all backlinks are created equal.

Quality backlinks are from reputable, high-traffic websites relevant to your industry. Your SEO agency should be actively working on building these types of backlinks for your site. If they're only building low-quality or irrelevant backlinks, it's a red flag that they may not be doing their job effectively.

The Ultimate SEO Checklist: 

Knowing what to look for is half the battle. Below is a simple yet comprehensive checklist that you can use to ensure your SEO agency is on the right track:

1. Keyword Research and Optimization: They should identify high-traffic, relevant keywords and optimize your website accordingly.

2. Improving Keyword Rankings: Over time, your keyword rankings should improve, leading to increased visibility on search engine result pages (SERPs).

3. Increasing Organic Traffic: The ultimate goal of SEO is to increase organic traffic. This should be a key performance indicator.

4. Building Quality Backlinks: Your SEO agency should build high-quality backlinks from reputable, relevant sites.

5. Providing Regular Reports: Your agency should provide clear, concise reports showing progress and areas for improvement.

6. Content Creation: Regular, valuable content creation is a crucial part of SEO. Check if your agency is creating SEO-optimized content for your site.

7. Local SEO Optimization: If you're a local business, your agency should focus on local SEO strategies to help you rank in local search results.

SEO is not a one-size-fits-all strategy, and it requires ongoing efforts to produce results. Your SEO agency should be a partner in this process, working with you to improve your online presence and drive more traffic to your website. By understanding what to expect and how to measure success, you'll be better equipped to assess the effectiveness of your SEO agency.

4. Conversion Rates are Climbing

Increased traffic is good, but what’s even more critical is what those visitors do once they arrive at your site. Are they taking desired actions such as filling out contact forms, purchasing, or signing up for newsletters? Your SEO agency’s work should not only attract visitors to your site, but it should also entice them to convert from casual browsers to active customers.

Suppose your conversion rates remain stagnant despite an increase in organic traffic. In that case, you should discuss with your SEO agency about optimizing your site's design, content, and user experience to support conversions better.

5. Your Site’s User Experience is Enhanced

User experience (UX) is a critical aspect of SEO. Google’s algorithm favors sites that are user-friendly, which includes fast loading times, mobile optimization, easy navigation, and high-quality content. Your SEO agency should continually make updates and tweaks to enhance your website’s UX. 

A better user experience will not only help you rank higher on search engines, but it will also increase the likelihood of visitors staying on your site longer and engaging more with your content—both of which can lead to higher conversion rates.

6. The Agency Is Transparent and Communicative

Transparency and communication are hallmarks of a reliable SEO agency. They should keep you in the loop about their strategies and updates and provide regular, detailed reports on performance metrics. It’s not enough to receive an email update now and then; your agency should be open to discussions, answer your queries, and explain things in a manner that makes sense to you.

7. Return On Investment (ROI) Is Positive

Ultimately, the most critical measure of your SEO agency's performance is the ROI. While it can take time for SEO efforts to translate into financial gain, you should start to see a positive return on your investment after some time. This can be through increased sales, more leads, or improved customer engagement. 

If the cost of SEO services outweighs the benefits, it may be time to reconsider your relationship with your current SEO agency. Remember, the purpose of investing in SEO is to grow your business. If that's not happening, it's a sign that something needs to change.

Conclusion

SEO is a long-term strategy that requires patience, diligence, and consistent effort. However, if your SEO agency is doing its job, you should start seeing improvements in your keyword rankings, organic traffic, backlinks, user experience, and conversion rates. More importantly, you should see a positive return on your investment.

At WD Morgan Solutions, we are committed to helping businesses succeed through effective digital advertising. We understand the importance of transparency, communication, and providing measurable results. If you’re not seeing the progress you’d like from your current SEO agency, we invite you to experience the WD Morgan difference. Our team of dedicated professionals is ready to partner with you to enhance your digital presence and boost your business growth.

Don’t settle for less than the best regarding your SEO strategy. Your business deserves an SEO agency that’s fully invested in your success.

Remember, the key to a successful SEO strategy lies in continuous improvement. Keep a keen eye on your SEO agency's performance using the tips outlined in this blog. We hope this guide serves as a valuable resource as you navigate your business's digital marketing journey.