Picking a great SEO agency for your marketing campaign can be a challenging task. There are many of agencies available who focus on Search Engine Optimization, but how can you trust that each will really push your Google rankings to the top?

It always pays when searching for an SEO agency to not only look into their past and current clientele, but in addition to ask about their achievements. What Google rankings have they attained for past clients? How long did it take? And just how much did the web site traffic increase? Normally, it takes around 3 months or even more for rankings to increase on Google and traffic should increase from about 50% upwards. At this stage, you could also want to inquire if the agency offers any subscriptions for post-optimization upkeep. A good company should, since maintaining high SEO rankings requires ongoing care.

Additionally, it helps to look for an SEO agency that offers a full range of services. 'On-page services' like website analysis, content optimization, page optimization, internal link building and ranking and traffic management should be offered. 'Off-site' SEO services should include keyword research, competitor analysis, external link building, and off-page promotion. It may also help to ask your prospective company when you are required to approve anything before they go ahead with it. Whenever they say 'yes', it's a good sign they are honest and willing to work closely with you. To boost your rankings, an SEO agency needs to employ an assortment of tasks, not just 1 or 2, so be wary of companies that just offer limited or dodgy services.

The correct SEO company is necessary to provide the right SEO services and features to the business. Not every SEO can handle all the various kinds of businesses in the market. Hence, some SEO agencies tend to concentrate on certain niche markets to hone their skills and creativity. There may be special requirements from certain niche markets which only skilled and creative SEO agencies can handle. These may cost a little more than the other general SEO company providers. It depends on the SEO industry vision and modus operandi.

Every SEO company will operate differently determined by their modus operandi and business objectives. Although most have similar offerings and services, some may stand out more than others when it comes to service standard and creativity.

Something else to be aware of is any agency that offers to increase your rankings through suspect methodologies like spamming, keyword stuffing, hidden text, high-ranking doorway pages and link-farming. They are often known as "black hat SEO" as well as can get you banished from major search engines, which can be hugely detrimental to your business. Also keep an eye out for automatic, bulk submissions to major search engines. Automatic submissions are not considered best practice and it is must more good for you if a business conducts manual submissions. Always ensure that an SEO agency is open about their methodologies used - any secrecy could mean they are using "black hat" techniques.

It's important to understand that high prices within an professional SEO agency do not necessarily mean the top quality. Instead, choose a company determined by their client base, reputation and their own site optimization and Google rankings. Similarly, if a company is offering you "guaranteed" #1 rankings for a ridiculously low price, it is probably too good to be true. Collecting several quotes is an excellent way to start and always make sure quotes are backed by a contract, so you know just what you're getting for your money. It will also help to ask what their payment terms are and if they possess any fees for early termination.

Finally, a dependable SEO agency should offer and conduct thorough and specific keyword research as a part of their SEO services. Some companies shall include keyword research as a given, but be wary of any company that asks you to provide the keywords for their work. While they might ask for your opinion, the keywords used should be according to their research, analytics and competitor scope, not on the you tell them. As usual, they are meant to be the SEO experts - not you! "Guessing" your keywords is not efficient as well as a great SEO agency will research your keywords thoroughly before recommending them.