How to Choose the Most Reliable Local SEO Agency for your Business

Are you looking for an efficient local SEO agency in your location? It is not an easy job. It is difficult to find a company you trust with something as important as your online presence, but there are a lot of local firms out there to help you.  

According to Statista, 52% of global internet traffic is mobile. A third of all mobile searches on Google are local. The numbers are definitely encouraging.

As per Search Engine Land, local searches are growing 50% faster than mobile search. This is really good for local businesses, however not all companies are ready to harness this opportunity. Hence, having a local SEO agency on your side is essential.

Do you know how to choose a professional local SEO agency for your business?

Here are some simple tips.

Know your expectations from the SEO agency

Before you begin searching for the right SEO agency, it is important to set your goals and desired results.

• Traffic - The more organic and direct traffic your business gets the better it will be for your local business.
• Ranking - The better your traffic, the better will be your website ranking and vice versa. It will be relatively easy to earn quality leads, if you show up on the top in Google search.
• Leads - If you are on the top of SERP, you can expect a lot of quality leads and enquiries. If you have a good number of leads coming in, you can test new products and services, increase your price and announce discounts and offers.
• Customers - Local business needs new customers. The problem is there is a huge competition for a limited set of customers in the same area. Hence, your business must dominate local searches. A local SEO company can help you get new customers.
• Reviews - A good number of reviews can benefit your business a lot. Reviews are a great source of advertisement for your business, and they are economical too.

Each of the above metrics/goals have a direct impact on a local business’ revenue. If you are hiring a local agency, make sure they prioritize these metrics to boost cash flow.

How to select the best local SEO company in your location

1. Specialist or Generalist - You can look for agencies that focus exclusively on local searches or go for a full-service agency with experience in multiple areas. If you go for a specialist agency, they may do great in local SEO by sharing creative strategies in your local search campaigns. But they won’t be able to guide you with other campaign goals. If you choose a generalist agency, they will be able to integrate your local SEO campaigns with other mediums like social, email, paid campaigns etc. You can make a choice as per your requirement.
    

2. Industry knowledge - Your local SEO agency should have prior experience in your domain. If you are a fashion boutique, you’ll want to choose an agency that has handled fashion accounts earlier. Hiring a B2B agency in this case may not help. It is important for your agency to have an in-depth understanding of your business. You can check their case studies, reviews, work samples and reports to be fully sure of their skills and expertise.

3. Verification - When you are searching for a local agency, you want to choose one that ranks well for a good number of keywords. If they do not rank well on local searches, probably their SEO is not that great. There are agencies that don’t focus much on their own ranking and traffic, instead pay attention to client work. That’s perfectly alright. Just ask them to show some of their recent work on how they have helped a client achieve their goals. If they are not able to show you that, they are clearly not the right match for your business.

4. Experienced staff - As per a survey by BrightLocal, 38 percent of businesses have only one SEO professional on staff. Just 10% of companies have not more than 10 SEOs on board. A lot of local SEO firms work with only one SEO professional that handles multiple accounts at a time;sometimes they even work with freelancers and interns. This hampers the work quality and may cause unnecessary delays in work. Hence, before you hire an agency, you will need to ensure they have a good number of experienced SEO staff to manage your account properly. Only if you are comfortable and sure they have a good amount of staff, go ahead and hire them.

5. Transparency and clear communication - A good agency will never promise you #1 ranking on Google. Because they know it is not easy, primarily because a large number of players (ones with large budgets) are already competing for the same keywords you are. A professional agency should be able to show consistent performance improvements, improve conversions and revenue for your business. If they are setting an unrealistic expectation, be careful, they may not be right for your business.

   Other than the above points, you can also use review aggregators like TopSEOs, Hubspot Agency Directory and Clutch to find the right local SEO agency for your business.

   As a responsible client you should always set clear expectations. If you know how much you want to spend to attract new customers, tell this to your agency. Don’t set extreme or too unrealistic expectations. This will give them a clear direction and help them create a proper SEO strategy for you.

   In Conclusion

   Local searches are growing faster than mobile searches. This points towards a huge growth opportunity for local businesses if they are ready to utilize it.

   With the help of the right local SEO agency in your location, most local businesses can make huge revenue and grow their businesses. All you have to do is set right expectations and communicate it clearly to your agency.

   Use the above simple tips to find the right company for your business.