Are search engine optimization agencies worth hiring in 2020? To find out the answer to that question, you’ll want to learn about the pros and cons of using an SEO agency in 2020. That being said, read on to find out what the tops pros and cons are.
There are many more pros than the three we’re about to discuss. However, we believe the following are among the top three pros of using an SEO agency in 2020:
As long as you hire a reputable and established SEO agency, then you have a good chance of getting great results. Bear in mind that it can take weeks, if not months to start generating results from search engine optimization. However, a good agency will tell you this and they won’t make any promises. What they should do is perform quality and consistent SEO tasks that will likely generate traffic to your website/websites. They should also be able to explain why they are doing certain things when asked.
An agency can perform an array of tasks, and SEO requires a wide array of skills. This includes building back-links, building up a new website from scratch, video marketing, social media marketing, content marketing, content creation, and guest-posts creation just to name a few. There are a lot of different aspects of an SEO strategy and those are only a handful of them. By hiring an experienced agency, you’ll save yourself a lot of time because you won’t have to perform those tasks yourself.
On that note, before you hire an agency you’ll want to ask them what tasks they can perform. They should give you a general idea of what they’ll do if you hire them. There is no one-size fits-all strategy when it comes to search engine optimization, but any good agency should tell you what tasks they typically perform and may perform if they took you on as a client.
It doesn’t matter what kind of site and/or business you run, you simply don’t have the time to stay in the know of industry (SEO) changes, which take place constantly. Google and other search engines are always making tweaks to their algorithms. Figuring out what’s happened, will likely happen and what’s trending in SEO can be challenging for people who don’t perform SEO regularly.
An agency stays on top of changes in SEO. This goes for both minor and major changes, especially when it comes to Google. This is why they’re able to make changes to their clients’ websites whenever certain changes warrant it.
Unfortunately, there are quite a few cons of hiring an SEO agency, or more accurately things that you need to be aware of. The top three include:
Whether you hire the best SEO agency or the worst agency, one thing is for sure and that is you’ll be spending money. SEO is a very labor and resource-intensive practice. If prices are low enough that no reasonable company can have people working on your site, then you need to run. No two SEO agencies charge the same rates, therefore the price of hiring an agency depends on many factors. Such factors include the company you use, the type of services the company offers and whether or not you pay a one-time fee, monthly fee and so forth. Other factors include their use of offshore assistance, and/or using automated bots. These are only a handful of factors, but some of them play into the second con.
Another con of hiring an unreputable SEO agency is there is a chance the company you decide to use may implement shady SEO methods, also known as black hat SEO. Black hat SEO includes things like spinning content, stuffing keywords and spamming to get back-links. Such methods may send traffic to your site via the search results pages, but eventually, Google and other search engines will find out what you’re doing, And your site will be at risk of being sand-boxed or de-indexed.
The best companies stay far away from shady techniques. Always make sure the company you choose does not use any kinds of unethical SEO methods. Companies like Section 5 Media.
Another con is that many SEO agencies make hype up claims such as they guarantee 1st page rankings on Google for highly competitive keywords. Unless you’re a very established website with a ton of traffic, the chances are you won’t rank for highly competitive keywords. Be wary of SEO companies that make exaggerated claims and listen to your gut. If a company mentions that they can guarentee a ranking swiftly walk the other way.
First, request a quote from the agency you’re thinking of hiring. No SEO agency can give you an exact price, but they should still be able to provide you with a rough estimate of what you’ll pay for their services. You should expect some follow up questions about your current website traffic.
Second, ask the agency what kind of methods they typically use for clients. You don’t want to hire an agency that uses shady methods, as previously mentioned.
Third, is the agency being realistic with the claims they are making? If they tell you it takes a while for SEO to work, then that is a realistic claim. If they tell you they can rank you on page one of Google for highly competitive keywords, and within a short period of time, then this is an unrealistic claim.
Fourth, what do they actually know about SEO? Ask them a few questions about search engine optimization and ask them how they help clients bounce back after major algorithm changes such as Google Penguin, Panda and so forth.
Fifth, check out reviews and testimonials. What are past clients saying about the agencies you’re researching? As long as there’s more good than bad reviews and testimonials, then everything should be fine. Just make sure the reviews are legit and verified.
So, is it worth hiring an SEO agency in 2020? The answer is most definitely a resounding yes if you want your business to grow. As you can see from the brief list of pros and cons, there are a few things that you need to ensure you are looking into when using an SEO agency next year. Feel free to weigh the pros and cons again before you decide whether or not to use an agency. We would always appreciate the chance here at Section 5 Media as well to look at your Search requirements and let you know how we can help you. Just Contact Us here and we’ll be in touch shortly.
