Five Things To Consider Before Hiring a B2B SEO Agency
You're working 12-14 hours daily to make business ends meet, but you always feel like you need more sales to justify the hours you put into your business. You know organic marketing opportunities exist, but that takes time.
Time away from operating your business.
Time away from family and friends.
Time that you could use for yourself.
First, Identify Your SEO Needs
There's a huge tradeoff between organic marketing and getting your business out there. It doesn't require vast amounts of money upfront, but it does require time and patience.
Those two can kill a small business if you're short on either.
Take search engine optimization (SEO), for example.
SEO is the process of researching, creating, and ensuring your website and its content meet all of a search engine's requirements for it to rank your site near the top of search results.
Is that easy?
It's not.
It's important to remember that you're not the only one doing this. You're in a race with every other business in your niche striving for the same goal.
SEO Evolves Constantly. Assess Your Strategy Constantly.
SEO and content marketing have evolved from an aspect of digital marketing to a facet requiring specialized knowledge.
Regular evaluation of your marketing strategy is essential to ensure it effectively reaches and engages your target audience.
Your revenue is a key indicator of the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
If your sales and revenue are trending downward, it may be time for a new marketing strategy. This is where SEO helps.
Many new business owners write their website and marketing content themselves or employ an AI writer. This method is excellent if you want to get a site up and running quickly and have a low budget. But that content lacks emotion, and visitors can increasingly feel lousy writing.
Additionally, search engine algorithms change (constantly), and you must keep up by updating your content. If you’re unable to keep up with changing algorithms and updates, search engines and visitors will look past you, affecting your revenue.
Examples of Common SEO and Content Marketing Obstacles Small Businesses Face
Small eCommerce or retail brand owners run into this issue. Services like Shopify and Etsy provide some help by pushing your new items to the top of search results and even giving some SEO advice. But eventually, their grace runs out, and you must figure out how to outshine the competition yourself.
Lawyers and small firms must constantly create new content due to immense competition across all practices. This content has to educate the reader, establish their expertise, showcase their charisma, comply with legal codes, and rank highly in search results. So, an expert has to be involved in its creation.
You'll find the same issues in small- and mid-sized businesses in the health and medical verticals. There is much competition, and many sales depend on the right words, how you describe a procedure or tool, or your personality and knowledge. So here again, quickly drafted or AI-written content can fail to make a connection.
Even freight or logistics companies face SEO and content marketing obstacles. Depending on the network or supply chain, these companies must compete for contracts, ensure their clients understand their processes, and feel they can trust the company's freight or logistics management experience.
A comprehensive content strategy helps in all of these cases.
Second, Set Clear Marketing Goals
Businesses benefit from clear marketing objectives, and owners will set better goals with practice. The experience of setting goals and reaching or falling short helps leaders make better decisions.
Setting realistic SEO and content marketing goals follows the same pattern, and leaders who develop clear communication and excellent, long-term working relationships with an SEO content agency will find their business eventually begins to thrive.
An SEO content agency will help increase visibility early in the business's life, drive traffic as it grows, and optimize conversions, helping to streamline revenue.
Third, Evaluate the Cost and Commitment
Organic content marketing and the SEO process are long-term strategies, so you should consider devoting a portion of your monthly budget to these marketing facets.
You’re Building a Content Library
Search engine algorithms tend to prefer sites with large amounts of content and large followings. The search engines eventually start to show your content to more and more people because more extensive content libraries have topics that appeal to wider audiences. So, it would be best if you built a content library.
Additionally, ensuring your site is technically sound and meets search engine optimization requirements takes time and expertise. Making technical updates, creating content, and monitoring progress all take time. You’ll typically begin to see results in six to nine months.
There are numerous cases where success happens faster, but there’s a lot of luck involved. To ensure consistent results, it’s always advised to rely on a reliable, steady plan.
Understanding Your Content Marketing Strategy
Your business goals, marketing plans, and budget dictate the speed at which you execute your plan. So, larger budgets naturally allow you to create more content and accomplish more tasks and goals.
And, let’s be honest, whether you’re doing this in-house or choosing an agency: If you want fast SEO and content marketing, you will have to increase the budget. Fast SEO and content done well are even more expensive because of the team size and resources needed.
However, reliable and steady content that follows a strategy and plan is affordable, maximizes a team’s time and abilities, and typically delivers a return on investment (ROI) within six to nine months.
This option is best because it allows you to work with an agency as a collaborator while you operate your business. Most B2B SEO services start at around $3000 per month and will include a site audit, content strategy, and content production to ensure you see an ROI within this time frame.
Fourth, Choose the Right SEO Partner
Interviewing and deciding on the right SEO agency is similar to hiring an in-house SEO. First, ensure you have basic SEO knowledge so you ask the right questions. You’ll also want to see a track record of success, so look at or ask for their case studies. Most agencies provide these on their websites because it helps them rank higher in search results.
Transparency and communication are pivotal factors in the decision-making process, especially when dealing with remote SEO agencies. In fact, most SEOs, whether in-house or not, operate as remote workers or teams. Therefore, it's crucial to inquire about the agency’s communication methods to ensure that your voice is heard and understood. This includes regular meetings and reports to keep you updated on the progress, providing you with a sense of reassurance and control.
Be wary of SEO or content marketing agencies that boast of providing quick results or results in less than six months. Building a content library of helpful, trustworthy, well-written, or designed content takes several steps and multiple people.
Plus, getting search engines to index, understand, and rank your content requires time. Sheer logistics of SEO means that you will not begin to see results within hours or days.
Finally, a lack of communication or even personality conflicts can be red flags to which you should pay attention.
Fifth and Finally, Collaborate with Your SEO Agency
Effective collaboration ensures you can rely on your chosen agency or their representative. The best SEO or content marketing account reps help clarify expectations from both sides and monitor them to avoid misunderstandings.
The agency and its account representatives should also be willing to meet regularly to discuss performance, take honest feedback, answer questions, and guide you to adjust the strategy if necessary.
During your initial meetings, the SEO account manager plays a key role. They help establish the key metrics to track, set realistic timeframes, and provide honest advice. Look for SEOs who are unafraid to give honest schedules, talk about their experiences, and give you the “straight and narrow” regarding strategy advice.
Remember, content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint, so shy away from teams that promise spectacular results in short time frames. These promises can cost extra to overcome unforeseen issues or fix issues created by rushing.
Next Step? Start Talking To Agencies
Hiring a B2B SEO agency is a strategic decision that requires careful consideration. You’re balancing a multitude of responsibilities, and partnering with the right SEO agency not only alleviates some of that burden but also provides a sense of reassurance. However, you must approach this partnership with realistic expectations and a clear understanding of what it entails.
Remember that SEO is a long-term investment. It takes time, expertise, and patience to see substantial results. When evaluating potential partners, focus on those who demonstrate transparency, communicate effectively, and set realistic goals. Be wary of agencies that promise quick fixes or immediate results—true SEO success is built over time with consistent effort.
Ultimately, the right agency will collaborate with you, helping your business grow while allowing you to focus on what you do best—running your business. By setting clear goals, understanding the commitment involved, and choosing a partner who aligns with your values, you’ll set your business up for long-term success in the digital landscape.