Hiring an eCommerce SEO agency could be the best marketing decision you ever made. It can increase brand visibility, generate more trust, organic traffic and revenue for your business, and it can even get your listings to show up not only in the SERPs, but through artificial intelligence engines.
Or, it could be the worst decision you ever made and cost you thousands.
There are things you can do, though, to hedge your bets. Here are some of the better tips out there for making sure you hire the right agency, the first time around.
Check the Search Results
This is and has always been the single best way to check to see if the agency you want to hire can walk the walk in addition to talking the talk.
Pick a keyword that’s relevant to what the company offers – in this case SEO services. Pick a few. Start with some of these.
- eCommerce SEO services
- eCommerce SEO agencies
- SEO services for eCommerce businesses
- SEO services
- Search engine optimization
Or some other variants. Then pick a few that are industry-specific. You need to be able to find the agency in question for at least one of these keywords, on page one.
Remember, this is actually what they are selling. If they don’t show up in the search results, how could they possibly be competent enough to get your website to rank?
Either way, do not hire an eCommerce SEO agency before you check this and make sure they show up in the search results.
Bonus Points If You Can Get a ChatGPT Results
In the modern era, in which an increasing number of users are turning to answer engines like ChatGPT to get results, you should also check that.
Meaning, specifically, you should ask ChatGPT for a few good SEO agencies, specifically with respect to what you are looking for (whether it’s greater visibility, more leads, better brand credibility, etc.).
ChatGPT will do some of the digging for you, making the search easier, but more importantly, if ChatGPT recognizes this or that agency as credible, it means that that agency’s website and online presence are optimized for answer engines, which is a vital skill to have as the SEO landscape evolves.
It might not be long before your online store and your brand both need AEO services, and if the SEO agency in question can produce those results, it benefits you both.
Other Notes
Checking to see if an eCommerce SEO agency populates the search results is the single most important thing you can and should check before hiring, but here are three more.
- See if they specifically serve your industry: Ideally, you want to hire an SEO agency that has analysts, project managers, and copywriters that are family with or even specialize in your industry.
- Case studies with data are nice: Any SEO agency that has published case studies with data relevant to their eCommerce SEO strategies is going to be more credible than one that does not have them.
- When speaking with them, make sure they have in-house writers: SEO always relied heavily on content, but now there’s no getting away from it. And as for AEO, it entirely relies on good, optimized copy. So make sure the eCommerce SEO company you hire has experienced, in-house writers to manage content creation and strategy.
Find the Right eCommerce SEO Agency for You Today
The right eCommerce SEO agency for your business is out there. You just need to do a little digging to make sure you can find it. So find a couple leads, then start sweeping the organic search results (and ChatGPT) today.
