There is no shortage of eCommerce SEO agencies out there, and they all sell slightly different things.
For instance, some SEO agencies sell links, some only optimize copy, and some offer strategic consulting, but the deliverables naturally vary.
Of course, there’s always (unfortunately) a bit of smoke and mirrors involved in this, too.
But regardless of what the agency offers or what you’re looking for, there is one, single, great hack you can use to vet quality.
Here’s how it goes.
What, Specifically, to Look at
Let’s say you’re looking for an eCommerce SEO agency to help you expand your organic footprint.
For the sake of illustration, let’s say that your business is in fashion and sells clothing.
Come up with a keyword that’s relevant to this.
Let’s look at “fashion SEO,” or “SEO for clothing stores.”
Look these things up in Google and take a look at what shows up in the organic results.
Ignore the paid ads. These listings, which will be at the top of the search engine results pages, are paid for, not earned. So scroll on by.
Look at the top organic results and see which of these has a credible looking website.
Now try something else. We’re going to look for something else relevant to your website.
Say you’re built on BigCommerce. Look up “BigCommerce SEO” or “BigCommerce SEO services.”
See if you can get one of the same agencies that you saw the first time around to show up in the organic results all the same.
You can also try more generic keywords that are way more competitive, like “eCommerce SEO services” or “eCommerce SEO agency” itself.
If you can find the same agency popping up a few times, this is one of the most important things you can look for before hiring an SEO agency.
Why This Is the Best Thing You Can Do
In fact, you should not hire an eCommerce SEO agency before you try this trick. Here’s why.
When you go to a mechanic to get your oil changed, there’s really no way for you to know what sort of service you’ll be getting, or about the quality of work performed.
You just have to take it on trust. With SEO, that’s not really the case.
You see, if you can find the same agency ranking at the tops of the page one results for any of the keywords you picked, you can justifiably believe that the company in question is doing something right.
Frankly, you can believe they’re doing several things right, because showing up at the top of page one is no mean feat, regardless of industry. If they’re on page one, they’re SEO experts.
And, to shoot straight, search engine optimization is remarkably competitive, so if you can find the same agency showing up several times at the top, you can believe they know what they’re doing.
To get to the top of page one, it means you must understand SEO and know what to do to get a website at the tops of the search engine rankings.
You should absolutely run this test before hiring any eCommerce SEO company, and in fact you should absolutely not hire any agency that does not have good organic rankings.
Just think of it this way; if you hire an eCommerce SEO agency that doesn’t get their own website to the tops of the SERPs, how will they get your website there?
Try It Before You Hire Another eCommerce SEO Agency
Now that you’re armed with the single best tip out there for vetting an eCommerce SEO agency, you can put it into practice. Try this before you hire one the next time around.
