Well done search engine optimisation, often called SEO for short, is designed to allow websites to show up in search results when folks look for services and products rather than simply company names. The idea is that people trying to find things online will be able to find a business website without the prior familiarity with the business or its name. You will find all manner of tricks and also techniques which fall under SEO, however the good sustainable methods (also sometimes called “white hat SEO”) are based around the perception of making your web page easier for search engine to read and understand, meaning they rank you higher in searches for appropriately relevant terms.

It really is not uncommon to decide to outsource SEO to external marketing agencies as well as other companies, but you can find far too many dodgy types available who like to take companies seeking SEO - especially local and smaller companies - for a very expensive ride. How then does one actually go about finding an excellent, honest and legitimate search engine marketer?

It really is actually incredibly easy to find a quality SEO agency online. Go to a search engine like Google or Bing and type in “SEO agency.” Ignoring the paid ads at the top, whichever firm has landed at the top of the search results are what you want - they must be very good at SEO or their very own website wouldn't be so high within the natural listings!

To narrow things down a bit, you might try extending your search. Say you reside in Essex and want a local agency - just type in “SEO agency Essex.” Or maybe if your web page is specialised and you want particular help with it you may add your industry or site type - “SEO tourism” or “SEO eCommerce” for example. This can be a good way to locate niche SEO agencies who have specialist expertise in your field.

Sometimes SEO agencies (or at least people claiming to be SEO agencies) try to solicit companies by sending them emails or submitting contact forms with various enticements and offers. However if you see something like this come in then it's best to ignore it - if a company which supposedly specialises in search engine optimisation is reduced to spamming inboxes to get business rather than, say, doing SEO so their very own website ranks highly and people can find them anyway, chances are they aren't great. The exact same is true of SEO services advertised on paid advertisements at the top of major search engines or on banner ads on other sites. If their search marketing is any good, what makes them having to pay for their placements?

Another thing to keep in mind is to steer well clear of the SEO agency that promises you “top position for x keywords” or something similar. Virtually all modern search engines used personalised searching, meaning that everybody sees websites in slightly different ranking positions depending on their personal search history. Absolute rankings are a thing of the past, any anyone claiming to deliver this sort of service is lying through their teeth. Modern SEO will use sustainable “white hat” techniques as a way to bring useful traffic to your web site, not use exploits and dodgy tricks, that may constantly get them slapped by search engine updates like Google's infamous Panda and Penguin algorithm changes.

Once you have found an professional SEO company that looks mostly all right you'll need to ask them some questions before you decide to leap into their services. As well as the usual checks like existing client list and testimonials, it is a good idea to talk to someone directly on the phone or in person.(Image: https://www.freepixels.com/class=)