With its affordable entry cost, the potential for growth, and promises of long-term benefits, businesses across many different industries have begun to embrace search engine optimization (SEO) to step up their digital marketing efforts. And this is especially true for enterprises within the crowded space of the eCommerce industry. While bigger internet stores can afford to have a dedicated in-house team to address their advertising concerns, they can require a considerable commitment of financial resources. More importantly, achieving the desired returns on your investment can take some time. It is for this reason that many prefer to outsource the job and hire eCommerce SEO services instead.

However, the question is how to find the right specialists that will best meet your needs. The answer to this isn’t as simple nor as straightforward as some might think. After all, it can vary, depending on what kind of online business you run. To make it easier, we’ve laid out a few tips that should guide you to the direction of a capable agency.

Begin with a seeds list

When it comes to selecting an SEO company, you must begin with a seeds list. These are essentially collections of various agencies that could potentially serve as a partner for your enterprise. Growing the list with new firms doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to immediately start getting quotes. It’s only a brainstorm to get the show on the road. Most businesses accomplish this through the following techniques:

• Check existing online lists. The World Wide Web is filled with many lists of the best SEO agencies in various industries. If you don’t want to come up with your own list, you can defer to those made by others instead.
• Come up with your list. If you don’t mind doing the legwork, you can track down SEO companies yourself and build your own list. It may require time and effort, but doing so can be beneficial in a way that you’ll have more control over the list. What this means is that the potential candidates will all be better from the outset.

Check the website of the agency

Once you’ve made a shortlist, the next step is to assess each of their websites. There’s no better way to get objective insight into the knowledge and expertise of an SEO agency than by evaluating their web pages. However, to save yourself some time, here are the pages that you should focus on:

• Homepage. The main page of a website is critical because it serves as the first impression that prospective clients have of the agency. Because of this, it needs to stand out. It must not only be easy to navigate – it needs to be eye-catching too. If their homepage is sloppy, confusing to browse through or look unmaintained, then it may be best to scratch them out of the list.
• About page. Another area of their website that you need to pay attention to is the about page. Usually, the content listed on this web page will contain information about the agency, from how they were established to samples of their work. Checking it thoroughly will give you an idea of what they can do for you.
• Testimonials page. It’s never a good idea to take an agency’s word as gospel. Like any business, they need to put their best foot forward to reel in clients. As such, it makes sense to check what other people have to say about them before you decide. Reading through testimonials will allow you to gain a better perspective of what the agency is all about and whether or not they’re worth your money. 

Test their strength in SEO 

An SEO agency should have a strong online presence. And if you want to test their SEO strength, you can do it in three ways: brand search, minor, and primary keyword searches. If they don’t rank high on these three areas, there’s a good chance that they may not be as good at the job as they claim, and you’re better off exploring other options.

Thoroughly interview them for their eCommerce SEO services

To get a good reading on what your chosen agencies have to offer, you’ll need to meet with and interview them thoroughly. Whether you do it through a virtual conference or in-person, it is imperative that you ask them as many questions as possible. There’s a limit to what you can learn through research alone, after all. By talking to them, you’ll be able to assess if they can be a potential SEO partner for your eCommerce business. 

Final thoughts

Choosing your eCommerce SEO partner takes more work than people realize. However, it’s work worth doing when you consider the advantages of having a capable agency handle your SEO efforts. With the tips above, you’ll be able to determine the firm that can elevate your visibility online through SEO strategies.