You own a company and don’t have time to work on search engine optimization yourself. So, you want to enlist your trust to an SEO company that will do it for you, working to make sure your business has the best achievable rankings. Your money and time needs to be invested in a company that will get you concrete results. Whether your website just launched or you’re looking to gain some new visitors through organic searches, you need to make sure that you select an SEO company that exhibits the following traits.

1. Transparent about Their Methods

When working with an honest SEO company, you’ll find that they’ll tell you exactly what they’re doing to get your rankings where they need to be. They’ll also be more than happy to provide you with proof, such as monthly reports, that they’ve been working on your account. A good, dependable SEO firm will be willing to discuss their strategies with you and provide you with tangible evidence of what they’ve been doing. Meanwhile, a company using shady practices may be more inclined to keep their methods secret and refuse to tell you about their particular tactics.

2. They Ask for Your Input

An SEO company will work with you to ensure that everything is being targeted correctly for your company. They’ll keep in contact, confirm your SEO keywords, and ask to access a few of your accounts to get the most ideal results. Furthermore, they’ll constantly be looking out for you and make recommendations about what else you can do to improve your website’s credibility, such as adding a social media account for your business. SEO is sometimes a collaborative effort and a trustworthy SEO company will need your cooperation and contribution for some of the work.

3. Increase in Rankings

Of course, high rankings don’t come overnight with SEO. However, detrimental progress, such as a signifcant decrease in traffic or rankings, shouldn’t be happening when you’re working with a legitimate SEO company. You’ll also only be ranking for the keywords that you’ve agreed on. Another thing to think about is consistent rankings. If your site’s ranking is constantly fluctuating on a daily basis after you hire a company, they’re not doing quality SEO work.

4. White Hat Techniques

A respectable SEO company will strictly be using white hat SEO, which is comprised of methods that focus on catering to human searchers, not bots, and are compliant with modern search engine regulations. Furthermore, the company should stay on top of new developments in the industry and adjust their techniques accordingly. Search engine optimization is always changing and a company using outdated methods for your website could result in a penalization from Google. When 83% of search users say they use Google the most often, your site needs to be kept free of penalties.

5. An Extensive Portfolio

Seeing an SEO company’s past work and results they’ve achieved for clients should be part of your decision. Like any other company you could be searching for, selecting one that’s been in the business for a few years and has experience is worthwhile. A reputable business will be able to provide you with examples and testimonials from past clients, including ones that have stayed with them for the long-term. They will also be able to elaborate on what steps they took to help their customers and what kind of approach they’ll take with you.

Choosing an SEO company isn’t an easy task. But in short, you want to pick one that’s honest in their dealings and has an outstanding track record. Otherwise, you could end up with a site that’s penalized by Google and other search engines, reducing your company’s visibility.