If you own an online business, you’ve probably heard of the terms SEO or search engine optimisation.
Naturally, if you know about these terms, you probably know that SEO agencies exist.
However, what do SEO agencies do?
Well, they do a lot, plus more. They can help with all SEO-related services, as a whole or as microservices, increasing the chances of your website appearing on the search results.
What is SEO?
SEO is an abbreviation of search engine optimisation, and it’s the process of improving your website’s visibility on search engines like Google.
What Do SEO Agencies Provide?
SEO agencies, of course, provide the services needed to improve your website's visibility on search engines.
Typically, this includes three main types of SEO: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. There are also multiple types of service for each type.
Main Services SEO Agencies Offer:
1. SEO Fundamentals
SEO audits, keyword research, on-page tweaks, technical SEO checks, competitor analysis, and content planning.
2. Content Creation
Blog posts, articles, landing pages, and strategic content marketing that actually gets clicks.
3. Off-Page SEO
Link building, guest blogging, creating link-worthy content, and a sprinkle of digital PR.
4. Local SEO
Google My Business optimisation, citation building, and keeping those reviews in check.
5. Technical SEO
Speeding up your site, making it mobile-friendly, and adding schema markup to keep Google happy.
6. Performance Monitoring
Setting up analytics and giving you regular updates so you know exactly what’s working.
7. Specialised SEO Services
E-commerce SEO, voice search optimisation, and expert SEO consulting when you need that extra edge.
How Do SEO Agencies Work?
The entire SEO agency process or workflow could be broken down into five main steps – from beginning to ongoing support and, lastly, optimisation.
Understanding Business Goals
The first step is how each interaction with an SEO agency begins. You reach out and explain your needs and then collaborate with the agency to better identify your goals, target audience and potential challenges.
Developing an SEO Strategy
After establishing your business goals, the next step is to begin drafting or creating a tailored plan for your business. This process typically includes an analysis of your competitors, keyword research and other market dynamics.
Implementing SEO Tactics
When your strategy is set, the agency then starts the process of executing on-page, technical and/or off-page strategies.
Based on the exact plan you have, this can include anything from increasing your website responsiveness to re-organising or rewriting certain content pieces.
Monitoring and Reporting
One of the most important notes when undergoing an SEO campaign is that it takes time. After everything is set up, the agency should carefully monitor the performance of the campaign and gather analytics and data. They should also report back to you frequently.
Ongoing Optimisation and Support
An equally important piece of the SEO equation is being able to tell if the SEO is working properly.
After getting input on how your SEO process is performing, this data is then used to refine the initial strategy and as a benchmark of success.
You have to remember, though, that search engines constantly change their algorithm, so SEO is not just a one-time undertaking and requires constant support.
How Can SEOs Work with an SEO Agency?
SEO can work with an SEO agency by outsourcing some of their responsibilities to help improve quality or scale.
In fact, quite a few SEO agencies and in-house teams outsource SEO work. Some jobs are just better left to others and that’s exactly why they’re available.
Content Creation Support
When it comes to the long list of SEO jobs, content creation is probably the most labour-intensive.
Simply put, it takes time to create rankable and quality content. It’s not something that you can outsource for cheap or get some random person to do. It needs to be done by a professional.
Because of this, many SEO agencies or in-house teams outsource their content creation (blogs, articles, landing pages, etc.) to writing agencies or freelancers.
By just outsourcing this one thing, SEOs can save hours upon hours. Most professionals write around 500 to 1,000 words an hour, and considering most blog posts are around 1,200 words, you can save tons of time.
Link Building Services
Link building (backlinks) is arguably the most important ranking factor for SEO. Why? Well, because it’s difficult to get high-quality, natural links.
Because of its difficulty, most SEOs outsource it. They either use a link-building agency, which typically provides random links based on criteria, or a link-buying marketplace, which gives them an opportunity to review the website before buying the link.
Either option works. However, it really depends on the level of control you want when purchasing links.
Technical SEO Assistance
Technical SEO requires a lot of coding knowledge, a bit of IT understanding, and several other things.
And, to be honest, this is a service that most SEOs outsource. Typically, they outsource this overseas, as you don’t need to be fluent in English (or any native language) to fix code, restructure a website, etc. It also makes it cheaper (depending on where you outsource to).
Without question, you can outsource technical SEO to a local company. And though the communication will be much smoother and more accessible, the results will be somewhat the same, and the price will be higher.
Digital PR
Recently, SEOs have really taken on board digital PR. The main reason is, well, it’s effective. One good PR run could generate hundreds of high-quality, natural links.
Due to it being a somewhat “new” SEO strategy (it has been around for a while, however), many SEOs aren’t fully knowledgeable about it. Because of this, they’d rather outsource it and learn from others than do it themselves.
Plus, part of digital PR is a lot of digital outreach. And honestly, anyone can do this using AI and a bit of common sense. You don’t need to hire anyone in-house for this; you can outsource it to make it more affordable.
Scaling Projects
Whether you’re an SEO for an in-house team or an SEO agency, at some point, you’ll reach your maximum capacity. It just happens as you grow.
When this happens, you’ll need qualified help quickly. An SEO agency that has plenty of available team members can help overcome this challenge. It won’t only help you scale, but it’ll also take the pressure off your team.
This is for all types of SEO services as well. It could be citation building, GMB management, link building, technical SEO, or content creation. It doesn’t really matter, someone out there is ready to help at a moment's notice.
Final Word
After reading the above, you should have a far better understanding of how SEO agencies work and generally what they do.
Simply, they help provide SEO services either in a micro or in a full-service way. It depends on your needs.
The nice thing about SEO agencies is that most are very fluid. They’re able to help you at a moment's notice, either in something small like citation building or something big like content creation or link building.
And, if you really want, you can outsource the entire SEO process. This full-service approach is used by many businesses worldwide.
But if you'd rather skip the fluff and work with specialists who live and breathe SEO, you know who to call.
