If you’re a small business owner, chances are you’ve already been approached by numerous companies offering their search engine optimization services for your business website. With so many different vendors, it can be difficult to determine which SEO company is right for your needs – and it’s essential that you do, because going with the wrong SEO company can have disastrous results for both your search engine rankings and your bottom line. Here are a few tips on how to find the right SEO company for your needs:

Tip #1 – Define your goals

Before you even think about hiring an SEO company, you need to have a very clear idea of what you’re trying to accomplish. Do you want to improve the visibility of your business website in the search engines? Do you want to get more online leads? Do you want to improve brand awareness? Having clear goals in mind will help the SEO company know which direction to focus their efforts on and help you to gauge the effectiveness of their campaign.

Tip #2 -- Ask for success stories

Any SEO company worth their salt should be able to produce a list of success stories when asked. If they dodge the question or play down their importance, this is a big red flag. A reputable search engine optimization company should be proud to share their success stories with you because social proof is very powerful when convincing new clients to come on board. If they can’t or won’t share their success stories, move on.

Tip #3 – Touch base by phone

There’s no doubt that email can be an effective method of communication. But when you’re about to spend your business’ hard earned money, it’s reasonable to expect that you should be able to reach a real person by phone when you have questions or concerns about your project or just want to get an update on the status of your campaign. Be wary of any SEO company that won’t talk over the phone.

Tip #4 – Get quotes but look beyond the numbers

Just like any service you are considering, always get several quotes from your top candidates. The cost for the exact same SEO services can vary dramatically – just remember that cost shouldn’t be the only deciding factor. The cheapest SEO company might be cheap for a reason; they may use unethical or illegal search engine optimization techniques like spam, which can tarnish your brand name and completely derail your online marketing efforts.