There used to be a time when SEOs could get away with almost anything. They could stuff pages with irrelevant keywords, build spam incoming links from shady domains, paste duplicate content across pages, and still go unpunished by search engines. But today, bad SEO can result in a sharp decline in ranking and traffic that might be impossible to recover.

Hiring the Agency that will do SEO Right

No website can afford to turn a blind eye to the free and often sizable organic search traffic. That’s why entrepreneurs and small business owners need to hire an SEO agency at some stage. Hiring an agency is a critical decision that should never be taken lightly, because the mistakes that the SEO commits can cost dearly in terms of traffic and ranking. Moreover, these mistakes can be expensive to fix.

Here are 4 difference between SEO done right and wrong. Small businesses should make it a point to evaluate SEO agencies keeping these differences in sight. The biggest difference, though, is that SEO can make an online business when done right, and break it when done wrong.

SEO Done Right Vs SEO Done Wrong

Difference #1: Attitude of the SEO Agency

Right: An agency that is going to do justice to SEO is proactive in asking questions. They request access to the CMS, keywords, the previous history, Google Analytics and Search Console, etc. The right SEO agency always has suggestions for improvement.

Wrong: An SEO agency that asks no question, offers no suggestion, and doesn’t communicate proactively is probably going to do SEO wrong. They might rely on their network of spam sites for building links to the site they are optimizing, a mistake that can be disastrous after Google’s Penguin Update.

Difference #2: Traffic and Conversions

Right: When SEO is done right, traffic drops and revenue improves during the initial months. This is because the agency gets rid of irrelevant or low-yield keywords and focuses on more productive keywords. This eliminates unwanted traffic and increases conversions because of better targeting.

Wrong: When done wrong, SEO can initially drive a lot of unwanted traffic from irrelevant keywords and/or referring domains. This will last only until Google’s Penguin and Panda Penalties hit the website, after which it may be daunting to recover the traffic and ranking.

Difference #3: Quality of Back Links

Right: Back links are still the most important off-page ranking signal. The right kind of SEO focuses on content marketing techniques to build natural back links from high authority domains. The right SEO agency will carry out link building only with websites that have a high DA score.

Wrong: When SEO is done wrong the “optimized” website can end up with hundreds or thousands of spam back-links, cultivated by an agency that didn’t know its job. These back links can seriously hurt the search rankings. They are also a real pain to get rid of or “disavow.”

Difference #4: Long Term Effects

Right: When done right, SEO causes a positive reinforcement effect on the ranking. It’s because the visitors are driven by relevant keywords, and the pages contain matching content. The visitors’ time on page increases, as they find whatever they came looking for. Google considers it good user experience and rewards the site with a better ranking next time.

Wrong: When SEO is done wrong, ranking and traffic plummet soon. It’s because search spiders have become smarter at spotting illegal tactics. They can detect illegal practices like spam back links, keyword stuffing, duplicate content, etc faster than a few years ago. In the worst case, the site can be slapped with a manual action penalty, which can mean a lot of headache, expense, and hard work.Submit article
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