Core Services Provided by an SEO Company
Keyword research and identification
An SEO agency will help you search, identify, and optimize for relevant keywords for your pages. Your agency will conduct keyword research to find relevant terms to integrate in your pages. The right SEO company can also help you identify questions or prompts to integrate in your page to appease AI search engines.
On-page optimizations
On-page optimizations like title tags, meta descriptions, and URL slugs all get handled by your SEO partner. They can help you get your pages in top shape, so search engines will crawl, index, and rank them.
Technical SEO
Another thing an SEO agency does is the technical aspects of your SEO. That includes a wide spectrum of tasks, including making schema markup, creating an XML sitemap, improving page load speed, and securing your site. An agency can do all of these things on the backend of your website.
Link building
With an SEO company, you’ll get help with building links both internal and external. SEO companies help you optimize your internal links, so search engines crawl to different pages on your website to be indexed. They can also help you build backlinks from other websites to help build your trust and authority.
Content creation
Content is what ranks in search results. Your SEO agency can help you create content that will drive qualified traffic to your website. Your company can help you optimize current content, source topics, and craft content to rank in search results.
Analytics and reporting
Your SEO agency will keep track of your search performance. They’ll help you track traffic, impressions, clicks, conversions, and more. You’ll get a comprehensive insight into how your search strategy performs and how you can improve it to drive better results.
How do SEO agencies work?
Now that you know what an SEO agency does, let’s talk about how they work. If you’ve never partnered with an SEO agency before, you might not know what to expect if you decide to work with one.
Here’s a basic process of what happens when you work with an SEO company (the order may look different depending upon the agency):
- Contracts are signed and finalized
- You give access to any current accounts your agency is going to handle (Google Search Console, Google Analytics, the backend of your website, etc.)
- Kick-off call to introduce the team, make sure you’re aligned on goals, KPIs, and other important pieces of information
- Your team will audit your current SEO strategy and performance to get an idea of where to start
- Your SEO team lays out a strategy roadmap of how they’re going to proceed with optimizations and improvements
- Your team starts executing that strategy over the next couple of months
- You get a report at the end of the month detailing progress and potential next steps
Why people hire an SEO company
You know what an SEO company does, but now you’re wondering — why do people hire one? To help answer that, we sourced responses from our clients on Clutch to give you reasons why those businesses specifically hired an SEO company (WebFX).
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Increase visibility
One of our top reasons clients partner with the agency behind SEO.com (WebFX) is to increase visibility. Visibility, especially in a now AI-focused search world, is critical for reaching the right people. If you aren’t visible, you’re invisible to your audience.
Many companies discover that they aren’t showing up where their audience is looking, so they turn to an agency to do the job for them. They hire an SEO company to help them with tasks that increase visibility, like keyword targeting, content optimization, and website user experience improvements.
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Increase quality and volume of traffic
Another big reason our clients partnered with an SEO company was to increase both the quality and volume of traffic. Many businesses turn to an agency when they realize their quality and/or volume of traffic is lower than what they want to see.
Since SEO companies have years of experience troubleshooting quality and volume issues for clients, people turn to them for help. Some businesses may have even been seeing great traffic volume that is suddenly declining, so they’re looking for someone who can find the issue and bring their traffic numbers back up.
An SEO company can do a lot to help improve the quality and volume of traffic, including refining keyword/prompt targeting, improving content quality and information covered, fixing schema issues, and more.
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Get set up for AI search
A big reason we’re seeing people hiring SEO companies to do search work is to get ready and set up for AI search. AI search has undoubtedly altered the search landscape and changed the way you optimize for engines. It’s commanding more attention and traffic, which, if you’re not optimizing for it, can cause your SEO to take a hit.
But you know what an SEO agency can do? They can help you adapt your strategy by using AI search strategies to get you visible in AI responses. A skilled SEO company will know how to help you optimize for AI engines specifically to ensure you’re getting visibility in these engines.
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Improve leads
A lot of our clients turned to us to help improve leads, which is a pretty common reason to hire an SEO company. Many businesses discover that they aren’t getting the lead volume they wish, but also know that they could do more. They don’t know how to improve the lead volume, so they turn to an SEO company to help them do it.
An SEO company can do things like targeting more conversion-intent keywords, building out service pages, and strengthening the conversion path to help improve lead volume.
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Lessen internal workload
Many internal marketing teams have endless projects but not enough time or resources to get them done. So, you know what an SEO company can do? Lessen that workload.
A lot of our clients have partnered with us simply because they need an extra hand with managing their marketing projects. They know there are important SEO tasks that need to get done, but they just don’t have the hours or resources to get them done.
So, hiring an SEO agency is an easy way to get the work done and gain access to more hands, resources, and help.
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Needing extra support for internal team
Lastly, our clients have cited needing extra support as a reason why they hired an SEO company. This isn’t an uncommon reason — many marketing companies, for example, don’t have a dedicated SEO person. Or, they have someone who handles SEO but has some skill gaps, like not knowing how to do technical SEO.
So, as a result, hiring an SEO company can help close that gap and provide companies with more support on their search strategy. An SEO company can help close whatever gaps are needed, whether it’s technical SEO, content creation, backlink building, or anything in-between.
One of our top reasons clients partner with the agency behind SEO.com (WebFX) is to increase visibility. Visibility, especially in a now AI-focused search world, is critical for reaching the right people. If you aren’t visible, you’re invisible to your audience.
Many companies discover that they aren’t showing up where their audience is looking, so they turn to an agency to do the job for them. They hire an SEO company to help them with tasks that increase visibility, like keyword targeting, content optimization, and website user experience improvements.
Another big reason our clients partnered with an SEO company was to increase both the quality and volume of traffic. Many businesses turn to an agency when they realize their quality and/or volume of traffic is lower than what they want to see.
Since SEO companies have years of experience troubleshooting quality and volume issues for clients, people turn to them for help. Some businesses may have even been seeing great traffic volume that is suddenly declining, so they’re looking for someone who can find the issue and bring their traffic numbers back up.
An SEO company can do a lot to help improve the quality and volume of traffic, including refining keyword/prompt targeting, improving content quality and information covered, fixing schema issues, and more.
A big reason we’re seeing people hiring SEO companies to do search work is to get ready and set up for AI search. AI search has undoubtedly altered the search landscape and changed the way you optimize for engines. It’s commanding more attention and traffic, which, if you’re not optimizing for it, can cause your SEO to take a hit.
But you know what an SEO agency can do? They can help you adapt your strategy by using AI search strategies to get you visible in AI responses. A skilled SEO company will know how to help you optimize for AI engines specifically to ensure you’re getting visibility in these engines.
A lot of our clients turned to us to help improve leads, which is a pretty common reason to hire an SEO company. Many businesses discover that they aren’t getting the lead volume they wish, but also know that they could do more. They don’t know how to improve the lead volume, so they turn to an SEO company to help them do it.
An SEO company can do things like targeting more conversion-intent keywords, building out service pages, and strengthening the conversion path to help improve lead volume.
Many internal marketing teams have endless projects but not enough time or resources to get them done. So, you know what an SEO company can do? Lessen that workload.
A lot of our clients have partnered with us simply because they need an extra hand with managing their marketing projects. They know there are important SEO tasks that need to get done, but they just don’t have the hours or resources to get them done.
So, hiring an SEO agency is an easy way to get the work done and gain access to more hands, resources, and help.
Lastly, our clients have cited needing extra support as a reason why they hired an SEO company. This isn’t an uncommon reason — many marketing companies, for example, don’t have a dedicated SEO person. Or, they have someone who handles SEO but has some skill gaps, like not knowing how to do technical SEO.
So, as a result, hiring an SEO company can help close that gap and provide companies with more support on their search strategy. An SEO company can help close whatever gaps are needed, whether it’s technical SEO, content creation, backlink building, or anything in-between.
What to look for with an SEO company
If you’re opting to have an SEO company do work for you, it’s important that you find the right one. So, what should you look for with an SEO company?
We looked at 145 recent client reviews to determine what clients were looking for when selecting an SEO company. Many gave multiple factors they were considering. Here are the top factors:
- High ratings (61%)
- Value for the cost (42%)
- Pricing that fits budget (38%)
- Alignment of company values (36%)
- Good culture fit (30%)
As these reviews show, factors like how well rated an agency is, the value of deliverables for the cost, and finding services that fit your budget are the top factors considered.
Real Case Studies from Our SEO Company
Want to see what an SEO company can do in action? Check out these real SEO case studies from businesses who partnered with WebFX, an award-winning SEO agency and the team behind SEO.com
Manufacturing
Trucks & Trailers
Campground
Automotive
Ecommerce
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the advantages of having an SEO company do work for you?
Having an SEO company handle some or all of your SEO work comes with benefits like:
- More time to spend on other initiatives
- Access to a larger team of experts
- Access to more resources and tools
- Scalability
How much does an SEO company cost?
SEO companies typically charge $1,500–$5,000 per month for ongoing services, though costs vary based on your goals, site size, and the scope of work. You can also hire an SEO company on an hourly basis ($100–$300/hr) or for a one-time project ($5,000–$30,000). The biggest pricing driver isn’t the model — it’s what you’re trying to achieve. For a full breakdown by service type and pricing model, see how much SEO costs.
When should you hire an SEO company vs. staying in-house?
You know what some of the best SEO companies do, but should you hire one?
Consider hiring one when you’re:
- Missing SEO goals
- Delivering past deadline
- Predicting increased SEO investments
- Unable to keep up with volume of work
- Lacking resources to properly execute your strategy
When seeing or predicting difficulties related to time, results, or skill, consider investing in SEO services from an agency. Ideally, you’ll want to partner with an SEO firm before you start to see the product of not having one (like missed deadlines and low performance).
Do SEO companies actually work?
Yes — but results depend on the company and how much time you give them. A good SEO company sets company-aligned goals, builds a customized strategy, and tracks bottom-line impact like leads and revenue generated from search, not just rankings and traffic. Give any SEO partnership around six months before evaluating performance.
What should I expect from an SEO company?
At minimum: a dedicated point of contact, an initial SEO audit, a customized strategy, regular reporting on rankings and revenue impact, and transparent communication. The best SEO companies also provide proactive monitoring, competitor tracking, and access to subject matter experts across on-page, off-page, and technical SEO.
"An SEO company can do a lot for you, from on-page optimizations to off-page work. If you're feeling like your SEO is falling short, you don't have the time you once had, or the new search landscape has you feeling lost, an SEO company will help guide you in the right direction."
Abby Fields
Senior SEO Consultant
Get all the benefits of an SEO company in one place
From keyword research to link acquisition to page speed optimization, we can provide your business with an all-in-one solution to SEO. WebFX (the team behind SEO.com) is one of the best SEO companies, bringing more than 30 years of experience to your search engine optimization efforts.
Get your free proposal today by contacting us online today!
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