Imagining The Best SEO Company In The World
Having run an SEO company for the last six years, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned what Google likes and what it doesn’t; what customers like and what they don’t; and what truly fulfills me as a CEO. A concept that I’m always thinking about is “What would the best SEO company in the world look like?” By removing all limitations – financial, personnel-related, and otherwise – I can envision the company I’d like First Page Sage to be ten years from now.
Naturally, I already consider us the best. But like Walt Disney, who created Disneyland at a time when Knots Berry Farm was the greatest amusement park in the country, I strive for my company not just to be the best, but to be so much better than the competition that there’s no comparison.
Following are the traits of the Best SEO Company In The World, as imagined by me:
- It performs SEO in a way that would have worked in 2005 and will work in 2025. By that I simply mean that it follows the universal truth of “Create industry-leading content, attract recognition around that content, and know how to convert your visitors.” No corner-cutting, no ingenious ideas, and no tricks. A truly effective SEO strategy is simply a matter of hard work and creativity set to the tune of Google’s algorithm.
- It understands why its clients do what they do. When an SEO company partners with a new client, they become a steward of that brand. It is incumbent on that SEO company to understand the brand’s DNA – essentially, what wakes everyone up in the morning, excited to go to work? If you’re working with a compounding pharmacy, how are you helping that business to control people’s illnesses and give them more time to enjoy their lives? If you’re working with a seafood importer, how are you helping that business to contribute positively to marine ecosystems while providing fresh, healthy food for families? If you want to truly serve your SEO clients, you must understand the “why” of what they do.
- It tailors its work to its clients’ individual goals. Experience has taught me that not everyone has the same KPIs for their SEO campaign. Some people are all about rankings, other people care most about qualified traffic, others are laser focused on leads. While the best SEO company would always think about their clients’ ROI no matter what, they should also be helping out with that special request to beat out a competitor for a big keyword or get a link from a major publication.
- It obtains links only in the most natural ways. As you may have read, link building in 2015 is nothing like it was in the past. Google has gotten back to the pure system upon which the Google search engine was founded, wherein only links that are genuine votes of confidence from webmasters count towards a site’s TrustRank. If your SEO firm is still submitting to directories, doing press releases, or writing guest posts, they’re running in place (at best). The best SEO firm will obtain links naturally, like an experienced PR firm.
- It dominates its clients’ competitors. While life has taught me to always be the best person I can be, there’s nothing wrong with a competitive spirit. That’s what got me into this business in the first place. In the same way that I expect my company to be the best, I expect my clients to be the best, and that begins with dominance over competitors. Like a hungry tiger, the best SEO firm would stalk its clients’ competitors and overtake them. (Roar!)
- It gives back to its community. The best SEO company does well by doing good. In addition to its day to day work for its clients, it thinks about how it can give back to the community and the world at large. At First Page Sage, giving back is already an important part of our culture, but I’d like to start doing even more to make a positive difference. While you can never do enough, charity should be a core part of every modern business.
I hope this exercise has been interesting. These principles can apply to many industries, but I write about what I know. SEO hasn’t had the greatest reputation in the past, but since Google has tightened its standards in the last few years, my hope is that we see more and more good guys entering the SEO field. There can only be one “best,” though, and it is my intention to occupy that spot.
Evan Bailyn is a best-selling author and award-winning speaker on the subjects of SEO and thought leadership. Contact Evan here.
Is their an fool proof way of doing SEO so that it is guaranteed to last until 2025?