What Is An SEO Company? (+ What Do They Do?)

Adam Steele
Jun 15, 2021

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Here, we take a thorough look at precisely what SEO companies do, why they are essential, and how they can achieve their results.

Putting a website together and finally launching it is a milestone for the online presence of any business.

But once your website is live and you’ve waited several weeks, even months, most new website owners inevitably ask themselves the same question: why isn’t my website getting visitors?

Creating and launching your website is the beginning of establishing your business’s online visibility. Once your website is live, you need to nurture it with SEO content and backlinks to attract your target audience.

This is where working with an SEO company can set your business apart from your competitors. But what is an SEO company? What do SEO companies do, and how can they help your business be more profitable?

In this article, we will:

  • take a deep dive into what an SEO company is
  • answer all the questions people commonly ask surrounding SEO agencies and companies.
  • take a thorough look at precisely what SEO companies do
  • why they are essential and how they can achieve their results.

What Is An SEO Company

An SEO company is a business that helps other businesses rank higher in search engines. An SEO company aims to help its clients optimize their websites, so they perform well in search engine results pages (SERPs).

SEO companies achieve this by offering comprehensive SEO services:

Good SEO companies help businesses with SEO auditing and research, site mapping, on-page SEO such as content creation, off-page SEO, and backlinks.

If an SEO company succeeds in its role, your website will outrank your competitors in search engine rankings, meaning you attract more website visitors. This, in turn, means more leads, inquiries, meetings, phone calls, sales, and profitability for your website.

Why are SEO companies Important?

SEO companies are important because of how internet users behave online.

“As of January 2022, there were 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide” (Statista). Every time 93% of these users open their internet browser, the first thing they do is use a search engine.

Furthermore, over 70% of these search engine users will never click past the first page of results – highlighting the importance of ranking on the first page of Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines for keywords related to your business.

When we consider all of these statistics, we get an idea of where traffic to a website comes from.

As this graph from BrightEdge research demonstrates, around 76% of website users land on that website by searching for the business or keywords on a search engine first.

If your website isn’t optimized for SEO, your competitors will be getting this search traffic – plain and simple.

This demonstrates the importance of optimizing your website for SEO and the role that SEO companies play in helping small, local businesses and international companies manage their SEO strategies.

So, if you’re a Business-to-business (B2B) model, then 64.1% of your potential online customers will find your business by searching on a search engine. If you’re not optimized for SEO, these customers will altogether bypass your business.

What Do SEO Companies Do?

Getting found in search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, and Baidu, is a determining factor in the success or failure of many businesses.

If your competitors outrank your business in search engines, they attract more than 70% of the customers looking for your particular service or product. How can you compete if you have less than 30% of the customer market visit your website?

SEO companies help businesses solve this issue. Using search engine optimization strategies, SEO companies help businesses of all sizes and locations rank on the first page of search engines and ideally in the top 3 positions.

Definition: 

SEO companies provide search engine optimization services to businesses looking to improve online visibility and increase organic traffic. Search engine optimization services are a set of strategies that make your website or web pages rank better in search engine results pages.

When we ask Google “how to rank high in Google”, we see these eight steps.

SEO companies help your business do these eight steps.

To help your business achieve higher rankings in Google’s algorithm, SEO companies audit your website, then create an SEO roadmap that outlines the exact steps your business needs to take to start outranking competitors in the SERPs (search engine results pages).

SEO Companies FAQ

What do SEO services include?

SEO services include:

  • Current site SEO audit
  • Target audience research
  • Competitor research
  • Keyword research
  • Generate a sitemap
  • On-page technical SEO (meta tags and meta descriptions)
  • Content creation
  • Content marketing
  • Link building with quality links
  • Social media, LinkedIn, and media outreach
  • Pay-per-click (PPC) + SEO advertising

SEO companies may handle your SEO campaign themselves or offer you guidance and tools to carry out the SEO strategy yourself.

Do SEO companies use contracts?

When deciding to work with an SEO company or as an SEO company working with a business, we strongly recommend that you clarify the services to be included and exact deliverables before engaging in work.

The best way to do this is with a clear and concise contract (FREE Template) that spells out every element of the agreement so there is no misunderstanding later on.

In a solid SEO contract, both parties can agree on:

Is an SEO company worth it?

Conducting a cost-benefit analysis can help determine whether working with an SEO company is worth it for you.

Do this by looking at your current website traffic and website income. Then, request the SEO company estimates the amount of traffic you can realistically generate with higher search engine rankings, how much revenue that will create, and compare that with the cost of hiring an SEO company.

But this depends on your business and your goals and ambitions.

Suppose you’re content with generating limited traffic from referrals, Facebook, and other social media mentions, or on a regional basis with local physical advertising (such as signposts and pamphlets). In that case, you might not need to invest in SEO.

However, if you want to sell a product internationally, attract a broader customer audience, or expand your business to capture the thousands of people searching for your offering every month, then investing in an SEO company is well and truly worth it.

However, it’s important to remember that search engine optimization is a process, and ranking on the first page of Google doesn’t happen overnight.

Depending on your niche, the best SEO companies and marketing agencies can get you ranking on the first page of Google for most of your keywords in under a year – but it isn’t easy.

It’s best to approach SEO as a long-term investment, where you see a gradual increase in web traffic and constant growth in profitability (given that the conversion rate of your website is optimized).

Good SEO companies might also offer high-quality web design to optimize the user experience of your website, but this depends on the company and must be agreed upon before commencing work.

What do SEO companies charge?

Prices vary significantly between SEO agencies but so too do the results each agency can produce.

Typically in the U.S., average SEO agencies charge $100-$150 per hour, or $2,500-$10,000 per month, depending on the terms of the agreement.

You will likely find overseas SEO agencies willing to work for as little as $10-$50 per hour but keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process, and many agencies will be reluctant to guarantee any results.

When looking for an SEO specialist, you must request examples of their previous SEO work. Outstanding SEO agencies will have case studies to share with you – results and samples of strategies they have used for clients in the past.

How many types of SEO are there?

There are three different types of SEO:

  • On-page SEO
  • Off-page SEO
  • Technical SEO

On-page SEO is everything that happens on the page, the user experience – content quality, design, layout, click-through rate.

Off-page SEO is essentially the backlink profile of a website – how many other websites point back to your site, and how good those links are.

Technical SEO revolves around the function of your website, how fast it loads (site speed), and the internal linking structure and hierarchy of the website.

The best SEO firms out there can boost your online presence by optimizing each and every type of your SEO.

What is SEO, and how does it work?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. SEO is the process of giving a website each of its’ individual web pages the best chance possible at ranking highly on search engines.

SEO has many different facets, but in a nutshell, SEO works by researching the target audience, then creating and publishing high-quality content that answers questions the target audience has.

For example, as we at Loganix are an SEO company, we want to attract people wondering, “What does an SEO company do?” – which is why we created this article.

SEO also needs on-page optimization, which includes writing meta tags, meta titles, meta descriptions, and title tags for web pages and using a web design that facilitates a seamless, engaging user experience.

Finally, SEO also involves getting other websites to vote for the website in question by linking to that website via backlinks. Link building is one of the most complex yet necessary parts of SEO, as metrics such as domain authority and page authority play a critical role in website ranks.

What do SEO companies charge?

Charges from SEO companies vary greatly, according to where the company is based, what services they offer, and the quality of those services.

U.S. and Canadian-based SEO companies typically charge between $50-$150 per hour work or work on monthly retainers ranging between $2,000-$10,000. Other companies based elsewhere might work for significantly less. However, you must look at the track record of any SEO company you’re considering work with.

How do I find a good company for SEO?

One of the best ways of finding a good SEO company is to trawl through their testimonials. You need to ensure the testimonials come from verified buyers and are supported by a trusted testimonial and review platform, such as Trustpilot.

Working with SEO companies with sound social proof is the best indicator of what kind of service you can expect to get from that company.

You can also turn to social media to ask about the reputation of an SEO agency or request that they share with you case studies on previous clients which show the results they achieved.

Also, look for SEO companies that specialize in what you’re looking for. Perhaps you’re a small business wanting SEO services for local businesses, and you’re wondering why local SEO is important? In such a case, working with an SEO company that understands the difference between local SEO and organic SEO will give you better results.

How can I start an SEO business?

Starting an SEO business is a fantastic online business opportunity. If you’re considering starting an SEO business of your own, we recommend you start by familiarizing yourself with the best SEO tools out there, as well as learning how to put together an SEO contract that protects both yourself as the provider and your client.

What can I expect from my SEO company?

What to expect from your SEO company depends entirely on the deliverables you agree upon in your contract. It is essential that before beginning work, the client and SEO company agree upon what work is to be performed in your SEO campaign and what results are to be expected.

This might include:

  • Details of any SEO audit
  • What type of research and keyword research the SEO professionals are to perform
  • Type of content to be written
  • Agree upon any landing pages included in the digital marketing campaign
  • If the SEO agency will also handle pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
  • Trying to get an idea of KPIs (key performance indicators) and what kind of organic traffic the SEO strategy is expected to generate

However, it’s important to remember that while SEO optimization will provide results in the long run, precisely quantifying these results depends very much on your niche, industry, current standing, and the SEO agency you decide to pair with.

Summary

Hopefully, this article has given you a better understanding of SEO companies, what they do, why they are essential for an online business, and how they work.

SEO companies help online businesses generate more traffic, and ultimately, more sales.

Many companies, from small businesses to international enterprises, benefit exponentially when they employ the services of an SEO company. Getting ranked on the first page of Google for your keywords and search terms will change your business and the way you live your life.

If you’re considering investing in SEO, reach out to us to work with an experienced, proven and reliable SEO company that offers comprehensive SEO services.

Hand off the toughest tasks in SEO, PPC, and content without compromising quality

Explore Services

Written by Adam Steele on June 15, 2021

COO and Product Director at Loganix. Recovering SEO, now focused on the understanding how Loganix can make the work-lives of SEO and agency folks more enjoyable, and profitable. Writing from beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia.