1.) How long has the SEO firm been around? Though the duration is not very important, the fact is that an older firm would be more prospective than a new one. To find out how long the firm has been around you can use the archive tool

2.) Where is the SEO firm located? Any good SEO firm will give you proper contact information. Firms located in your area can be your first choice as you can have a face to face interraction with them. Though you can even go for firms located elsewhere after making sure they offer legitimate services. One way to find this out would be to check the WHOIS data and compare it with the contact address given. You can also verify if the address is right through a phone or fax contact.

3.) Do they offer valid Testimonials? Almost all good SEO firms have testimonials from customers they have already served. Be sure to carefully analyze them and find out for yourself if they are genuine. One way to go about it would be to check out the WHOIS information for the listed testimonials. You might also benefit by contacting a few customers by yourself and enquiring about the service.

4.) How does the SEO firm propose to optimize your website? Any good SEO firm will give you an insight on the methods they plan to use in-order to optimize your website. In addition to the standard practices, some SEO firms will also give you a customized report (specifically for your website) on how they are planning to optimize for free. Check out their methods and compare them with those used by others. Some methods that should be included in the report include:

• Website Analysis
• Competitor Analysis
• Keyword Research and Analysis
• Optimizing web page content
• Title, Alt and Meta Tag Optimization
• Increasing link popularity by getting quality inbound links
• Directory submissions

5.) What kind of customer service do they offer? A good customer service defines a good SEO firm. Be sure to verify if the firm offers different kinds of support including email and phone support. To examine the kind of support they offer, be sure to mail them or call them regarding their services. This will give you an idea of how professional they are.

6.) What kind of maintenance/follow-up service do they offer? All good SEO firms offer ongoing maintenance or follow-up services along with the regular service. Be sure to check with your firm if they offer this along with the service or will charge you additional. Follow up is important as search engine optimization is a continuous process.

7.) What kind of reporting do they offer? Reporting tells you what your SEO firm is doing and what they plan to do in order to optimize your website.

All good SEO firms offer comprehensive reporting service that includes clear cut details of all proceedings. Make sure that your SEO firm offers reporting on a regular basis. Weekly reporting is the best when it comes to search engine optimization.

SEO Firms to Avoid

• Avoid SEO firms that send unsolicited mails explaining their services. The best SEO firms never relent to such tactics.
• Avoid firms that offer you top placement guarantees. The fact remains that search engines are not owned by SEO firms and hence there is no question of offering guarantees.
• Avoid firms that promise submission to thousands of search engines.
• Avoid firms that propose to optimize your site using doorway pages, hidden text, redirects, cloaking or through link spamming
• Avoid firms that do not have a proper contact address
• Avoid firms that do not disclose to you the methods they will use to optimize your site Search engine optimization done in the right way can help you boost your website traffic hugely. So make sure to choose your optimization firm wisely.