There are many hundreds of SEO companies and individual experts operating on the Internet so it can be difficult to know which one to choose to look after your website rankings. There are a lot of companies and individuals who are not reliable and use black hat SEO techniques which will damage your site and it is these people who have given the industry a bit of a negative reputation.

In contrast to this, there are actually lots of legitimate SEO companies who will carry out work on your site and legitimately gain you rankings. There are steps that you can take to ensure that you choose a reputable SEO company to work with, here are a few ideas:

• Check their portfolio – All professional SEO companies will have a portfolio of clients that they are happy to share with you. This will be to demonstrate that they have been successful in these campaigns and should be able to do the same for yours. If there is not a portfolio on the website then ask for a list of some of their clients so that you can do your own research.
• Obtain References – Contacting an SEO companies past and present clients will give you an insight into what they are like to work with and what results you can expect as you will be speaking to people who have had first hand experience of their business.
• Shop Around – Different SEO companies have different strengths and thrive in different markets therefore it is worth shopping around – remember, the cheapest option isn’t always the best value for money
• How long have they been trading for?
• Where is their website ranked in Google? – If they cannot rank well for their own website keywords, then their SEO tactics are ineffective and you will have little hope of ranking your website with them

Choosing the right SEO company is vital in your SEO quest and subsequent online success.