Top SEO Agencies in India

If you are new to Online business or just built a website for your company or organization, then you have most probably heard about SEO. SEO is the art of promoting your website online, increasing its visibility, and getting qualified leads/sales by ranking the website higher on Search Engines.

If you are running a business on the internet for the first time and you are not sure if you want to spend time and money optimizing your website, then you must know that 53% of all traffic to websites is from SEO alone, out of overall 68% of traffic from Search Engines.

According to a report by HubSpot, SEO leads convert at 14.6% while outbound leads have a conversion rate of 1.7% only. That’s more than 8 times the conversion rate. So, it is clear that Organic Search contributes 53% of overall traffic and helps convert more than 14% of it into leads or sales. 

If you’re a multi-product E-commerce business, Lawyer, Real Estate Agent, you are in B2B sales or wholesale supplier you can be certain that traffic from Search Engines will contribute positively to your bottom line. 

So now let’s get to the next question, how can you benefit from this. This is a practical guide for any business that wants to get more traffic to their website. Everything that I suggest won’t be easy but I promise it would be doable with some effort and planning. This isn’t a quick fix guide, but if you follow my approach, I can assure you you’ll see the great outcome and when you see the results, please don’t forget to share or link to this article.

• On-Page SEO

On-Page SEO is a practice to optimize your web pages to be found for target keywords. On-Page SEO includes optimizing Page Titles and Meta Descriptions, auditing web page content, and images, and optimizing page URL structure and its length.

In short, any changes made to the website and its content with a focus to improve the website copy and make it more discoverable on Search Engines is a part of On-Page SEO practices.

• Off-Page SEO

Off-Page SEO is a practice to promote your website on third-party websites and other platforms. Off-page SEO is almost always strategies with a focus to generate a backlink to the website.

Off-page SEO includes link-building practices like guest posting, editorial links, forum posting, sharing images and infographics, and simply promoting the brand name without generating a backlink to the website.

• Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the practice improve the technical aspects of a website to meet the Search Engines’ requirements and make it ready to be crawled and indexed.

Technical SEO includes cleaning up the website’s code, improving its structure, solving indexing issues, making it mobile-friendly, optimizing the speed of its pages, publishing accurate sitemaps, setting up and testing AMP pages, implementing rich structured data, checking for broken links, setting up canonical pages, and more.

• Local SEO

Local SEO is an SEO methodology where a website is optimized with a focus to promote it within a specific regional area such as within a city, multiple cities, or in a state.

There are four different types of SEO Services – Local, B2B, eCommerce, and Link Building.

• Local SEO Services

Local SEO Services are completely focused on promoting a local business online. The website is optimized using local keywords and SEO strategies to be found in the specific regional area.

NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) is essential to Local SEO which helps declare the real-world presence of the business and supports its reach.

• B2B SEO Services

B2B SEO services are focused on promoting businesses that run on B2B (Business to Business) model. Due to their less competitive but challenging nature, promoting a B2B business becomes quite different than promoting a B2C business. Hence, many SEO agencies only cater to B2B businesses and have gained expertise in it.

• ECommerce SEO Services

Ecommerce SEO is quite different from SEO focused on other niches simply because of the nature of the target business, its goals, and metrics. Ecommerce SEO services focus on promoting the website in a manner to sell the products and generate sales. Many SEO companies have gotten specialization in promoting eCommerce brands and cater to only such clientele.

• Link Building

Link Building is the essence of website promotion and helps gain trust in the eyes of Search Engines. Hence, it has become an integral part of SEO. Knowing this, many SEO companies have gotten expertise in building backlinks from high-authority websites to promote the website and its content faster.

The cost of SEO services varies based on different factors, including the brand value of your service provider, the SEO provider’s expertise and location, their pricing models, the competitiveness of your target niche, the type of your SEO campaign, etc. Apart from that, the overall life of the SEO campaign is another important factor that affects the cost.

A full-size SEO campaign starts from around $1,000 a month or $50 or above, based on the type of SEO service you avail. This cost can go higher based on the brand value of your SEO provider, such as globally acclaimed SEO providers charging thousands of dollars just for hour-long consultation over a phone call. It is the primary reason that they don’t accept clients that often tend to be multi-million or Fortune 500 companies.

When hiring an SEO agency to promote your business online, always evaluate the following things to estimate the overall cost of your SEO campaigns:

• Provider’s Brand Value: If you are looking to hire a popular SEO agency to promote your business, then it is obvious that such agencies charge a higher cost than slightly lesser-known agencies. Sometimes, 10s of thousands of dollars to more than a million dollars a month.
• Provider’s Expertise: If you want a specific SEO service like Link Building and are looking for an expert-level provider, then you can easily find agencies that only provide Link Building services whose services start at a couple of thousand dollars to more than 10,000 dollars a month.
• Provider’s Location: The location of your SEO provider is another significant factor that usually affects the cost of your SEO campaigns. Simply because SEO providers based in the US and UK charge 5 to 10 times more than those SEO providers based in countries like India and Bangladesh.
• Pricing Models:
  • Hourly: Usually favored by Freelance or independent SEO providers, hourly pricing models are best suitable for startups to small-sized companies and brands who are either looking to fix specific SEO-related issues or want to test or run a small-scale SEO campaign. You can simply hire an SEO expert on an hourly basis to fix a quick issue in your website or to complete a specific task.
  • Monthly-Retainer: This pricing model is most favored by medium to large-scale SEO agencies where an SEO campaign is run for a couple of months to years to generate substantial results and growth for the clients.

These monthly-retainer services usually include full-scale SEO services, from basic monthly SEO audits to keyword research, link building, On-page and Technical improvements, Content Marketing, etc. SEO agencies providing expert SEO services like Link Building agencies usually follow this pricing model in exchange for their months-long link-building campaigns.

• • Project Basis: This pricing model is often used for SEO campaigns where the client has set SEO requirements and allows the client the freedom to customize the entire project as they want. The project requirements and goals are discussed between the client and the SEO agency primarily before accepting the project.
• Target Niche: Promoting a business and generating a valuable result gets either easy or challenging based on the client’s target audience. Hence, the cost of an SEO campaign can vary depending on the target niche, such as businesses operating in the B2B industry or SaaS niche businesses where the focus of the SEO campaign is to generate leads and signups rather than just getting rankings and traffic.
• Project Duration: The overall duration of the project is one of the primary factors that affect the overall cost of an SEO campaign. Based on your goals, analyze how long you would need to run the SEO campaign to achieve the desired goal for your business and multiply it by your average monthly cost to run the SEO campaign.

Not only are SEO services cheaper in India compared to the US and UK, but many Digital Marketing agencies based in the US and UK outsource their SEO work to providers in India due to their expertise and the level of quality they provide at competitive prices.

Apart from that, Digital Marketing agencies and SEO providers in the US and UK usually demand a large budget for their SEO campaigns, which is typically not possible if you are a Startup business.

Digital Marketing and SEO agencies based in the US and UK usually charge a monthly cost of $3,000 to $5000 for a small-sized campaign to $10,000 to over a million dollars for a large-sized campaign and an hourly rate of approximately $100 to $250 for their services. Whereas SEO agencies in India provide similar quality services, charging a monthly fee of only $500 to $2,000 or an hourly rate of $50 to $100.

SEO Agencies in India offer you similar expertise but at very competitive prices.

India houses over 7500 SEO Agencies; However, only a handful of these agencies can do quality work with which they can rank. While it is important to have a clear goal in mind before you can shortlist your perfect SEO agency, it is also important to know the difference between what you can expect from them and what they can actually do for you.

Here is a list of things to check before choosing the right SEO Agency in India.

• Agency’s Website Traffic: Several agencies claim to be able to know how to generate traffic and lead for your website and get it to rank on the first page; However, when you look at their company website it tells a different story. Their website doesn’t rank anywhere on Search Engines. This is a sign that you should consider that the company isn’t confident in its own skill sets. SEO is undoubtedly extremely competitive since many companies are at SEO building links to their page; However, if their website has little or no traffic, that’s a good sign that the company won’t be doing well.

• Check Online Reviews: Before hiring an agency, ensure they have credible online reviews. Although, they might have shown some reviews on their website which might have been selected by them carefully to appear on the website to not damage their brand reputation. However, it is best to check their reviews online on different business review platforms like Clutch and G2 Crowd as well as their Google reviews. Apart from this, you should take a look at their reviews on social media platforms like Facebook. These reviews can help you gain an understanding of the quality of their work and their authenticity in regards to providing a suitable SEO service for your business.

• Check Agency Testimonials and Case Studies: Many SEO companies boast about themselves, stating the quality of work and the results they can generate for you. However, if an SEO company hasn’t shown any testimonials or case studies on their website. It is a great sign for you that they haven’t produced any significant results so far. Testimonials are valid proof of their quality of work and tell a lot about how they managed their previous clientele and what you can expect from them. Keep your eyes open, especially for video testimonials. Whereas Case Studies show clarity the SEO company has in its approach and implementation of their SEO techniques in order to generate results. When checking their case studies, look for case studies for businesses that are similar to yours or are exactly the same. It would give you a clear idea of what they have produced for similar businesses and what you can expect from them in terms of goals if you end up hiring them.

• Mind the Agency’s Approach to SEO: The pages on the agency’s websites like Services pages and case studies tell you a lot about their SEO approach and how they streamline their process. When reviewing the proofs of their previous work and checking their services, do notice if they use any spammy approach that is considered harmful or spammy by search engines. It shows their understanding of your target market and the competition, and whether they look for easy wins or long-term goals. Check what kind of SEO strategies they employed for their previous clientele. Whether they employed a custom approach specific to the business or was it just a templated SEO strategy that can be easily copied by anyone. If they are still using the long-forgotten SEO practices and methods that are considered unethical by search engines, then it is best for you to avoid them since they won’t be able to produce any good results for you and even if they do, your website will always be at risk of a penalty from search engines.

• Check their Expertise and Skills: When selecting a perfect SEO agency for your business, it is important you select the best one that has the expertise and skills, and is capable of turning your goals into reality. SEO Companies in general might offer a lot of different types of services. Some have expertise in just more than SEO like PPC and Social Media Marketing, offering a complete Digital Marketing service while some SEO agencies only focus on a single skill set like SEO or just Link Building. Moreover, some SEO agencies have expertise with a specific type of industry like eCommerce businesses, lead generation businesses such as SEO for Tech and SaaS companies, or B2B industries. When selecting your desirable SEO agency, you must be careful about what expertise and skills they have, which of their skills and expertise fits well for your business, and whether they have produced results previously using it. All these questions will directly affect your expectations with them and tell you if they would be a good fit for you.

• Notice their Communication Style and Process: Before hiring an SEO agency, you must check their communication process. SEO is a long-term process and it can take months and years to achieve your desired goals. While running an SEO campaign for a such long period, you will be in communication with the selected SEO agency for the updates of your SEO campaign. Apart from that, at times, you might also need to convey some information or data to them regarding the SEO for your business. See if the selected agency provides smooth communication. Are they available for easy communication like chat or a quick call if necessary, such as helping you understand the metrics mentioned in their reports or will they just call you once a month to provide updates on the website progress? Although it is true you can’t expect them to communicate with you any moment you wish to; however, notice their communication style and availability for communication when you are still interviewing them before selecting them for the interview. Also, check whether they are fluent in any of the languages you speak, so you can expect to have a clear discussion about your goals and expectations about the website promotion. A clear communication process leads to a better understanding of your business goals and your expectations with the SEO company; thus, establishing transparency and clarity for you.

• Ask for References and Check with Them: It is a must to ask for references before hiring any expert or agency to do SEO for your business. If they can’t provide any references, it’s most likely that they haven’t produced any good results for any of their clients. Agencies that do quality work and have produced good results, will always be able to provide you with some references without any excuses. Once, you get some references, don’t hesitate to set up a call with them or drop them an email to verify the authenticity of the results they received from the selected SEO agency. Reputed SEO agencies can easily provide verifiable references.

• Are they Offering Guaranteed Results: SEO is a very competitive process. While you’re trying to appear on search engines, your competitors might already be there and are most probably fighting for top spots. Hence, it is almost impossible to guarantee the results. A good SEO agency understands that and will often only promise improvements in your search engines’ positions instead of committing that they can get you top positions or any other vague promises. If your selected company is committing to provide you with Guaranteed results, ensure that they can commit such promises on legal documents. Unless they can commit guaranteed-results with proper documentation, it’s all just a fairy tale. It is why SEO agencies that really offer Guaranteed-Results are a rare sight.

• Check their Budget Caps and Contract Structure: SEO agencies usually have different plans and packages that you can pick from. However, these plans and packages might differ based on your demands and so does their budget. When shortlisting an SEO agency, ensure the agency has a budget that is close to yours. SEO agencies that request a higher budget for their SEO services than what you are looking to spend, will less likely entertain you and take your website promotion seriously. Moreover, try to understand what type of contract structure they have, whether they charge monthly or is it escrow-payment structure. It gives you clarity on whether your investment to promote your brand will be safe or might be at risk. Thus, it is best to choose an SEO agency whose budget requests are quite close to yours.

• Check How They Handle Your Website-related Information and Data: When hiring an SEO agency, most of the time you have to share some private website-related information and data with them so they can access that information and data and update their SEO strategies accordingly. Access to Google Search Console and Google Analytics is one such example that is often shared with SEO providers. Choose an SEO provider that respects the secrecy of your website-related information and data.

• Check their Portfolio: SEO agencies that create good results for their clientele often update their portfolio regularly. You should check the brands your select SEO agency has worked with. Good SEO companies choose to work with reputed and authentic businesses and often showcase them in their portfolio. Moreover, it shows that if big and reputed brands have already trusted in them, then they must be doing good work and are trustable as SEO providers.

• Willingness to sign NDAs if Necessary: There’s a possibility that the nature of your business and industry demands to keep all the information of your business to be private. For SEO agencies, it can mean that they can’t put your website in their portfolio items to be viewed by anyone or even share your reference with anyone. Ensure that your shortlisted SEO agency is willing to sign NDA if necessary for you. If an SEO agency refuses to sign the NDA, it shows they are not interested in respecting the privacy required for your business, and might most likely be careless about your business-related information.

• Ask for their Reporting Process: Reputed SEO companies usually have a simple and sorted reporting process that keeps you in check with all the website-related updates. Some agencies offer weekly reports while some offer monthly reports. However, some SEO companies provide daily reports which rarely contain any new update but keeps you busy under a huge pile of reports. Some reputed companies give you access to project dashboards so you can check updates on the website anytime you wish to. It’s better to avoid companies that don’t have a clear reporting process and just trying to keep you busy with lots of reports.

• Check their USPs: SEO Companies that showcase their USPs reflect that they are confident about the results they can produce for you. Thus, when selecting an SEO company to hire for your business, always check what makes them stand out from the crowd. SEO Companies that produce good results don’t hesitate to showcase their USPs and their strength when it comes to SEO. It’s often the opposite. They tend to promote their USPs in public.

• Check the Employees: It’s best to do a little check on your selected SEO agency’s list of employees and staff. It helps you understand which people most likely would be working on your website and what their qualifications might be. To check this, you can look through the agency’s LinkedIn profile and check their employees’ strengths, the designation of each employee, and their qualifications and skills. Reputed companies often show their staff and employees on their websites as well.

Hiring an SEO agency is not a quick task since you will possibly indulge with them in a long-term business relationship, communicating with them for months if not years.

It is always the best practice to do a little research to keep a check on the above-mentioned points which takes you closer to your desirable SEO agency who knows what they are doing, and in the process, avoid agencies that do vague promises instead of discussing a possible real outcome for you.

Selecting your long-term SEO agency demands good patience so you can smartly invest in your SEO campaign without wasting your money and confidently wait for good results in return.