About 90 percent of people who look for information online use search engines. A huge majority of them don’t go past the first page of search engine results. It means that placement in the first page for specific keyword is important and we can’t achieve this without an effective SEO campaign. We should make sure that our company can get easily noticed, despite the intense competition.

We would be able to have proper SEO campaign, if we are not working with honest and skilled SEO professionals. It means that we should make sure that we are dealing with genuine individuals.

In this case, we should understand the common traits of trustworthy SEO companies. Before hiring SEO professionals, it is important to distinguish the illegitimate from the professionals. This is the only way to ensure that our website is able to reach the first page. Dishonest SEO professionals will use methods that cheat SEO guidelines, such as adding backdoor tricks.

This could provide quick and significant results, but eventually search engines will find out. We could be banned permanently from the index. It means that illegal practices could eventually ruin our overall efforts.

Trusted SEO professionals won’t use junk email and other spammy methods for advertising purposes. We should review their records, if they ask low prices for great results. Good SEO professionals don’t depend too much on paid advertising methods. It should be based on smart web technology that can highlight the reputation of our website.

Reliance on free SEO methods can significantly reduce our budgets. We will be able to assess the overall suitability of the SEO business for our website. These professionals should be able to provide sensible short-term results that can be achieve using honest methods.

When working with SEO professionals, we should make sure that there’s no secret involved. The SEO tactics and business strategy should be shared between members of the team before they are implemented. Strategies must be discussed previously in the boardroom session. It is not a good idea if SEO providers seem to keep their overall methods hidden from others.

Some may argue that they don’t want to share their business secrets, but we don’t whether they are using illegal tricks. When working with SEO professionals, it is also a good idea to check with the local trade association or Better Business Bureau.

Reliable SEO professionals should also be focused on targeted SEO for local businesses. In most cases, businesses don’t need to be recognized internationally and they are targeted for local consumers in the same country, state or city. Dishonest SEO professionals may make a big promise saying that we will be listed in the number one position at any region, including internationally.

This requires huge effort, especially if we are dealing with common keywords. So, it is quite likely that SEO professionals would simply use very long tail keywords with much less competition. This is something that we should try to avoid.