So you've built a beautiful website. Naturally, you want it seen by as many potential customers as possible.  The simplest solution is to get your site ranking at the top of relevant Google searches. But how?

You've probably seen plenty of agencies advertising Search Engine Optimisation services, but you've likely also heard plenty of horror stories from other business owners. People who've spent thousands (sometimes tens of thousands) of dollars with SEO professionals, without seeing any improvement in their ranking, or worse, seen their ranking drop!

So how do you climb to the top of Google without being taken for a ride? How do you know a bad-operator when you see one? This article is your beginners guide to choosing an SEO professional when using Oncord.

Do you really need an SEO professional?

Before you start shopping around for the right provider, it's important to determine if you actually need Search Engine Optimisation services at all. An SEO provider will always tell you that your current SEO is in dire straights and needs improving. There's little incentive for them to say otherwise.

On top of this, the nature of SEO means that there's not a 'yes or no' answer to this question. Your SEO can always be improved, but whether your company should invest in SEO services is a different story. 

The simplest way to assess your current SEO is to think about the terms your potential customers are likely to be searching for, putting those into Google and seeing how you rank.

One thing to consider is that Google will rank sites that you have visited previously much higher, so it's important to perform the search in an 'Incognito' browser mode to get a more accurate picture of the results. If possible, try to use a device you've never used before, like a friend's computer, to perform the search. This will stop your own site from artificially ranking higher in the search just because you've visited it before.

When performing the search, put in the terms that are most important for your business to rank for. So if you're a plumber in Brisbane, search for 'Plumbers in Brisbane'. Perform this with a number of different search terms your potential customers might be attempting to search for and take note of where your website appears.