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How We're Different

The Credo vetting process


Results

A company can be polished and professional and still not deliver great results, so we specifically ask each network applicant about their clients and results they have driven.

We ask every applicant for:

  • Two projects for each marketing channel they offer
  • Description of the work they did and results they achieved
  • Client contact information so Credo can contact the client and ask for a recommendation
  • Analytics or other corroborating evidence of work done well

Professionalism

Quality of work delivered is extremely important to us and extremely important to you.

Our professional vetting involves the following:

  • Review of two deliverables sent to clients
  • Review of applicant's website to see professional design, clarity of writing and thinking, and more
  • Review of other profiles, such as LinkedIn and social media

Culture

Every network applicant must also pass our culture screening to make sure they're aligned with our standards.

This involves a 30 minute call covering:

  • Their professionalism on the phone
  • Promptness to the call
  • Clarity of thinking and speech in delivery
  • How their agency delivers work

Best SEO Companies

All SEO companies on Credo have passed our initial three step and 28-point vetting process before joining, and are continuously vetted via client feedback. When you speak with SEO companies from our network, you can trust they're the best we can find.

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The industry trusts Credo

"GetCredo.com is one of the few trustworthy places to find a good SEO."
Rand Fishkin

Rand Fishkin

"After working with a number of clients who had been burned by illicit consultants, industry veteran John Doherty was inspired to create [a company] that would help companies find reputable search marketing and SEO professionals."
Marketing Land logo
Marketing Land
"I don't know of anyone who puts as much care and attention into properly vetting and matching SEO projects with vendors than Credo."
Tom Critchlow
Tom Critchclow

How to hire SEO companies


Hire agency with channel experience

Find agencies who have experience with the channel and your type of business

Prioritize agencies who have experience with the channel or channels you need help with. If you have multiple needs, we recommend prioritizing a full service firm who can do all channels as opposed to hiring individual agencies or contractors for each channel. This will reduce the number of providers you have to contact as well as the management overhead once they are hired.

Note - at Credo we match you with providers from our network who both fit your marketing channel needs and have experience with your type of business (SaaS, Ecommerce, etc). Where possible, we also match you with providers who have experience in your industry.


Agency discovery calls

Conduct discovery calls with all and strategy calls with a few

We recommend speaking with multiple agencies to verify that they have the experience you require and that you like speaking with them. Culture fit between you and your agency is the unspoken factor we find that determines if an engagement will be successful. We then recommend that you conduct longer strategy sessions (about an hour) with 2-4 agencies to dive deeper on your needs with their team.

Note - Credo schedules the initial discovery calls for you with agencies from our network.


Agency project proposals

Receive proposals and negotiate

Once you’ve gone deeper with 2-4 agencies, ask for proposals that you can review that include scope, timeline, cost, and terms. We recommend that you use our Agency Reviewer resource to make it easier. Some agencies may have a separate contract with terms and conditions, which is fine.

Once you receive proposals, you can negotiate back with agencies. The most common things to negotiate back on are scope and timeline. If ideal budget is above your ability to pay, see if you can reduce the scope to get the project within budget while understanding the tradeoffs.


Work with digital agency

Commit to one for a period of time

Finally, make a decision about who to work with and commit for a period of time that is long enough to know if you’re able to get results but not so long that it traps you into something that isn’t working. We recommend that you agree to at minimum a 3 month contract, and ideally a 6 month contract with a three month out.

Make sure healthy expectations are set and your agency fully understands your objectives. The best results are created when you have alignment with your agency around your business goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who's in Credo's network?
Credo's network includes pre-vetted digital marketing agencies and consultants with digital marketing expertise specific to your business needs. From SEO to Amazon marketing services, SaaS to the healthcare industry, to any B2B, enterprise, or B2C business, we match you with the right marketing partner for your business. Since 2013, we have helped over 6,500 businesses streamline their hiring process and execute marketing strategies. We put in the work to help you get back to what matters most - your business.
How does Credo determine who the right Pro is for my project?
We've matched over $125,000,000 in projects to agencies and have over a decade of experience as marketers ourselves. We know how to identify the right match for your needs based on our proprietary matching algorithm as well as a review of your marketing channel needs, your industry, your business model, your budget, and more. The entire process is 100% free of charge.
What is the difference between Credo and Upwork/Fiverr/etc?
Credo is a fundamentally different type of marketing matchmaking company. Instead of listing any marketing company or consultant who wants to offer marketing services, we offer a strictly vetted network of agencies that we know can deliver industry-best results to clients like you.
Do I still have to interview firms within Credo?
Yes. After we match you with 2-3 digital agencies that match your needs, you are scheduled with them for initial calls. We believe that you should know and trust the marketing team doing your work. Ultimately, it is your decision who to hire.
How is Credo involved after I sign a project?
Once you decide on the firm to hire, you sign contracts with them directly and pay them directly for the work they do. We are not involved beyond this point, though we appreciate honest reviews on your firm's Credo profile if your marketing match is everything you have been looking for!

Start your search today!

Ready to finally find the right marketing partner to help your business grow?

Drive results for your marketing needs with the Credo network. Get started today (it's free and there is no obligation)!


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History of SEO

As the amount of data, the number of websites, the the sheer mass of media—information on the internet is growing by the day, it can be nearly impossible to get noticed through all this white noise.

The key to standing out is getting on Google’s good side–the side where they rank you high on their search results page. Because only when you become a best match for user queries will you start to see your website traffic skyrocket.

But how are the best matches chosen? Every search engine has their own algorithm. They base it on a variety of factors, including keyword matches, trustworthiness of the website, and much more. And they do a good job of this. Unfortunately, because so many websites have information that matches the search query, there can be pages and pages of results. Yet users are 25% less likely to choose the fifth ranked website than the website that is ranked first on the search results page. Therefore, businesses looking to grow and reach a wider market need to rank high in the results. Thus the creation of search engine optimization.

Search Engine Optimization Defined

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is comprised of strategies used by professionals to rank higher on a search engine’s results page, or SERP. This leads to an increase in the number of visitors that a website brings in, and should result in more revenue for the business. Statistics show that the highest ranked pages are the most visited pages—internet users simply do not scroll through page after page of search results, instead they trust Google to find the best result and rank it at the top.

In short, SEO breaks down a search engine’s ranking algorithm to find out what it bases its rankings on. It then uses various methods for addressing each of these ranking factors, optimizing a website for the algorithm.

The Search Engine Optimization Industry

The SEO industry is big and it is growing at a rapid rate. In 2018, experts estimate that businesses will spend $72 billion on SEO services. By 2020, they expect this number to jump to $80 billion. A big part of these services is the SEO software that supports them, which is also growing rapidly—estimations show the market growing at a CAGR of nearly 15% between 2018 and 2022.

And it is not just the big, enterprise businesses that are contributing to this growth. Yes, enterprise companies do spend the most on SEO, with 45% of these organizations spending more than $20,000 each month. But medium and small businesses are spending significant amounts on SEO as well. 20% of medium-sized businesses are also spending over $20,000 on SEO monthly and 9.3% of small business are doing the same. The fact is that organizations of every size and from every industry are very aware that SEO needs to be a priority.

The History Of Search Engine Optimization

While many people think of SEO in only present terms, the practice has a history and it goes back further than most would think. SEO’s creation is closely linked to the search engine’s creation, which is why SEO popped up within a year of Archie’s development—the very first search engine.

The first SEO methods were basic because the search engine ranking methods were basic. The algorithm was solely based on keywords and authority—or how many backlinks a website had. Therefore, in order to rank higher, websites stuffed their pages with keywords, going so far as to even repeat words excessively. They would also use spam as backlinks, making it appear to the algorithm that they were an authoritative source.

In 1998, Sergey Brin and Lawrence Page put an end to this problem by creating Google and its more complex algorithm. The idea was to use website quality, rather than just keywords, in the ranking process. And to help quality websites make their web pages better, Google released SEO guidelines in the early 2000s. But until 2003, these guidelines were very much still in their infancy. It was only with Google’s “Florida” algorithm update that SEO truly began to take shape and become an industry in its own right.

Florida upended Google’s ranking system. Many sites lost their rankings, while others shot up to the top. The reason for this was that Google started penalizing sites that keyword stuffed and made other moves that prioritized the users’ needs. And this dramatic change to the algorithm is when many companies began to significantly invest in SEO.

After Florida came the Nofollow Attribute, which penalized websites for spam links. And then there was personalized search, allowing Google to use an individual’s history, both browsing and search, to provide more accurate results. Then came Caffeine, Google Instant, Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird, Pirate, RankBrain, and all of their 2.0 and 3.0 versions.

Through each of these updates, Google has consistently perfected their algorithm, finding ways to root out spam sites and provide users with exactly what they are looking for. And as the algorithm has grown in complexity the SEO industry has grown. There are firms dedicated to SEO, software for perfecting SEO, and blog upon blog upon blog written on the topic. In all likelihood, SEO will only continue to grow as search engine algorithms transform and increase in complexity.

Because of these regular changes, as well as the fact that SEO impacts everything from a website to Tweets to advertising, companies need to take SEO seriously—with their business strategy and their annual budget. When SEO is prioritized it gives organizations a jolt of energy. The kind of energy that creates profits and excites the market.

You need to partner with the right SEO expert. We can assist with this. We have a comprehensive list of SEO providers, each with their own unique set of experiences and expertise. We look at your specific needs and match you up with providers who know SEO in your industry and have worked on projects similar to your needs. You then interview them to discover who is the right fit for your business and hire them directly.

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