Creating your website is one hefty task, but what happens after that site has been created and after you have initiated SEO efforts? Do you just sit back and hope that what you are paying for is, well, paying off? If you are smart, then the answer for you is no. You have to grade your website or have an outside party do it to know whether what you are doing is working. Largely, an SEO grader can cover all facets of your optimization efforts.
Use an SEO grader to learn definitively whether your recent SEO efforts are paying off. The whole purpose of a web grader that takes into account SEO is to look at an industry benchmark as it correlates with SEO and to compare what you are doing to what others in similar situations to you are doing. A website grader essentially tells you everything you are doing well and the areas where you could stand to make improvements. Just like with getting graded in school or evaluated at work, an SEO grader is like a watchdog to keep you and your SEO efforts on track.
Also use an SEO grader because your competition is probably doing it. If you know for a fact that some of your competitors are utilizing web optimization services to get ahead, then you can assume that they also are using these graders to see where they fall. Do the same as them by consistently evaluating your own website so you always know where you are.
Use an SEO grader as well because of the simplicity of such a thing and because of the affordability of such a service. SEO is by far the least expensive of all the Internet marketing models, so you could assume that benchmarking of SEO services costs around the same. If anything, the service will cost you a few hundred bucks, which is well worth what you get for it. You will know for a fact whether what you have been putting out for SEO services is actually working, aside from where you are ranking on search engines. This information could prove extremely valuable.
Finding an SEO grader is the tricky part, but it really is not all that difficult. Simply look up graders online and see how well they are graded. Usually, there are reviews or independent agencies that rank these graders. Use them to help you decide which SEO grader to choose.