As much as any website owner would like to handle their own digital marketing efforts, there comes a time when it’s only prudent to seek professional assistance. You may have a solid understanding of search engine optimisation and paid marketing, but lack time and resources to carry out the required efforts to see results. Or perhaps you don’t feel up to speed with the latest Google algorithms and want to make triply sure you don’t set your site up to receive a penalty.
Whatever your reasons for seeking a digital marketing agency, there are companies out there that would be happy to take on your project. Yes, they will charge you a monthly fee and carry out different initiatives, but will they be able to get results? What results are you looking for anyway?
Ideally your search engine marketing agency can become your ally in the field, helping you to determine KPIs and achieve goals. Here are a few important aspects to look for when choosing whom to work with.
Realistic Expectations
Can an agency get you on the first page of Google within a month? Possibly, but the results won’t last. SEO takes time and effort, with results being recognised by the search engines only after a few months of work. A professional PPC campaign can take time to refine and hone into a money-making machine. A company that makes outlandish promises may not be carrying out the work ethically, or with long-term results in mind.
Ethical Business Practices and Processes
It’s not enough to promise to build a certain number of links or write X number of articles for your website. You should be concerned with how the work will be carried out, and have a very direct conversation with the agency about White, Grey and Black Hat SEO techniques. Ultimately, careful, handcrafted efforts to create relationships with other website owners and earn links organically will have the longest-lasting effects; no bulk link buying, no uploading to multiple directories.
Evaluating your Current Website
It doesn’t make sense to build links to, or provide new blog content for a website that isn’t set up correctly for SEO success. Attaining good organic search results involves technical considerations as well as common sense. How is your site loading speed? Is it mobile friendly? What about 404 error pages and redirects? Are your meta titles too long or too short? Is there too little or too much content on each page, and have you managed to avoid keyword stuffing?
As part of their SEO services, it is important that your agency evaluate the technical SEO and content-related factors that contribute to the overall health of your website. They may even recommend an entirely new site or redesign.
Communications and Transparency
It is common for marketing agencies to agree to carry out certain activities, but how much insight would you like into the processes used? Find out how and when you can expect updates, and how involved you should or shouldn’t be. You may prefer to receive weekly updates and forecasts, or you may be happy to have little to no involvement (and hopefully, just sit back and watch rankings increase). But, it’s important to work this out beforehand, and see whether you’ll be given access to a project management system and all documents related to your campaigns, or whether the majority of the correspondence will be carried out by email or telephone.
Reporting on Results
Agencies provide reports on KPIs but of course those will vary depending on whom you choose to work with. Ask to see how a report is set up and ensure you (or someone within your company) is comfortable reading data in that particular format. It’s always better to know in advance what you can expect in terms of data and analysis instead of re-negotiating after the first report has been sent.
The takeaway here is to consider that you’ll want to work with the same agency for a good amount of time, and have them on board as part of your team. In order to involve the agency in strategic business decisions, it is important to use these considerations to help you make the smart choice right from the start.
