Finding the Right SEO Company
There still isn’t a governing body to ensure protection of your brand on line.
So Creative Xperience have compiled this impartial document to assist you in the decision making process.
Guidelines for Researching an SEO Company
To ensure that you get a reputable service with outstanding results, we will cover the following points:-
- Choosing a Search Marketing Company
- Terms of Business
- Their Experience and Skill Base
- Investigating an SEO Company
- Ethics - Best Advice
- Deliverables and Objectives
- Analytics and Reporting
- The Working Relationship
- Conclusion
Be sure to read all of the information and guidance provided, emerging wiser and more in touch with this industry.
Should you have any questions, do get in touch with our Search Engine Marketing team, we will gladly provide you with the answers that you require.
Choosing a Search Engine Marketing Company
The heritage and standing of a company in the Search Marketing industry is an important aspect of the selection process. Your goal is to find the best and most suited company to your budget and industry sector.
So a clear and defined analysis of their current achievements is key to your investigation. If the Search Company is worth their salt, they will happily prove the results that they have attained.
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Type their company name into Google, Yahoo and MSN followed by “bad SEO” or “blacklisted” and analyse the results. Negative PR will always surface if they have been up to no good. E.g., company name bad SEO OR company name blacklisted
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What is their typical client retention period? Clients don’t renew a service if they are unsatisfied with the results. Ask to see the testimonials of current clients that have renewed their services, these carry the most weight!
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Is Search Engine Marketing their core business or simply an extension of their current business operations? For Example: Used to be web developers and migrated to SEM.
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How many business areas do they have and can they be of use to you? For Example: Natural and Paid Search, Ad-Serving, Affiliate Networking, XML, On-Line PR etc.,
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What are their ethical or best practice guidelines? Do they comply with the advice of Search Engine Watch and E-Consultancy, who have become industry standard resources for advice and guidance?
Industry Developments
Do they have a grip on the development of this industry? Ask them some of the following questions about future development:-
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What is Web 2.0 - It is the term often used to describe the ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of websites to a full-fledged computing platform, where the user experience becomes more involved, i.e., a new web based social community.
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What’s happening with Web TV - There are several large companies set to launch web based TV, that will take on the likes of the BBC and the TV licensing authority.
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What technical Developments are happening in Search at present - New technologies are being developed to cater for greater user experience.
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What are they doing with each of these developments, are they involved?
Some Good Questions:-
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Are they actually the real service provider or a front for the actual solution?
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It is quite common for sales people to do a great sell with the use of long words and technical hype, but do they actually get involved in the provision of the core service?
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Who in the company, will you be dealing with? Ask for name, job title, contact number and email address there and then, to see if you are being bluffed. After all you’re going to trust them with your brand and future business development, so be sure of the finer details.
Some good tips:-
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Make contact with your other business colleagues or associates and ask about other Search Marketing companies. This will give you the low down of other people’s experiences.
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SEO sales people who cold call for an immediate commitment, in a heavy handed manner need to be told to go away. There are many call centre based directories who rely on the naïve and un-knowledgeable. So keep your whits about you.
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It is widely accepted that an ethical search marketing company will continue to grow year on year so investigate their accounts on company’s house or ask for a document detailing their published company accounts.
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Make sure the SEO consultant that you speak with can communicate in laymen’s terms and doesn’t try to spin a web of confusion around the methodology and technology that they propose.
Terms of Business
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No Search Engine Marketing Company should ever own any of your company assets i.e., Domain names, Content Management systems or IPR of technologies.
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You need to be in control at all times. So equally ensure that you have the ability to disengage from the contract with one months notice. If the contract ties you in for 6 to 12 months be very wary.
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Is the Search Marketing Company going to do the actual work?
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Are they willing to train your staff on Ethical Search Engine Friendly Strategies empowering your business for the future? Most companies are keen to understand the technology and methodology behind such an important service, as should you.
Their Experience and Skill Base
It is all too easy to get carried away with the excitement of potential search success. Your competitors are dominating listings, receiving brand related traffic and basically out performing your every move - with this; you feel urged to attain similar or superior results. But take a step back and analyse your next move.
Some good Questions: -
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What does the proposed search service cover and where will your in put be required?
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What questions have they asked you about your objectives? No one can make your campaign a success without a clear understanding of your company and objectives.
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What research will they carry out prior to the commencing the campaign? Keywords, Search Frequencies, Site Technology / Architecture, Competitive Landscape, Benchmarking of your domains in relation to the competition etc. We strongly advise that you attain a pre-campaign audit.
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What experience of your industry sector do they possess?
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Do they currently work with any of your competitors? This is a very important question.
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Are their processes transparent? The use of smoke and mirrors in this industry is rife.
Investigating an SEM Company
Some Good Questions:-
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Can we meet at your offices - even if you have no intention, ask the question anyway, to weed out the Saturday and Sunday Brigade.
- What technical expertise do you and your team have?
- PHP
- JavaScript
- XHTML
- CSS
- W3C Standards
- Accessibility
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Will you be sub-contracting any aspect of my campaign?
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Will you sign a contract indemnifying my company and brand from damage?
- How many years experience do you have in the industry?
- How many years experience does your team possess?
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Will I be tied down to a contract?
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How will your methodology and technology fit in with my overall marketing strategy?
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If I take your services, will you train me and my team on your solutions for future empowerment?
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Will you liaise with my current suppliers to ensure a seamless integration process?
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Will you guide me and my team on the development of Search Engine Friendly (SEF) content and placement?
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How often will I get to monitor the progress of the campaign and who will I liaise with.
Ethics - Best Advice
The major aspect of any Search Marketing Campaign is to avoid all of the companies who offer wild guarantees.
Some of the Wildest Guarantees:-
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Number one ranking in Google or the other major search engines - if this happens walk away fast.
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Google, Yahoo! and MSN warn all potential users of optimisation, to stay clear of such promises and guarantees, visit the google editor’s link below to learn more.
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A guaranteed quantity of traffic - Search Engine Referral traffic can be manipulated by the use of highly developed software solutions so be careful.
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Success or Money back guarantees - There is a good chance; that if you were to claim the money back they would have already gone out of business.
Some Tips:-
Does the Search Marketing Company have any indemnity cover and if so to what level? All good SEM companies will invest in such cover for your protection.
Does the company provide “Best Practice Guides” for web developers, content managers, content editors and link popularity? They should!
Deliverables and Objectives
Make sure that the Search Engine Marketing Company agrees on the deliverables and clearly understands your objectives. Such an understanding will only come from in-depth conversations and / or previous experience of your industry. Don’t just take a yes from the company as gospel:-
- Quiz them on their understanding of your business.
- Ask them to provide a written bespoke proposal detailing the proposed objectives.
The search term analysis or otherwise termed; keyword research needs to be in-depth, covering generic, specific permutations and synonyms of the key business services that you offer:-
- Are they compelling, competitive, searched for etc.,
What are the results that you would expect to attain and in what time frame:-
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Results can be seen reasonably quickly. One will typically see a sharp rise in traffic, 6 or so weeks after completion. However results in the SERPS will take a little longer and can often take 6-9 months before any real results will be experienced.
- Be wary of anyone who says anything different.
How often will they liaise with you and your management team to reassess the progress of the objectives?
- Any Search Marketing Company worth dealing with will assign you an Account Manager, who will be at your disposal should you require any assistance.
Analytics and Reporting
Analytics and Reporting provide you with the true measure of any campaign success. The reporting suite needs to be a real-time tool, enabling you to see the campaign develop and attain the objectives that were agreed from the onset.
Are the reporting tools bespoke to the SEM Company or are they a white labelled tool being accessed by many other users? You deserve the best in analytical and reporting, so make sure you get treated fairly and receive the best solutions available in today’s market place.
Do you have a central point of contact?
- Make sure there is a dedicated account manager (who is clued up on your objectives) available to discuss your campaign at convenient times. If you have questions you need them answered.
The reporting suite should be capable of tracking results and achievements chronologically, geographically by search term, referring source and position against that of your competitors.
Additionally you need to be sure of the accuracy and integrity of the reports. Such data needs to stimulate your enthusiasm and reaffirm your desire to continue with the SEM campaign and controlling company.
The Working Relationship
Selecting an SEM partner is not to be taken lightly; you need to make sure that they are sensitive to your business needs and flexible should they change. Never select a one size fits all solution.
And finally do you like them as people, do you feel that they are simply after the cheque or are they passionate about helping you and being part of the achievement / final solution?
Conclusion
The company that you finally employ to embrace your search requirements needs to demonstrate the highest regard for you and your brand.
Equally remember the importance of the potential search partner’s willingness to share their technologies and methodologies at all times. You need to understand how they propose to achieve your objectives and equally learn for future campaigns.
Taking the final step to search success is one that must be taken with great caution. Should you require any further assistance, please contact one of the Creative Xperience team. We are here to provide best advice at all times.
