Finding Internet Marketing Services Worth Hiring

I have already spoken at length about signs a SEO company is bad, but I thought I’d flip it the other way and offer you some tips for finding internet marketing services worth hiring. Below are some things you can look for when hiring an internet marketing service.

14 Tips For Finding Internet Marketing Services Worth Hiring

• Do they rank well for their major terms? So if they were based in Sydney they should rank well for terms like “Internet Marketing Sydney”, “SEO Sydney” and “Email Marketing Sydney”. Ideally they should rank well for the broad terms of “Internet Marketing”, “SEO”, “PPC” and “Email Marketing” without the local term of “Sydney” being added to the search query.
• Do they have Google, Yahoo and Bing accreditation? Yes internet marketing service providers can get search engine accreditation signifying their proficiency with search engine marketing platforms.
• Do they offer a broad range of online marketing methods? These days the best internet marketing strategies will include a combinations of internet marketing disciplines such as SEO, PPC, email marketing, conversion optimisation, social media optimisation, affiliate marketing, local listings, etc. So it’s best if the internet marketing firm offers and is experienced with at least a couple of these internet marketing specialisations.
• Do they have a good portfolio of past/present clients that they have achieved good rankings for with industry competitive terms?
• Do they have informative and positive testimonials from happy customers? This shows they can not only can achieve good rankings but are good to work with. If you’re serious about finding the best internet marketing agency then you could even consider contacting some of their past clients and request further details about their performance and how they were to do business with.
• Is their own site neatly laid out, with the good use of headings and relevant information in a readable format coupled with multiple calls to actions? If they don’t look after their own website and use best website usability practices they are unlike to employ them on yours.
• Make sure they don’t use a lot of flash. A small amount of flash (maybe a flash header image) is OK, but a site made largely in flash is a sign that they don’t understand a lot about online marketing and making their site both user and search engine friendly.
• Do they have a couple of years experience in the internet marketing industry? Though working in the internet marketing industry for longer than five years would be preferred.
• Do they specialise in internet marketing or just offer the service on the side? Most web designers claim to offer internet marketing services like SEO with their designs, but most rarely integrate SEO best practices into their design nor do they understand that off page elements are often more important than the onpage web design.
• Do they offer informative articles on their own site that explain elements of internet marketing like SEO, PPC, email marketing, social media optimisation, etc? If they don’t they probably don’t understand the simple concept of quality content is king on the internet.
• Do they have a fair and justified payment structure? Assess the value of the service not the price, because like most things in life you get what you pay for and you should be looking to maximise value not minimise price. Whilst you need to consider what is best for your business, when it comes to internet marketing services the difference between ranking first and fifth can be huge often making the cheapest service the worst option.
• Do they offer free site analysis or reports? If so get one. Many internet marketing services offer these. So you can look at the detail and information supplied in the reports to compare and contrast between the quality of services.
• What makes them different from the competition? Sometimes asking the prospective internet marketing agency the blunt question of “what makes you better or differentiates you from your competition” will reveal a lot. If they try to sell you spin they are probably talkers not walkers, if they give an articulate and honest answer about what their strengths and weaknesses are then you can assess their viability from their response. Good businesses understand they can’t be everything for everybody and shouldn’t try to be.
• Do they set realistic time frames? Internet marketing is generally a gradual process. There are things you can do instantly, but a lot of it takes at least a few weeks to produce good results and often even longer to perform quality testing and optimisation.

So that’s a good starting point for choosing an internet marketing service, but be sure to also be on the look out for signs that they are a bad at SEO.