O.k. so admittedly I can be seen as bias when advising people on picking out the search marketing company for them, but that’s not the purpose of this post.
I simply want to present you with the signposts in order for you to find your own destination.
Think of this blog as a decision road-map – which counsel you decide to follow is entirely up to you. It was George Elliot who once said that “The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice”.
As someone who has previously worked as an online development manager for a number of years, now happily working within an Internet marketing company I feel that I can offer some useful tips and advice in this locale.
Here are some starter tips to cherry pick the paramount from the poor:
- What case studies can you find for them? A tried and trusted company can provide their retrospective weight in Internet marketing gold
- Can you see a clear, identifiable process which outlines proven methodologies to achieve tangible results?
- BEWARE of any companies who offer guarantees. There is a myriad of information online in relation to this so I will not go into more details on this topic however; please beware!
When I have been the decision maker for outsourcing Internet marketing the first thing that I like to do is call the company.
There is no better way to assess the quality of any service provider than by gaining a first-hand impression over the phone. This will give you an idea of the quality of advice and information being supplied, the personality of the company (i.e. a personal, unique approach or a scripted, call centre service) and an insight into the levels of service you may expect to receive if you choose to work with the company moving forward.
Other top tips to consider include:
- Having a registered address for the potential out sourced company on their website along with contact details for phone as well as the standard online contact forms
- Check the stated service levels and out of hours support
- Look for any career opportunities on the website – a company offering new opportunities is likely to be expanding and therefore also likely to be one of the authorities in their field
- Review client testimonials. Yes, there are many testimonials that have clearly been concocted however; nothing tells you more about a company than genuine client feedback
- Use your gut feeling – you have this for a reason and a website really does tell you a considerable amount:
- What are your first impressions?
- Is the site usable?
- Does the site appear to be an authority in Internet marketing?
- How long has the company been established for?
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