You realize you could do more to enhance organic traffic, but you don’t have the time or internal skills to achieve it, and you’ve opted to engage an SEO service. You know what to ask them — if not, check out part 1 of this series: What to ask an E-commerce SEO Agency — and you’ve set up appointments with a few prospective businesses you located online.
It’s about time you know what to be on the lookout for.
Like every area of digital marketing, SEO has its share of shady practitioners and deceptive sales tactics.
What to Watch Out for?
Don’t get me wrong, we believe many respectable marketing businesses provide excellent services. However, we strongly advise you to use a recommended provider. Regardless of who the agency is, though, it’s wise to be ready with a checklist of variables that, if seen, require a follow-up inquiry or two.
1. The Fly-By-Night SEO
It’s simple to assume someone else is an expert on a subject you don’t know a great deal about. Anyone may pretend to be a true SEO expert by simply building a decent website and utilizing SEO jargon. Watch out for the five indicators listed below to identify an SEO impostor:
Brief history:
Less than two years of operation for an agency may be cause for concern. Sure, you may be getting a great deal by working with the SEO version of Michael Jordan during his rookie season, but you might also be the test subject for someone’s side project. If you have a positive feeling about such an organization, be sure to speak with references and view samples of their work before going ahead.
Absent details:
The absence of social media, Google/Yellowpage local listings, and contact information on their website are all indicators that you could be dealing with a fraudster. These platforms provide social evidence in the form of fan count and reviews. The business may cease to exist if they do not exist.
Inadequate design or SEO:
Anyone claiming to be able to assist with your SEO ought to have impeccable SEO themselves. Another clue that a website was rushed up with the intention of taking advantage of ecommerce businesses looking for rapid, low-cost assistance is lazy site design.
Cold calling:
Making cold calls to prospective customers without any context may be a sign that an agency prioritizes volume above quality. Agencies that contact you without first providing a formal introduction should be particularly scrutinized.
New hires:
Obtain business cards and check the experience of the SEO specialists on LinkedIn to ensure they have performed this task before, ideally on a number of occasions. It’s normal for agencies to have a small number of junior staff members, but you would want to steer clear if a purported “SEO expert” was putting can openers on doors two months prior.
2. Performance Promises
To be fair, the proprietary search engine algorithms that control organic search are not well understood by the general public. Though they usually approach the topic with caution, astute SEOs are optimistic about the prospect. It’s concerning when agencies make precise performance assurances. Among them are:
Ranking:
Put plainly, rankings cannot be guaranteed. Even with flawless optimization for key phrases, an agency may predict that a website *may* one day appear in the top half of Google search results for lucrative keywords. However, guaranteeing #1 rankings is the worst kind of overconfidence.
Count of new connections, exactly:
One of two things occurs when an agency promises a certain quantity of links: 1. They are dishonest; 2. Even worse, they have a list of pre-paid connections. These are among the clearest indicators that you should leave an agency immediately rather than cautiously as they have the potential to seriously damage a website’s search engine ranking.
Visits:
Directional projections, similar to rankings, are not the same as claiming a certain number of visits. I need to speak with an agency if they can forecast it with such accuracy!
Conversions:
It’s one thing to suggest that improvements should increase sales, but it is flat-out false to promise a certain amount.
Finding possibilities and adjustments that drive more quality visitors to your online business is the job of an SEO agency. Make sure your consultant explains their approach and the reasons for their confidence in its efficacy. Establish success standards rather than performance promises.
For example, what level of income should organic search generate in three, six, or nine months? Remember that SEO is a long-term endeavor. Seek out instances of related work that demonstrate a company’s expertise in generating visitors who become customers.
3. Not so known established Foreign Agency
SEO is a global profession, and there are specialists with incredible depth of knowledge anywhere in the world. Foreign agencies can offer significant benefits due to varying currency rates and going market costs. Numerous organizations have had positive experiences working with SEO experts from Europe, Asia, and South America.
But beware: since there is always a demand for SEO services, there will definitely be dishonest persons looking to take advantage of North American businesses that are looking for a good rate. Like anything else, SEO is all about getting what you pay for.
Well-known international organizations frequently charge top talent who can optimize an e-commerce website for a significantly lower price than domestic alternatives. More expensive alternatives frequently use people who have little to no knowledge of SEO, which may be a major waste of your time and money.
When thinking about working with a foreign agency, exercise additional caution and make sure you speak with references and ask the necessary questions. A little more study might help you score a wonderful position with an amazing agency.
4. The Switcheroo of SEO
Regardless of what’s being given, the oldest agency trick in the book is the one you should avoid the most. All agencies want to put their best foot forward and convert prospects into customers; but, some will use bait-and-switch methods to do this.
If an organization claims to have an esteemed or seasoned SEO specialist on staff, be careful to find out who will be doing the task in reality.
While hiring seasoned Ecommerce app development company from the field is a positive indication, it might not be as beneficial if the agency never interacts with your account.
Everyone starts somewhere, and doing a fantastic job at a lot of the hands-on SEO work doesn’t take years and years of expertise. Astute leaders understand when to assign tasks, and senior optimization experts are no exception.
Transparency is essential in any contract, so make sure to know what to anticipate and schedule frequent face time with the account lead. If you’re smitten with a rock star, hold off on signing a contract until you’re certain the work will live up to the hype.
5. High premium on SEO
Online businesses place a high premium on SEO since it generates entirely free visitors, in contrast to other acquisition channels like PPC, advertising, and retargeting. Almost free, that is.
It takes time to optimize your website, produce high-quality content, and follow best practices, therefore not every company can afford to hire someone to handle these tasks in-house.
You may do this crucial task using SEO services without worrying about hiring more staff members. Agencies do, however, carry some inherent risk, notwithstanding their convenience.
A fast Google search will provide several horror stories about SEO agencies. It is imperative that you select the correct firm, one that genuinely shares the vision of your business and produces high-quality work, and not only because of those scary horror stories. Inadequate search engine optimization not only doesn’t help you, but it may also seriously harm your website.
Do Not Take SEO Practices For Granted
When SEO is engrained in your business’s marketing strategy, it works best. Over-reliance on it at the beginning might result in pages that are off-brand and excessively optimized, and looking for SEO touch-ups after the planning and creative is finished will probably send your website to Google purgatory. Though more difficult, outsourcing your SEO doesn’t make this alignment unachievable.
Apply the same broad standards to an agency’s evaluation as you would to choose a business partner or recruit staff. Seek out appropriate experience, moral rectitude, and a commitment to doing things correctly.
Speak with each candidate, obtain a list of references, give those references a call, and confirm that your goals and what the agency can achieve—both via past performance and verbal commitment—align.
Selecting an SEO driven service company is really no different from selecting a construction company to renovate your kitchen or a plumber to fix faulty pipes. There will always be some poor selections among the many available, including those that are outright scammers. Knowledge is power, as always.
Make sure you have a positive feeling about the agency that will ultimately determine the success or failure of your online store by using these tips in your vendor screening process. When choosing an SEO, take your time and don’t be afraid to ask around if anything doesn’t seem right.
