Tips on hiring a search marketing company (SEM)

I really don’t envy companies trying to choose a search marketing provider. Choosing a provider for either SEO or PPC ad management can be a very important decision for your business. Get it right and the ROI effects could be business-transforming. Choose the wrong SEM and you might as well have gambled your allotted search marketing budget at the casino. Unfortunately for business consumers, search marketing is a highly-specialised and complicated field. And with a lot of conflicting information it can be difficult sorting through the of various sales pitches. Here are 10 tips to help you choose a quality SEM firm, and avoid getting burnt by a “cowboy”.

1. Ideally, do some research and know what you are buying before making enquiries. Are you looking to use Pay Per Click search advertising (Google Adwords etc) or have Natural Search Engine Optimisation done, or both? In most instances, there is a solid a business case for both. If you have some understanding of exactly what you are buying, you will be able to assess each company’s capabilities more successfully. You will also be less open to believing dubious sales pitches from people claiming to be SEO experts.

2. Search marketing is a very specialist field. Specialist firms tend to do it better. Case in point: search for the term “search engine marketing” & you won’t find a single ad agency ranked in the top 100 Google results. Web design and marketing firms account for less than 5% of the results. Who dominates? The specialist SEM firms. The fact is many generalist advertising, marketing and web design firms now offer PPC and SEO services. However it is an “add on” service for most of them (think “upsell”). Ask yourself whether these firms actually offer good value. Some may simply be outsourcing your work to a SEM firm anyway (which adds extra agency fees to your overall SEM cost).

3. Ask for case studies of the SEM company’s previous work, and who some of their main clients are. A good SEM firm should be able to show you excellent case studies of previous clients, including rankings. If a SEM has large, well-known “brand-name” clients - and those clients rank well - then chances are you’ve found a quality firm.

4. Shop on ROI. If you opt for the cheapest possible quote, then you will probably get what you pay for. Achieving good search results in competitive fields requires a lot of work by the SEO firm and costs are reflected in quotes. You should assess the cost of the service against the potential long-term ROI for your business. A cheap service that delivers nil ROI is a poor marketing investment.

5. Be realistic about your expectations. If you are a small mortgage broker then don’t expect to rank #1 for “home loans” with, say, a $2K annual SEO budget. As an indication of the competition, Australia’s major banks may be spending $100K + per year to achieve their page one results. (Hotly competitive industries may require ongoing work.) If you wish to compete make sure you have an appropriate budget for your market.

6. Measure the results over the LONG TERM. Search marketing – and SEO especially – is a long-term investment. That means a minimum timeframe of 12 months to see good rankings for new websites. Be aware that good organic rankings may be hard to achieve. But good search rankings frequently remain for years after the SEO contract is finished. In other words, your return on SEO is being earnt over years not weeks or months. Other advertising forms are one hit wonders – once you stop advertising, there is no ongoing ROI. Natural search traffic is ongoing.

7. Don’t expect “guarantees”. No honest SEO company can possibly guarantee you #1 in Google rankings. Think about it: the only people capable of guaranteeing you a #1 organic ranking is Google themselves. Their search positions are not for sale. Google’s website says it plainly: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings”. If you’re speaking to a firm that does offer a SEO guarantee, ask a lot of questions about that guarantee or simply walk away.

8. Don’t expect a SEM to miraculously transform your business. Be aware that you are paying a SEM to send targeted visitors (search engine users) to your website. If your site is poor, or your products/services don’t meet customer expectations, then chances are you have a problem. A good SEO will advise you of potential problems but ultimately you have to take some responsibility to make sure you convert as many customers as possible.

9. Ask each SEM who they would choose from your top choices if they were too busy to help. Many good companies ARE too busy and should be happy to tell you this.