Even though pretty much all digital marketing experts agree that search engine optimization or SEO is the best marketing channel you can pursue in terms of ROI, it can represent a significant investment.
You can help prevent undue heartaches and headaches by checking into an agency’s credentials before hiring – specifically, you can look for the following.
Read Reviews That Appear Off of the Agency’s Website
Evidently, as many as 98% of people typically read reviews before buying something online. As many as 77% “always” read reviews before buying anything online. You should be a part of these statistics.
Now, admittedly, this has more to do with the purchase of a specific product than it has to do with signing a contract for eCommerce SEO services. But the fundamental likenesses are the same.
These services are not cheap, and although they will end up paying for themselves (assuming you have made a wise investment), it’s critical to know your money is going toward a provider that will offer you good service and support.
Experience is the best teacher here, but you can’t lean on that before you hire. You’ll need to lean on the experience of others.
This is where reviews come into sharp focus. Reviews will show you how diligent an agency is in its communication with its clients, how well they handled objections and adversity, and most importantly if clients feel as though they have been appropriately heard and served.
But it is important to note here: do not lean solely on reviews found on an eCommerce SEO company’s website. These could be biased. Look for third-party reviews that appear off of their websites, such as in Google reviews or Clutch.
These are more likely to be impartial, unbiased, and credible. But take everything you find into account.
Scour the Website for a Client Portfolio
The next thing to do is revisit the eCommerce SEO company’s website and look for a very specific thing: a client portfolio.
Oftentimes, eCommerce SEO agencies like these will proudly display the results they’ve generated for clients both past and present. For instance, sometimes they will advertise important trends, statistics, figures, or client project highlights that showcase the metrical successes of their eCommerce SEO strategies.
When it comes to marketing strategies, targeted keywords, research, and building links back to your website, you’ll have to take some of it on faith.
A client portfolio that showcases broad metrics for other eCommerce websites can help give potential customers like you some insight into what you can possibly (even probably) expect.
Investigate Case Studies
Finally, one more important thing to look for is a collection of case studies. Just like a client portfolio, case studies can offer you some metrical, analytical insight into the sorts of results the eCommerce SEO company in question delivered for their clients’ online stores.
Many SEO experts publish case studies on their websites. These can be gold mines of information regarding user behavior metrics, such as visits, time on page, and conversions.
But the most important thing to remember here is that not all case studies are created equal. You want to look for case studies that divulge real information about the process and showcase actual statistics, not just projections.
In other words, fluff is the enemy. Make sure you can glean some information about long-term, actual results for the eCommerce businesses of the company’s clients.
Look into an eCommerce SEO Company with Experience
1DigitalⓇ Agency has served as an experienced eCommerce SEO company for over 10 years. Since 2012, they have specialized in delivering eCommerce SEO campaigns as well as eCommerce PPC management, social media marketing, content marketing, and even web design, development, and migration services.
Check out their website at 1DigitalAgency.com and see if they don’t meet all of the criteria mentioned here – and get in touch with them at 888-982-8269 if you have any questions.
