There are two things you should do before you hire an eCommerce SEO agency. These two things are to scan the organic search results and read reviews.
But there is one big caveat associated with each of these considerations, which will be covered in this post. Heed this advice and hire wisely so you don’t throw good money after bad.
When Looking at Reviews…
One of the best things you can do while you’re shopping for an eCommerce agency to serve as a strategic partner is to read reviews of their interactions with clients.
There is one big caution you should take here. Don’t read too many reviews on the agency website. An agency is not likely to allow a negative review to stay live on its website, so you might not get an unadulterated picture.
By all means, read the reviews on the agency website to see what sort of front the agency wants to put out there. But take some of them with a grain of salt.
Rather, when you’re done with that, read reviews you can find off the agency website on potentially disinterested domains. That will be where you will get the clearest, most honest view of what services the company offers and how they treat their clients.
Beyond client satisfaction, look for indicators that the agency is actually capable of producing SEO results. A lot of agencies make big promises but don’t necessarily come through in the wash when the real “user experience” (to use that term) is publicized.
When Looking at the Search Results…
This is the single most important thing you should be evaluating before you hire an agency for search engine optimization services.
It’s also a rare instance where you can see if a company can do what it says it’s going to do before you buy. You can literally look at the search results and see if the company shows up there.
Ignore the paid ads, which will say either “ad” or “sponsored” next to the search result entry. These positions are effectively purchased and do not in any way indicate the proficiency an agency has with SEO. Bidding on an ad position is effectively cheating your way to the tops of the SERPs, or into the SERPs at all.
When you are searching for an eCommerce SEO agency, look only at the organic listings. These entries must be earned through search engine optimization, chiefly through content publication and optimization, as well as through website optimization.
Here’s the thing: digital marketing in general and search engine optimization (SEO) in specific are extremely competitive keywords and topics. If an agency gets into ranking for any of these or related keywords, it means that the search engine you are using considers that domain (or page) an authority on that topic.
This is a good sign. It also means that the agency in question can get a page into ranking for a very competitive keyword or query, which means that, at least in theory, they can apply that proficiency to your website and do the same for your business. Let’s just put it this way: they’re not eCommerce SEO experts if they can’t get their own website to rank organically.
Hiring an eCommerce SEO Agency
Looking for the help of an experienced eCommerce SEO agency to improve your organic visibility for your key product and category pages over the next few years? Get started looking today; the best time to have invested in that was a decade ago but today is a close second.
Hire an agency that is qualified in other digital marketing channels, too, to unify your strategy, as well as one that is proficient in the use of AI tools, so that your marketing efforts will be better positioned strategically in the future.
