Reluctance to change stems from fear of the unknown, but for many American business owners this hesitation to adapt can prove lethal for their business. So how then to move away from the comfort of traditional advertising and remove the unknown from digital marketing? The answer is by digital marketing done right when business owners can track every dollar spent to see the concrete viability of digital marketing, via transparent SEO techniques based on a broad range of data, not just one major search engine. The inherent value in digital marketing lies in its ability to analyze multiple data streams, while giving business owners a centralized dashboard locus with straightforward success metrics that clearly show returns on advertising investment in a way that’s simply impossible with traditional methods.
Much of the reluctance about making the switch to digital comes from tales of businesses being burned in the past. Optimistic but uninformed promises of untold site traffic and top tier search engine results certainly sound appealing, but the reality of successful SEO bears little resemblance to these misleading lures. Effective SEO companies look beyond their own industry. The reality is that a proper SEO company considers its client its foremost concern, but understands that it’s the client’s customers that must be its primary focus.
So what should CEO’s and executives, who’re keen to get into digital marketing, be looking for in order to find a trustworthy digital marketing firm and avoid getting burned?
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- You must demand transparent results. You should be seeing clear results from a valuable SEO company. Consistent contact and clear reporting is crucial. This is your company’s reputation, so you should be able to identify in a transparent way whether or not your web presence is improving. Granted, SEO companies have their own strategies and approaches, but the results should be absolutely clear.
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- Business practices must be up to date. SEO strategies that resulted in prominent search results in the past may not yield the same results today. In fact, many practices that were previously considered legitimate are now frowned upon, considered passé and can even cause more harm than good. When considering whether or not to work with a new company, request some current case studies along with a list of clients who are currently performing well due to the company’s strategy.
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- Because search engines are constantly tweaking their search algorithms, SEO companies should utilize technology to monitor and predict shifts in how search engines operate. Although difficult to know exactly when and how the search engines will shift, the best SEO companies have foresight to track trends and stay ahead of the curve with proactive and adaptive strategies for your campaign.
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- The most successful SEO campaigns revolve around careful strategic planning. The services you are paying for should include a customized 3-6 month roadmap that outlines monthly deliverables that will enable you to reach the specific goals of your SEO campaign. Never move forward with SEO or pay for services without first reviewing a 3-6 month campaign plan.
- A centralized dashboard location clearly showing success metrics makes internet marketing a proven strategy that stretches clients’ ad dollars. This dashboard should include real-time statistics, showing not just the amount of traffic being driven to your site, but also the quality of your website traffic. The concentration on any single data point to run a business is flawed; rather, the confluence of multiple data points being analyzed and distilled into an user-friendly, data-driven interface showing business owners readily-apparent deliverables is what makes quality SEO such a potent tool.
Feeling overwhelmed by the amount of information out there? Picking an SEO company that’s a good fit can feel as daunting a choice as selecting the politician for whom you’ll vote. These ideas and questions will lead you closer to finding a trustworthy agency that will let you know exactly where you stand. At the end of the day, isn’t accountability what should be expected of politicians and SEO companies alike?