If you’re looking at digital media agencies to help expand awareness for your business, you need to do a tremendous amount of homework to choose the right one for your specific needs. Use these nifty guidelines as a checklist to hire the best SEO company for your business.
Clearly Outline Your Goal Expectations
Working with digital media companies for the first time should not be decisions made on impulse. A well-planned preparation process will ensure that you don’t end up wasting precious time. Consider these factors that may drive your expectations from your digital media company:
- Accelerating business growth.
- Redesigning and redefining your brand.
- Opening up new offices.
- Entering into new markets.
Once you’re able to clearly identify these expectations and objectives for your business, you can take a more focussed approach to identify how the SEO company can fit into your expectations.
Clarify Your Marketing Requirements
Based on your specific marketing brief, you may want to list down your requirements, so that you assess an agency based on their expertise in those areas. You will need to determine how to restructure your own organisation in a manner that allows you to retain certain in-house activities, while outsourcing the others for the overall profitability of your business. Here are some marketing requirements to consider for your business:
- Website design and development
- Content development and generation
- Search engine optimisation
- Search engine marketing
- Social media marketing
- Analytics and marketing automation
- Email marketing
- Online marketing – AdWords, Pay Per Click, Facebook ads
- Web traffic generation
- Web branding and awareness
Clarifying your marketing requirements will help you better assess what digital media companies have to offer.
Identify Your Role In Working With The Digital Media Company
Simply hiring an search engine optimization company without understanding the role you will play can also prove to be futile in the long run. Take the time to consider these factors:
- How much of your own time are you willing to commit to this collaboration with the digital media company?
- How much money and resources are you willing to invest?
- What kinds of skills already exist within your team and which areas are lacking?
Identifying your own role will help you better work with the company you hire.
Consider The Type Of Company You Want To Work With
Digital media companies come in a variety of sizes and shapes, so you must try to find one that best meets your business marketing goals and your budget.
- Companies offering specialised or general services – Some agencies offer specialised services like web design or SEO, while others are more general and can offer a variety of services to meet your needs. If you want only a few specialised services, then consider hiring a company that excels in that area.
- Companies that offer local or global reach – Based on the type of business you run, you may want to hire a company that has global reach to help you reach your target audience in different countries. If you are looking at geo-targeted marketing in a specific region, then an agency specialised in the local area will be more suited to your needs.
- Boutique service or large companies – Based on your business type, you can choose between large or boutique service companies. If you’re a small business, you may prefer working with a similar type of SEO company and vice versa.
Review The Credentials Of The Company
Before hiring any search engine optimization – SEO company for your business, take the time to consider and review the credentials of the company you plan to hire thoroughly. All companies are different, so you must be sure that the company has experience in working with companies like yours. Having clients in similar industries to you will help the media company better understand your requirements. Review the following:
- Does the company have enough experience in your field with similar companies?
- Ask for recommendations and testimonials if the company doesn’t have them listed on the website.
- Does the company have positive reviews online or from other peers in the industry that have used their services?
- How genuine do they sound when it comes to marketing their services to your business?
Make sure you thoroughly review these aspects before deciding to hire a particular company for your business marketing needs.
Hiring digital media companies can be tricky without the right strategies. Luckily, these nifty guidelines will help you in your quest to hire the best digital media company for your needs.
