Building customer relationships is vital for any business. Building customers is what makes business connect with customers and keeps the customers coming back. Without regular customers, it would be difficult for any business to stay open. SEO services offer a variety of SEO tools to open the doors of communication between businesses and their customers. This blog is filled with tips that will help increase your businesses likeability making is easier to build relationships between businesses and customers. This blog can even assist SEO services in connecting with their customers as well.

Start the Relationship by Pointing Out the Issues

It is easy for SEO services to build relationships with customers by giving them what they came to you for, a solution. By doing your research up front, you will already have an understanding of your clients problems that need immediate attention. By coming to your first interaction prepared with the issues at hand and an action plan, you are showing the customers you can get things done quickly, ease their mind if you were the right choice, and that you are not afraid of opportunities.

Don’t Wait Till the Last Minute

To obtain likeability, you want to show your customers that you are there to work with them 100% of the way. You should never wait till the last minute to only show a client a finished project. If they hate the project idea, you have spent all the time working on nothing. Not to mention, the customer gets a sense that you don’t know them at all. When you are working on a project with customers, be there for them every step of the way, don’t be afraid to get their opinion on your progress. It will save time and show the customer you are focused on their needs rather than just making a buck off of them.

Keep Open Lines of Communication

If you want your customers to like you, they have to know they can count on you. By keeping in touch with your client, you are showing them that you haven’t forgotten about them. Keep them up to date with their project, discuss different options, and don’t forget to schedule face to face encounters if possible. You always want to keep the lines of communication open between your SEO services and your clients. Never avoid their calls to show them that you are working hard for their needs and you hear them when they speak to you. When clients know your listening, it increases your likeability greatly.

Don’t Be Afraid To Personally Connect With Clients

If you want your clients to like you, don’t be so stuffy. Clients have difficulty feeling comfortable with people who are all business all the time. If you truly want to connect with your customers, don’t be afraid to let your business guard down and let them get to know you as a person. Have a meeting as a dinner instead of just sitting in your office talking, it adds a personal touch to your business and shows your clients you are not afraid to let your hair down. SEO can be helpful in many different ways from allowing yourself to connect on new levels with your customers, enticing them to bring more traffic to your page and opening new linking opportunities.

One of the most frustrating things for a marketer is seeing high volumes of traffic crossing your website, but not generating many sales. “I’m selling a great product that people need, what’s wrong with meeeee?????”

Well, start by running through this ten-point checklist, which highlights some common problems with the conversion process experienced by many sites.

Common Website Issues Affecting Conversion Rates

1. Getting the right kind of visitors. Focus on your marketing strategy – are you attracting genuine buyers or simply half-interested browsers? Does your message need to be altered in some way? And make sure that message is continued into your website itself – if you are selling yourself as a fun, easy going company, don’t then have an ultra-corporate, statistic-heavy landing page.
2. Design. A well-designed, professional-looking website inspires confidence in users. If your Contact Us page doesn’t feature a postal address or landline number this can put people off.
3. Keep it simple. Adding loads of graphics and tables may make your site look impressive, but it can impede page-loading times, infuriating when you just want a quick purchase.
4. Navigation. Make site navigation easy. Think about what customers need to inform them and persuade them to click Buy, and make sure it’s accessible. But don’t over-stuff it with information. Place calls-to-action in prominent positions to drive the process forward naturally.
5. Information. Don’t try to gather too much information from customers at the sales stage. Filling in large forms takes ages and is another major turn-off. Try capturing what you need over time instead of one-go.
6. Know when to upsell. Tip: it’s not directly before they hit Complete Order. A good time is when something is added to the basket. For example if they select a childrens’ toy, you can offer toys for similar ages, or batteries.
7. Check-out. Make the check-out process as smooth and uncomplicated as possible. Be upfront with shipping costs, advise customers of various payment options, and if something’s out of stock, tell them early on. Highlight required fields to avoid people having to retrace their steps.
8. Contact. Maintain regular contact with your customer after purchase, for example through informing them when their product has been dispatched, or to get feedback once it arrives. And if there are any problems or complaints, address them quickly and fairly. Although this doesn’t boost conversion straightaway, it should ensure both repeat business and recommendations.
9. Try uninstalling Captcha. Captcha is a useful tool for blocking spam, but a lot of people, myself included, find it incredibly annoying, especially when the words in the box aren’t clearly legible. Try removing it for a week to see if it boosts your conversion rates – it may be worth a slight increase in spam.
10. Your USP. Very few companies are lucky enough to have little competition. And if you’re not one of them, then you need to make sure your website stands out from the field. Great content; eye-catching design and use of images; usability; and opportunities for customers to get involved, for example by adding reviews or taking part in competitions, will help people remember your brand.

Facebook ads are paid advertisements that are incredibly powerful tools that provide so many options for marketers to choose from. They have become increasingly more flexible and affordable than other known advertising mediums, especially because they take the form of calls to action, thereby attracting new potential users or customers to your site whom you may otherwise never have met.

The ads can be a fun, fast, and relatively easy way to get traffic, grow your tribe, get page engagements, grow your emails, score Likes, and make sales. However, it is very easy to make mistakes when it comes to using Facebook ads to their maximum potential. So, if you want a successful ad campaign, then make sure that your business is not falling victim to these very common Facebook ad mistakes.

1. Targeting:

Too narrow or too broad targeting: Facebook allows you to be really specific about whom you can target. You can target people based on gender, age, sexual reference, education, location, language, interests and more. However, the most important of all these aspects is interests. Think carefully about whom the people you’re targeting, and what their interests may be.

Do not let your keywords target so narrowly. Demographics are pretty straightforward; the real trick, therefore, is to expand your keywords to the extent where you have a relatively large enough audience to get the job done.

Targeting non-fans: The first thing that you need to do is to build an audience first. This is so because increasing your fan engagement helps support any future conversation efforts. When you want to convert your Facebook ads, targeting fans is the best way to go. Actually this makes complete sense, since the more relevant an ad is to someone specifically, the more likely he/she will notice and act on it.

Moreover, Facebook fans are existing customers or potential customers of a particular business. This implies that any ad that is targeted at existing customers or facebook users already familiar with the business will automatically see a higher success rate.

Not targeting your ads by location: Unlike other forms of online advertising, Facebook allows you to target your ads to people in specific locations. Take for example, you live in Ireland, but you get these ads from Sidney, Victoria, Blue Mountains and Brisbane. To be frank, these ads aren’t going to get a good click-through rate outside their local area. In simple words, displaying location-specific ads outside the intended location is, in most cases, a total waste of money.

2. Budgeting:

Putting all your eggs in one basket: Especially if it’s your first time to advertise on facebook, it’s advisable to start small. Do not commit your entire advertising budget to it (unless your budget is miniscule), but a tiny budget is also another mistake, though one that’s really unavoidable for a good number of new marketers.

Setting up very low daily budget: Facebook usually gives advertisers an opportunity to bid on the amount of money they will pay per click i.e. cost per click (CPC) or per thousand impressions (CPM) ad plans. This suggested bid amount will help you make sure that your ad is seen by as many targeted users as possible. Get it right; if you bid too low, your ad will never be seen. So ensure that you dedicate enough funds to the ad campaign otherwise your results will be limited.

You haven’t figured out how much you want to spend. There you are! You’re ready to jump into Facebook advertising and test out the waters yet you have no slight clue as to how much you want to spend. In addition, you may not even be aware of the most effective way to optimize your ads. Before you begin to evaluate the amount you are willing to spend on Facebook ads, start by determining the value of a new lead.

The lead could be in the form of an email address, a Facebook fan or a new customer. Whatever you settle for, you are not going to spend all your money without any idea of how much value the ads will be generating.

3. Creativity:

Lack of information: if your ad doesn’t provide any information, don’t be surprised if no one clicks through to the page, or “Likes” the ad. For instance, ask yourself why a Facebook user would like an ad for a conveyance. So, when creating a Facebook ad, try to position yourself as the user and ask yourself why you would click on that ad.

Your ads are too broad and boring. Instead of one or two large and generic ads that target a very wide audience, go with multiple, smaller-range ads with a specific audience, such as those confined within a given city. Remember you only have a split second to make an impression, so make sure that your ads instantly communicate to your targeted audience that they are relevant to each viewer specifically.

Your ads are too text-heavy or bland: Make the most of your ad with, if possible, a striking image plus a few impossible-to-resist words. Make every word count. Calls to action are particularly potent. Also, ensure that your spelling and grammar are absolutely perfect.

Not realizing you need to link your ad to an event, a fan page, or a group on Facebook. As far as Facebook is concerned, the purpose of the ads is to promote and publicize. So even if it’s your own website that you want to promote, ensure that your ad directs people to your event, Facebook page or group for your website.

There are so many articles out there on how to choose the right SEO firm for your businesses’ online marketing efforts. Many of the articles are quite insightful and go into painstaking detail – describing some of the most important things to look for in an SEO company that will perform a high quality job for your business. But we thought it would be fun to introduce one simple trick that will help you increase the chances of your success exponentially. Simply put, just look for the people associated with the company. It can either be the founder, some employees – any person will do. Bonus points for those companies that actually include a picture of the individual. After all, SEO companies are a part of the digital age. But if you don’t find the name of at least someone associated with the business on the website, run for the hills.

It’s Simple – It Takes a Person to Trust

Of all industries, SEO professionals know quite a bit about how to optimize a website in order to increase conversions. One of the cornerstones to this process is building trust with the potential prospect. A lot of times, website owners will include awards, certifications, partnerships, case studies and testimonials, among other trust factors. These are all great signs. But there’s nothing quite like a Polaroid of the owner, employees, a founder, or someone else associated with the business. After all, a recent study showed that fake reviews and testimonials are rampant on the Web these days. Even awards that seem credible can actually be paid “awards” that are merely a clever attempt to garner trust. But actually placing a photo online or writing a biography of an individual associated with the business actually holds the individual to a certain level of accountability that can’t be matched by other trust factors.

An Image Means There’s Nothing to Hide

When doing business with someone, it’s almost impossible to imagine conducting business without knowing who you’re doing business with. In fact, this is such a common practice, that it almost begs the question, “if a company doesn’t put information about who’s behind the business, why aren’t they willing to share this information?” It could be a number of things, ranging from the actual location of the business (in a far off country), lack of employees (although many of us have started from very small beginnings), lack of experience or track record. But in other instances, it could signal something far less innocent, such as poor track record. Especially considering the importance of “branding” and “authorship”, SEO firms would be silly not to offer transparency. Even if there’s an innocent reason, it has a high probability of leaving a visitor with a funny feeling.

Okay – So This Isn’t Scientific Data…But…

Now, this isn’t to say that a company with team members plastered all over their website will do a fantastic job for your website’s SEO efforts. In fact, even the best of firms doesn’t perform perfectly all of the time. However, at least knowing who you’re dealing with and being able to look up information about team members and the company on the whole gives you an opportunity to see what they’re about, areas of the Web that they participate, their contributions to the internet community, and perhaps even a little bit about what others say about them. This not only helps give a little peace of mind, but also helps you get a feel for who they are and what they believe in – which is oftentimes forgotten when businesses make vendor selection decisions. So do yourself a favor – dig a little deeper when looking for an SEO company. If you’re investigating the SEO firm, verify the ownership and/or employees. If you’re qualifying firms based upon an SEO Directory or a matchmaking service, then make sure that referral service is transparent. While it isn’t the only thing you should consider, it’s an often overlooked tip that can help you steer clear of some definite trouble.

In an industry filled with companies that will do most anything to earn your dollar, it’s reasonable to heed the advice to only take what SEO companies say “with a grain of salt.” After all, the industry has earned itself a somewhat shaky reputation, in large part due to short-sighted practices, oftentimes exorbitant fees, and the all-too-familiar adherence to the “over-promise, under-deliver” philosophy of many companies. (If you don’t trust me, take a look at this recent survey) But on occasion, you’ll run into an ethical and honest company – and there are some great ones out there. These select internet marketing companies can be more than worth their weight in gold. Not only can they catapult your website to new heights, but they can also provide rather insightful advice that can positively impact your overall marketing strategy.

Recently, I had the pleasure of carrying on a conversation with just one of those types – the rare breed of SEO professionals that truly care more about the client than the money alone. And the words of wisdom that he passed on were simple but profound and largely divergent from the overall industry. He said simply, “if a business can’t afford to spend 12 months of funds on SEO services, then they just shouldn’t invest in SEO.”

Wait a Minute – An SEO Company Telling Me Not to Invest?

You heard it right. And this wasn’t a clever “take away” sales tactic, intended to make me feel as though he was taking away the sale, with the intent of prompting me to jump forward into partnership. Rather, he was being extremely sincere and honest – and for good reason.  Simply put – properly establishing expectations of an SEO partnership, including the funding available and the timeframe to completion of success metrics will make or break an SEO campaign. In fact, this simple philosophy has a profound impact on both the client and the SEO company alike.

SEO Costs and Timing Expectations from the Client Perspective

From the client’s perspective, the measure of success of an SEO service is largely dependent upon the increase in rankings, traffic, conversions, and sales that are generated as a result of an SEO campaign. Many times, potential SEO customers don’t have a true understanding of their chances of success, the length of time that is required, and the costs that will need to be incurred to achieve success. Compounding this problem is the simple truth that “3 to 6 month” has been thrown out there by so many SEO firms that it’s almost become a de facto expectation.

Reality, however, is much different. To truly achieve great and sustainable SEO results in the current environment, SEO companies are required to work even harder than ever before and the timeline to the finish line is oftentimes longer. What was once achieved by creating hordes of links, has now been replaced with targeted relationship building that takes time to nurture. What was once a “set it and forget it” mentality with regard to website content has evolved into a perpetual pipeline of multitudes of content, carefully crafted to address the specific needs of different target markets. It’s imperative for SEO companies to set the proper expectations for success with their prospects and clients – and the timeline and budget requirements are only increasing if sustained results that can outlast Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird and other future changes to come. While one year isn’t the end all answer, it’s a lot closer to the truth than many other companies would like you to think. Furthermore, companies can truly ponder whether or not they can sustain the investment of a year’s worth of SEO fees.

SEO Costs and Timing Expectations from the SEO Company’s Perspective

From an SEO company’s perspective, letting the client know that it will take an extended period of time to achieve success is a built in sales process to weed out potentially problematic clients. It’s completely understandable that many companies aren’t at the point in their evolution that they can be choosy about clients. However, deciding what constitutes a good client can save a lot of time and money in the long run. First, by setting proper timing and budget expectations, the SEO company will find out if the potential prospect has the appropriate budget to achieve success. In an industry where there have been so many companies that have quit at the one yard line, this is a very powerful piece of information. Second, by gauging timeframes and budget, the SEO company is actually learning more about the psychology of the potential client. Oftentimes, the clients that are extremely fixated on money and “how quickly they can get ranked” will be the most likely to quit prematurely. Similarly, the clients that have patience and some funding to endure the trials will most likely achieve success.

In a world where truth and ethical behavior are sometimes lacking, it’s time to set proper expectations. In doing so, everybody will be left in a better place.

How to Avoid Being Overwhelmed and Launch a Successful Campaign

As a small business owner, you’ve probably heard at least a hundred times about how important social media is for your business and that you should be using it to grow your company. But if you’re like many small business owners, you may not be taking advantage of this valuable resource because of a lack of time or a general paralysis due to not knowing how to use social media effectively. And most articles on the topic of small business social media can be overwhelming in and of themselves, because they fail to map out a simple, and easily understood game plan for those that don’t have a comfort level with all of the various social media platforms. It all just sounds too complicated – so perhaps you’ve simply ignored it.

But when viewed through a more general “marketing” lens, social media looks far less intimidating than at first glance. And by putting together a basic plan with attainable goals, you can not only conquer this sales and marketing channel, but also use it to your company’s advantage in growing your business.

The First Step is to Plan

Many businesses make the mistake of “jumping right in” with regard to social media. They create their social media accounts, start creating posts and connecting with other business. And then something happens – they get overwhelmed, which in many cases eventually leads to abandonment of the channel in full. Contrary to this more popular path of action, companies that successfully launch and run social media campaigns for the long haul usually put together a solid “plan of attack”. Take these first steps to determine who you’re trying to target and what medium is most appropriate:

• Who are my target prospects? The main key in determining your target prospects is to be as specific as possible. For example, if you’re a company that targets toy manufacturers and distributors, it’s not sufficient to simply target toy manufacturers in general. Drill in further by noting the types of toys manufacturers specifically that you’d like to target and, if possible, some examples of companies in that particular niche. This will help you not only find the best ways to reach these people and companies, but it will also guide you in creating content for them and engaging with them.
• What types of information is important to your target prospects? Now that you have a working list of the companies that you’re interested in doing business with, spend some time thinking about the types of information that is important to these prospects. Specifically, think about things from the context of what value you can provide them. For example, if your business is a warehouse software company, your prospects might be interested in trends within the warehouse industry in general, new products and techniques that will make their day to day operations easier, etc. The main key is to put yourself in your prospects shoes. What information would you want? And don’t be afraid to add some creativity into the mix – this will help you stand out from the crowd.
• Determine your goal of social media? Before you start doing any posting, it’s extremely important to determine your goals. And make sure that your goals are conservative. For example, your goal may be to add 100 contacts that are relevant to your business. Or you might have a goals to share an article per week. Never has the age old adage “quality over quantity” been more true than in social media. So keep in mind that more followers or more article sharing is better – getting in front of the right people and making meaningful contributions to their lives is what counts. One important point of note: schedule any action oriented goals, such as sharing an article or searching for brand mentions or engaging in conversions. By setting a specific time to these tasks, you’ll be more likely to stay on track.
• What social media platforms do your customers and prospects use and which of these is the most appropriate medium for speaking to them? Once you have a good idea of the types of prospects you’d like to target and the information that they would find useful, the next step is to determine which social media channels you should pursue. In a perfect world, you’d be able to invest some time in most channels, as there is value that each of the unique channels brings to the table. However, since you don’t have unlimited time and resources, and to keep things simple and streamlined, choose the channels that you think would bring you the greatest results, and then get your feet wet with it. To assist you with this decision, check out this article on “which demographics use social media” http://mashable.com/2013/04/12/social-media-demographic-breakdown/. Furthermore, the following articles provides some good resources for figuring out which social media platform to use for your business http://socialmediatoday.com/james-debono/827961/which-social-media-platform-right-your-business. Keep in mind that your prospects might be in places other than the main social media channels, so keep an open mind to other places that might be beneficial to explore.

It’s Time to Take Some Action

Now that you have a plan in place, it’s time to go out and get your feet wet. First, create your relevant profiles. For some social media channels, this may be both an employee as well as a company profile. Second, create your official social media schedule. Many companies have found it helpful to create a detailed schedule of all social media tasks with associated project owners for each task. Furthermore, it might be helpful to have a planning session each month to generate ideas about where to find your prospects, what types of content to produce for them, and other challenges that pertain to the monthly tasks ahead. Below is a couple of examples of the monthly tasks that you might implement:

1. Have a monthly brainstorm session
2. Search for potential prospects to connect with on the social media channel(s) of choice
3. Create content to be pushed through the social media channel(s)
4. Share your content on the social media channel(s)
5. Engage in meaningful conversations by searching for relevant discussion/groups/etc. and providing insights and feedback

One thing to consider with regard to content – quality content can take many forms. It can be an article, infographic, webinar, video, or many other types of content that you can come up with. Again, focus on high quality content that is valuable and relevant to your target audience, and they’ll be far more likely to read it, share it, and act upon it.

Last But Not Least – Monitor Your Success

One of the most often neglected tasks with regards to social media management is tracking the results of the implemented program. There are a number of software programs that will help you do this quite easily, such as Hootsuite. These programs track the number of times you’ve been mentioned and the increase in fans and followers, among other vital statistics. Furthermore, check your website analytics in order to see any corresponding traffic increases related to social media channels. By taking some time each month to monitor the results, you’ll be able to truly identify whether or not you’re making progress with this marketing method. Your time is valuable, so you want to make sure that you’re spending it wisely and getting a return on your investment.

The Ultimate SEO Checklist

Want to get your website ranking #1 in Google, so you attract more customers like clockwork?

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The Ultimate SEO Checklist was created by SEO expert Phil Frost of Main Street ROI. It’s a 5-page PDF document that summarizes the steps to get your website ranking at the top of Google.

Download your copy today and get 86 beginner and advanced SEO tips to boost your rankings, including:

* 3 common mistakes that prevent most businesses from ranking #1
* The 5 link-building strategies you should be using RIGHT NOW
* 2 “Google-approved” tactics to get FAST rankings (within 30 days)
* And 76 more tips to help you outrank your competitors in Google

Click here to get The Ultimate SEO Checklist

There has been a lot of talk lately about the changes being made at Google. SEO firms are scared and there’s a prominent fear that traditional SEO may at long last be dead. After all, Google is making the most significant changes it has ever made in its relatively short lifespan (even if it is naming these algorithm shifts under the premise of cuddly animals such as Panda and Penguin).

The reality is that SEO is not dead. In fact it isn’t even close to being finished.  However, the old form of SEO IS dead. The days of buying and exchanging links, spamming directories and using automated software is a thing of the past. The web is moving to a more social place and as such, it is more important than ever to build out a community around your product or service if you wish to effectively exceed your SEO ambitions and succeed online.

I’ve worked in online marketing for a decade and have never experienced changes as dramatic as what has happened in the last 12 months. I’ve worked directly for a major search engine (Bing.com) and currently run my own SEO agency that has managed and still manages to get our clients on the first page of Google in this current SEO climate. This post is dedicated to what we’re seeing in the SEO field and what is still working in a post Panda/Penguin world.

Let’s start out with the onsite piece of SEO. The first step to any good SEO campaign is finding the right search terms to target. Everything starts with the search terms because if you don’t have the right search terms that you’re focusing on, the rest of your efforts will be for nothing.  So make sure you select keywords that have high levels of search volume and that aren’t so competitive that it will take forever to improve your rankings. Once you know the terms that you’re looking to focus on, make sure that your HTML tags reflect this but most importantly, make sure you have content on your website that speaks to these specific terms. I can’t stress how important content is in modern day SEO.

Speaking of the importance of content in modern day SEO, that brings me to my recommendations on offsite optimization. These days, you can forget about endlessly setting up directory listings or exchanging links with hundreds of other sites to get your link count up. Content is king off the website as much as it is on the website. In order to effectively build incoming links, you need to become an authority in your space. You need to give away content and information to build trust and you need to provide information that is so valuable that everyone in your field is clamoring just to refer to the information you are sharing with the world. This is the new reality of the social web.

The likelihood is that you know quite a bit about your area of expertise but maybe a little less about how to build up a community that is really interested in what you have to say. Well luckily, we live in a world that has made this somewhat easy and I’m going to share some tricks of the trade in the post.

Press Releases

If you want to distribute some information about your organization that gets shared out organically, put together a press release and distribute it to www.prlog.org which is a free and easy to use resource for PR distribution.

News Coverage

If you want to get some news coverage for the great work you’re doing, then sign up for www.helpareporterout.com and find reporters that are actively looking to write stories about the very things you are currently working on.

Twitter Following

If you want to build up a huge base of twitter followers who are actively interested in the very areas you are writing about then sign up for www.tweetadder.com and generate a huge amount of interested twitter followers automatically.

Blogging

If you’re looking to get into blogging (which you definitely should if you’re trying to be a thought leader), then sign up for www.bloggerlinkup.com and find prominent bloggers that are actively looking for topics related to what you have to write about.

Forums

If you want to participate in forums and conversations related to your subject matter then sign up for www.boardreader.com and find forum conversations related to specific topics of interest to your business.

The new reality of SEO is that thought leaders will be significantly rewarded and the rest of the pack is going to have a really hard time sticking out from the crowd. So go forth and get the word out about what a great resource of information you can be in your industry. Once you build up that level of credibility and trust, there will be nothing to stop you from being the dominant player in your field.

This article is courtesy of Matt Davidson. Matt is a former Microsoft employee who worked on the Bing.com search team. After leaving Microsoft, Matt founded an SEO consulting firm called Sovo Media (www.sovomedia.com) and is in the process of publishing his first book on the topic of search engine optimization (www.stepbystepseobook.com).   

Ever wonder how SEO companies, the growing trend in online marketing, make their money?  Are you looking for a straight answer?

How do Search Engine Optimization companies charge?

• Some charge on a “pay-per-hit” basis, noting site visitor totals when they begin working on a site, then charging $X per visitor as site traffic increases.
• Others have charged by top rankings achieved.
• Some base their fees on how competitive your keywords are.
• Others offer “packages” of various sizes, each covering a range of services. Charging an hourly fee.

SEO charges can be deceptive.  Large SEO companies usually have large overhead costs and therefore pad your charges to cover those costs. Without guaranteed results, businesses will pour tons of money into approaches that they hope will work while basically ignoring the power of the search ranking. All clients should agree to any costs before entering in an agreement with an SEO firm.

Well planned strategic SEO will help achieve your goals and achieve a positive return on investment. When choosing an SEO company, focus on the results and match that to the price.  Compared to the cost of traditional advertising, search engine optimization is the most cost-effective marketing.  You can usually re-allocate misused advertising dollars and invest them in SEO. But take great care when comparing companies.

Monitor SEO Rankings -How To Hold Your SEO Company Accountable

Most companies that use an outsourced SEO company monitor their SEO rankings each month to see if progress has been made. In fact, this seems to be one of the few metrics that companies use to gauge the performance of their SEO firm. However, if you’re only looking at keyword rankings, you might miss out on some important factors that help you truly track the performance of your SEO campaign – and the overall performance of your SEO company. Don’t fall asleep at the wheel when it comes to monitoring your SEO firm…takes these steps to truly measure their results so that you can effectively “manage” them to success.

Step 1: Realize that Management is Necessary for Any Business Function

Would you ever just leave any of your employees to their own devices? Perhaps just let them send you a report one time a month? Most effective employers have formal mechanisms for measuring the results of their employees…and any outsourced providers should be help to the same standard – not the least of which are SEO firms. By checking in on key efforts and actions being taken, you gauge all of the steps being taken each month rather than just the end results.

Step 2: Monitoring Rankings Won’t Give You a Full Picture

Let’s face it…getting ranked on the first page of Google can take a long time if ever achieved for certain keywords. So if you’re only looking at the keyword rankings and see that no forward momentum is taking place, you may be apt to be disappointed with your firm, even though they may be doing a lot of great things to forward your business marketing efforts. While a lack of increase in rankings may be reason to question your SEO company, it’s not the best way of monitoring their success.

Step 3: The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease

Now, we’re not suggesting to be the perpetually complaint filled customer, but by following up with your SEO company throughout the month, you’ll be on their top of mind. We’ve found that one of the most crucial factors in getting results with SEO is consistent effort, and it’s easy for some SEO firms to “set it and forget it.” Check in with your provider throughout the month to see how things are going in order to keep the momentum moving forward.

Step 4: Know What to Monitor

Simply put, don’t just monitor SEO keyword rankings. You’ve got to take a full look at everything that they’re doing. And, yes, this is going to require that you start to have a level of understanding about SEO that gives you the necessary skills to talk with them intelligently. Would you ever manage one of your employees without knowing the full scope of their job functions? That would probably be a recipe for disaster. Similarly, you need to know some of the core things about SEO in order to hold your provider accountable. Some key things to look for:

• Relevant content that they’re creating for you each month
• Changes that they’re making to your site to help optimize it for SEO
• Content pushed and recruiting efforts engaged for social media channels if applicable
• The quality and relevancy of links targeted and acquired

By asking intelligent questions about these areas, you’ll get more and more knowledge about SEO in general, which will in turn help you not only hold them accountable better, but stay alert to new opportunities for SEO promotion going forward that you might have individually at your fingertips.