This post is brough to you by Blake Smith, a digital marketing expert who has helped all types of businesses around the world grow their business online since 2012.
If you’re considering hiring a search engine marketer, you need to ensure you hire the right one.
Every day, businesses websites are being penalised by search engines such as Google for trying to manipulate the search results via “black hat” SEO strategies.
The issue is bad enough to turn some business owners off a search engine marketing strategy altogether…
But all businesses should be utilising the power of search engine traffic!
Why?
- Search Engines outperform all other media in driving visitors to websites with 85% of Internet users citing search engines as the primary method to find websites.
- Traffic from search engines is the most valuable kind of traffic as it is comprised of qualified visitors actively looking for a product, service information or solution.
- Search engines work for you non-stop 24/7.
And what if I don’t do anything about SEO or PPC for my business?
Well… let me ask you a question.
When one of your potential customers conducts a query via a major search engine, only one of two outcomes is possible
- They will find your website
- They will find your competitor’s website.
Q. Which will it be?
A. The answer is entirely dependent upon your website’s visibility amongst the search engines. If your website is not performing well, every time the customer queries the keyword or phrase relevant to your website’s product or service offering, your company is losing potential business!
Here’s the cold hard facts about search marketing:
- 93% of users don’t look further than the first 2 pages of search results. It is basically impossible to succeed if you’re not found there?!
- 33% of those surveyed believe the top search results are an “authority” in their specific product/service category. This means SEM can help raise your online profile and build brand awareness.
- SEM delivers a greater Return On Investment (ROI) by generating more traffic to your website, qualified sales leads and customer acquisitions than any other marketing channel.
So what should I look for in a search marketing agency / consultant?
- Evidence of accountable results via regular campaign reporting. We are committed to achieving the highest ROI for our clients.
- Ask them to show you their research into search engine ranking criteria and algorithms gives you a competitive advantage in maximising your rankings
- Get case studies that show reduced cost of new client acquisition while at the same time increasing your brand awareness.
- Confirm their partnerships with search engine certifications from Google, Bing, etc
If you’re worried about whether your current SEO / SEM / PPC provider is doing a good job, get in touch with Blake at blakesmithy.com