Unless you have been in a cave for the last 10 years, you understand that you cannot market any business today without leveraging the Internet. There is a multitude of options when it comes to internet marketing including:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Paid Google Ads – PPC
- Facebook Advertising
- Social Remarketing
- Google Remarketing
- and a thousand variations of each of the above.
Most business owners understand that if they want their advertising spend to not go to waste, they need to hire a professional digital marketing firm. Since the government shutdown is over, we expect real estate to be ferocious in 2019
Check Your Websites SEO
Unfortunately, one of the biggest scams on the internet is people claiming to “get you on the first page of Google” for $99 per month.
Digital Marketing is the use of the web to get your business in front of a targeted group of people.
Choosing The Right Digital Marketing Company
Choosing a reputable internet marketing agency can be a trying process. It’s easy to get taken advantage of. Many unsuspecting business owners get burned when they move forward with one of those bad actors who claim to get you on the first page of Google for $99 per month.
Learning how to choose an SEO Agency can save you time, energy and a ton of money. Hiring the right SEO company should improve your websites’ visibility in search engines and ultimately provide a return on investmenthttps://t.co/VQtZuYlkAU
— Dean (@DEAN_Knows_Tech) February 26, 2019
What makes things even worse is that since organic ranking of a website takes time, sometimes upwards of over 12 months, a lot of time and money can be wasted before you recognize that you have been duped.
All search engine optimization strategies should be custom designed for your industry and business goals. There is never a “one size fits all” SEO strategy
Search Engine Optimization has to be professionally researched, well planned and technically executed. Each SEO strategy should be implemented according to the unique business needs and the industry.
— Dean (@DEAN_Knows_Tech) February 26, 2019
Digital Marketing can be extremely complicated. If you speak with the most reputable SEO agencies, you will find out that they spend an enormous amount of resources on SEO tools and staying up to date. It has been said that Google updates its algorithm 200 times per year. To stay abreast of the changes in ranking factors requires someone who is dedicated to their craft.
True SEO experts spend enormous resources on research, development, testing, case studies, marketing trends, understanding Google’s best practices, and emerging technologies.
Asking the right questions can assist you in making sure that you are dealing with a reputable SEO firm.
- Ask how long they have been in business
- See if they are listed with the Better Business Bureau
- Does their website rank organically on Google?
- Get a list of their current clients and find out their rankings
Since fraudulent online reviews is a common Black Hat SEO tactic, we recommend being cautious when leaning on reviews to prove an online marketing agencies validity.
It can be hard to tell the difference between a reputable SEO agency and a fraud.https://t.co/AtArr1H54P
— Dean (@DEAN_Knows_Tech) February 26, 2019
Google Penalizes Bad Actors
Not only will a fraudulent SEO agency waste your valuable time and money, but they can cause irreparable damage to your brand and business. If the SEO guru you have hired is using unscrupulous SEO tactics – known as Black Hat SEO – you may find that Google penalizes your website by pushing it further down in the rankings. In the worst of cases, they may even “deindex” your website, which means that you are not able to be found at all.
Choosing a bad SEO agency can also harm your brand and cause damages to your business by having your website to get deindexed. In some circles, this type of SEO is called Black Hat SEO.
— Dean (@DEAN_Knows_Tech) February 26, 2019
Black Hat SEO Tactics
Black hat SEO tactics are maneuvers that are implemented that fall outside of the stated Google guidelines. This may include:
- Keyword Stuffing
- Automatic Link Generation
- Links from Private Blog Networks or PBNs
- Spinning Copy as Opposed to Original Copy
- Hacking Other Sites to Inject Links
- Mass 301 Redirects
Issues from black-hat SEO can take years and tons of money to correct and can crush a small business. These bad actors in digital marketing follow unethical practices that violate search engine guidelines in manipulating results.
— Dean (@DEAN_Knows_Tech) February 26, 2019
Once you find good candidates, the selection process will follow. Check the company’s ability to rank a website, to target the right keywords, to measure success based on goals, and then assess the quality of SEO work and strategy.https://t.co/VQtZuYlkAU
— Dean (@DEAN_Knows_Tech) February 26, 2019
The Tools of an SEO Agency
Find out what digital marketing tools the prospective agency uses. Some of the most common SEO tools are:
- SEMrush
- MOZ Pro
- Ahrefs
- Screaming Frog
- Cora
- Google Search Console (free)
- Google Analytics (free)
- Serpstat
- Sitebulb
- Majestic
There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of tools used by a reputable SEO agency. The type and quality of SEO tool can provide valuable insight into how a digital marketing company operates. Are they only using free tools? Have they invested heavily in tools and reporting?
— Dean (@DEAN_Knows_Tech) February 26, 2019
Conclusion
At the end of the day, the Digital Marketing Agency that you choose is an ultra-important decision for the success of your business. Unfortunately, since most business owners are novices (at best) when it comes to the world of search engine optimization, it can be easy to be taken advantage of. Be careful and do your own due diligence.