Running a business can often feel isolating, as the owner bears the weight of making crucial decisions alone. I've encountered numerous business owners who struggle with navigating the path to growth and finding the right support. It's common for them to turn to marketing agencies for assistance, hoping to revamp their website or launch Google ads. Unfortunately, not all agencies have their best interests at heart; some are merely scams. To help you make an informed choice, I've outlined several objective methods for evaluating marketing agencies.
- View information in schema and structured data
- Use Lighthouse to inspect agencies and portfolios
- Willingness to learn how about your business
Realistic expectations for marketing
While many industry professionals advise clients to review portfolios and ratings, let's face it: most business owners simply don't have the time to meticulously comb through every portfolio, schedule discovery calls with each agency, and engage in lengthy discussions. Moreover, portfolios can be deceiving, and testimonials and ratings can be manipulated. What's more, many owners may not even know what questions to ask or how to discern genuine expertise from empty promises. Allow me to cut through the noise and lay out the unvarnished truth:
- No SEO strategy can guarantee immediate conversions, especially within a short timeframe like a month.
- Bulk-purchasing backlinks does not work. Penalizing in the long run.
- While AI-generated content isn't inherently bad, it requires significant ongoing maintenance to remain effective.
Inspect technical skill
Inspecting technical skills is crucial, as many believe having an impressive website suffices, but numerous technical optimizations are essential to ensure search engines effectively retrieve your content. Beyond the glossy surface of their portfolio, it's imperative to scrutinize their technical abilities. Schema markup, also known as structured data, entails adding code to webpages to enhance search engine comprehension. A stellar website will boast unique schema for each page, encompassing vital information like:
- Website
- Web page
- Organization
- App
- Service
- Keywords
- Potential Action
- Local store
Utilize tools like Google's Rich Result Test and schema validator to evaluate an agency's schema markup. Input their website URL and examine the data they've incorporated. You can compare it against schema from reputable sites like the New York Times for benchmarking.
Assess their schema markups meticulously. Gauge the extent of information provided, encompassing organization name, title, description, and keywords. Certain search engines, such as Baidu in China, still heavily rely on keywords. Additionally, scrutinize the image file formats of logos and thumbnails. SVG and WebP are optimal choices as next-generation formats, while JPEG or PNG may impede page loading. Inadequate schema and outdated image formats signal a lack of attention to detail and suggest the agency may not optimize your website effectively.
Inspect optimization and SEO skills
Inspecting optimization and SEO skills is essential for ensuring your website performs well in search engine rankings. Fortunately, you can leverage Google's free tool, Lighthouse, to evaluate these aspects. Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool developed by Google primarily for developers, but it's accessible to anyone for auditing SEO and web optimization scores.
When using Lighthouse, pay attention to metrics such as loading speed, mobile responsiveness, and overall performance. While some websites may boast flashy graphics, they could hinder loading speeds, impacting user experience and SEO rankings.
Keep in mind that mobile loading speeds may be slightly slower than desktop, but significant discrepancies could indicate optimization issues. Websites built with themes and plugins tend to be slower than custom-made ones, but this doesn't necessarily reflect poor quality; it simply suggests potential areas for optimization.
For those without a web development background, here are some key points to consider when inspecting websites using Google's Lighthouse:
- Loading Speed: Aim for fast loading times, especially on mobile devices, as slower speeds can lead to higher bounce rates and lower search engine rankings.
- Mobile Responsiveness: Ensure the website is optimized for various screen sizes and devices, as mobile-friendly designs are crucial for SEO.
- Performance Metrics: Look for high scores in areas like performance, accessibility, best practices, and SEO within the Lighthouse report.
- User Experience: Assess factors such as navigation ease, readability, and overall aesthetics to gauge user satisfaction.
Finding a responsible agency
Finding a responsible agency that truly adds value to your business is paramount. Unlike run-of-the-mill agencies that simply ask for a budget without understanding your business's unique value propositions, a great agency delves deep into market research, product analysis, and conversion data to grasp the underlying challenges your business faces.
To drive growth effectively, it's essential for an agency to possess technical skill sets and automation capabilities. This allows for unconventional lead generation methods, such as:
- Scraping contacts from specific websites and initiating direct outreach.
- Segmenting local databases to gain insights into local businesses.
- Collecting prospects' contact information through various content channels like ebooks, articles, or pamphlets.
- Scraping emails using specific tags and keywords on relevant platforms.
Unfortunately, some large marketing agencies prioritize working with big brands and hefty budgets, neglecting the needs of smaller businesses. For businesses with annual revenues under 20 million, it's crucial to focus on practical methods to reach prospects efficiently with automation.
In today's era, integrating AI technologies into your workflow is inevitable for staying competitive. Businesses that fail to leverage AI may face significant disadvantages against their competitors. Therefore, it's essential to explore AI automation for marketing and consider hiring talents skilled in AI technologies to stay ahead in 2024 and beyond.
