Tips On Hiring An E-Commerce SEO Firm

By Jason Hawkins on September 27, 2013

Being a business owner today is tougher than ever. Not only do you have to win your local market, but you have to compete with the global market. It is becoming increasingly necessary to market a business online, especially if you are in retail. Three out of five consumers admit that they check on the Internet before making a purchasing decision, and its no secret that a large portion of these individuals turn to the search engines as a source to find the products they want to buy. This proves how critical utilizing the Internet is for business owners of all sizes.


E-commerce SEO Companies

The Best eCommerce SEO Company

In order to effectively market online you need to spend the time to learn how it works, you must understand the intricacies of search marketing in order to compete with the best. Business owners must understand how consumers use the Internet to help make purchasing decisions so that they can present their products or services in the most optimal fashion through a process known as user experience optimization. In order to accurately and effectively market using the Internet, business owners should hire a dedicated professional in house or a company that specializes in search marketing. Most business owners do not have large enough operations or resources to hire a dedicated employee which will cost a minimum of $50,000. Therefore, many business owners are outsourcing their web marketing services to third party professional e-commerce SEO Firms.

Contracting an online marketing agency is an excellent idea for business owners who are looking to grow their business online. Business owners know more than most, that time is money so the longer you go without effective online marketing the more money you are missing out on making. Marketing on the Internet is not necessarily rocket science however, it takes time, consistency, dedication and funding. It also helps to have experience and knowledge of understanding how search engines operate if you plan to hire a Fort Lauderdale SEO company. When it comes to SEO, the worst thing a business owner could do is not hire the right eCommerce SEO company. Bad SEO work could end up costing a business a ton of money and even ruining its reputation.

The good news is that there are plenty of professional and experienced ecommerce seo companies out there, the bad new is that if you don’t spend the time to learn a thing or two about SEO then it will probably be hard for you to find a reputable agency. The following will discuss the best ways to find, identify and select the best e-commerce SEO company for your business.

 


SEO Sign Poster

How To Find The Right Team

First, you must locate a company with a good reputation and a proven track record. You can do this by asking other local business owners that are marketing effectively to recommend a marketing firm that they are using or one that they have used in the past. If don’t find anyone by asking around for a reference, then your search should be taken to the Internet. Good SEO Firm’s should be marketing their own businesses effectively by having a strong organic exposure and through many other online marketing strategies. A good Florida SEO company will also have a professionally designed website and a strong organic presence for competitive keywords. If you see a company with an outdated website that doesn’t rank for anything, chances are their SEO techniques are not effective. If the company you are prospecting with can’t even optimize their own website then it is obvious that they will not be able to optimize your site. Don’t let excuses fool you, if a sales representative tells you that they aren’t doing SEO for their own site because they get enough business through other means like word of mouth advertising then they are flat out lying to you. You would be considered a fool to believe that kind of joke. I have heard it from many SEO agencies that I have worked with in the past and from other agencies that have tried to solicit me, it is pathetic.

Once you have gathered a list of potential SEO companies that you feel are suitable candidates, you are going to want to research the background on each of them. The goal for this part of your research is to see which companies are reputable and fit your business needs. You want to find a business with sufficient resources and experience in the industry. SEO is an extremely competitive industry, and you must ensure that the company you hire keeps its services up to date with the dynamic changes the industry goes through on a regular basis. More crucially, you want to ensure that they company you hire uses post penguin seo services. Another way you can tell if a business is reputable is to search for its Better Business Bureau rating and other type of reputation/review sites. These type of ratings will give you a good idea of how well the business has treated its customers.

Making Your Decision.

Once you have shortened your list of candidates that have good reputation in the SEO industry, you can move to the next step. The next step will involve contacting each company. Here are a few questions you can ask about their services:

-Does your company outsource to different countries?
-Does your company use spamming techniques?
-Does your company use article marketing?
-Does your company study the SEO industry and make necessary changes?
-Do you adhere to Google’s regulations?

Once you have asked enough questions and found a company that you can comfortably trust, you are ready to talk about pricing. You may be wondering, “what is the average cost of SEO?” SEO companies may charge a great deal of money for their services, especially the ones that actually know what they are doing. There are many agencies that can be considered seo scams, this is due to the lack of knowledge that most business owners have when it comes to search marketing. It is a ignorance that is taken advantage of by many profit hungry scam artists. If yoyu are concerned about the company you are about to hire but you can’t find any negative reviews about them, you should try to see if they have changed their name recently. This is a common tactic that SEO businesses use on a regular basis, LLC’s are the most common type of fly by night search engine marketing companies because you can easily shut the business down and start a new one.

The amount of time that it takes them to effectively market your business should be documented by your SEO service provider. You’ll want to calculate how an increase of business will affect your bottom line from the efforts being put forth through professional ROI reporting through Google Analytics and Adwords. Once you have calculated what type of profits you could be earning, it is clear that hiring a search marketing company is worth it. Pricing should not be a primary factor in your decision making because of the variance between poor and good SEO companies, if a firm is able to track your ROI then there should be no limit to your budget.

Over 80% of all search engine marketing companies out there are straight up scams, that’s right SCAMS. A lot of companies are out to make as much money as possible with out caring about the well being of their customers success. They may use spamming techniques that do not adhere to Google’s new algorithms. These types of companies can end up ruining your site and even getting your website de-indexed. If this happens, it would be very harmful for your business. Therefore, it is important to take time and make the right decision. Otherwise, it can be extremely difficult or even impossible to fix the damage.

Below we will discuss a few reasons why business owners must adapt and hire an ecommerce SEO company

 

1. Changing consumer preferences: Online purchases have increased considerably in recent years. This is because of busy lifestyles, sociability and ease of use. Business owners should capitalize on the increased interest by marketing their businesses products or services effectively on the Internet.

2. Cost efficiency: Online marketing is one of the most cost efficient ways for a business to market its business. The cost’s that are associated with marketing/advertising online are minimal compared to traditional marketing/advertising.

3. Availability and Increased Sales: Having presence online, as a business owner, gives the business a 24/7 presence. Usually when the business closes, a business cannot make money until they open again. Now, a business owner can make a sale while the business is closed. This is because the Internet is open 24/7.

Clearly, the Internet is becoming essential for businesses of all sizes to adapt to. If a business owner fails to adapt to the technological changes then they risk losing a great deal of business to its competitors. Recently a study showed that small business owners ranked Internet as the number one method for marketing their business. The Internet is a great way for small business owners to even the playing field with the larger ones. If used effectively, the Internet can provide access to tons of customers around the world. This would never be possible through traditional and more expensive marketing strategies.



About The Author

Jason Hawkins
Jason Hawkins / http://www.themiamiseocompany.com

Jason Hawkins is the CEO & Co-Founder of The Miami SEO Company. He has over ten years of experience in search engine optimization, conversion rate optimization and lead generation. His core responsibilities include identifying ways to increase value of services rendered, training staff on advanced SEO topics, and A/B testing internal processes to consistently improve client return on investment.