HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY Massimo Burgio SEMPO Board of Directors, SEMPO Global / Europe SEM 2008 WARSAW – MAY 2008 A TO Z CHECKLIST

Chris Boggs, SEMPO Board of Directors (2004, remixed) SEMPO Learning Center Google Desktop application SEM 2008 / IDG / IAB Poland HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY – CREDITS & KUDOS

Chris Boggs, SEMPO Board of Directors (2004, remixed)

SEMPO Learning Center

Google Desktop application

SEM 2008 / IDG / IAB Poland

HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST algorithm is the heart of SEO work, and constantly changes ensure ongoing maintenance is a part of any SEO deal A ALGORITHM

algorithm is the heart of SEO work, and constantly changes

ensure ongoing maintenance is a part of any SEO deal

what’s your company’s business model? B2B? B2C? B2C2C? adopt the power of blogs to help your search engine relevancy make sure your SEO Company understands the nature of your business model B BUSINESS BLOGS HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

what’s your company’s business model? B2B? B2C? B2C2C?

adopt the power of blogs to help your search engine relevancy

make sure your SEO Company understands the nature of your business model

make sure you are not getting “boxed services”, but tailored to your business environment always keep an eye on competition, ask your agency regular competitive reports as Caesar said: “keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer C COMPETITION HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

make sure you are not getting “boxed services”, but tailored to your business environment

always keep an eye on competition, ask your agency regular competitive reports

as Caesar said: “keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer

don’t accept proposal that rely on easy tricks that can get you banned think of what’s beyond the doorway as searchers enter your site D DOORWAYS HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

don’t accept proposal that rely on easy tricks that can get you banned

think of what’s beyond the doorway as searchers enter your site

ethics in methodology check agency profile via search try to implement an e-shelf strategy on SERP “ if it looks and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck” E ETHICS EXPERTISE E-SHELF HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

ethics in methodology

check agency profile via search

try to implement an e-shelf strategy on SERP

“ if it looks and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck”

still using frames? still using a flash splash-page? skip that! you might need to redesign entirely your website if built with frames or entirely in flash, no matter what the agency says F FRAMES FLASH HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

still using frames?

still using a flash splash-page?

skip that!

you might need to redesign entirely your website if built with frames or entirely in flash, no matter what the agency says

agency should prioritize Google rankings use all the resources available at Google Webmaster Central “ I’ve seen the future: you were not included in it” don’t forget that the majority of searches occur within the Google network G GOOGLE HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

agency should prioritize Google rankings

use all the resources available at Google Webmaster Central

“ I’ve seen the future: you were not included in it”

don’t forget that the majority of searches occur within the Google network

don’t translate or localize, try to approach international targeting through cultural adaptation efforts rely on local hosting and domain names when targeting internationally H1/H2 tags still matter! not all search agencies are qualified to help with foreign language market segments H HISPANIC HOSTING H1/H2 TAGS HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

don’t translate or localize, try to approach international targeting through cultural adaptation efforts

rely on local hosting and domain names when targeting internationally

H1/H2 tags still matter!

not all search agencies are qualified to help with foreign language market segments

search agencies are companies that should understand in full internet dynamics all your users are on the internet, no matter which demographic or social segment your search marketing agency should suggest to integrate your search strategies within your overall online (and offline) activities and marketing mix the Internet as a marketplace and a branding platform is here to stay I INTERNET INTEGRATION HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

search agencies are companies that should understand in full internet dynamics

all your users are on the internet, no matter which demographic or social segment

your search marketing agency should suggest to integrate your search strategies within your overall online (and offline) activities and marketing mix

the Internet as a marketplace and a branding platform is here to stay

good search agencies should be able to move JavaScript in a part of the code where it won’t impede search engine robots to do their job JavaScript can be bad, but not deadly, to search engine positioning J JAVASCRIPT HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

good search agencies should be able to move JavaScript in a part of the code where it won’t impede search engine robots to do their job

JavaScript can be bad, but not deadly, to search engine positioning

forget about high-level keywords that “guarantee” rankings adopt a deep keyword analysis, and deploy a consistent keyword strategy ask your search agency to “think long tail” a search agency should give you a list for approval of keywords to target after seeing your initial list and analyzing your site and market K KEYWORDS HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

forget about high-level keywords that “guarantee” rankings

adopt a deep keyword analysis, and deploy a consistent keyword strategy

ask your search agency to “think long tail”

a search agency should give you a list for approval of keywords to target after seeing your initial list and analyzing your site and market

discuss link strategy with your agency the only good links are to and from sites relevant to your industry avoid “link farms” and affiliate linking, when cluttered optimize landing pages (both for search ranking and conversion), not only the home page link farms are bad and can actually hurt your link popularity L LINKS LANDING PAGES HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

discuss link strategy with your agency

the only good links are to and from sites relevant to your industry

avoid “link farms” and affiliate linking, when cluttered

optimize landing pages (both for search ranking and conversion), not only the home page

link farms are bad and can actually hurt your link popularity

title tag still important for ranking description still relevant to users a search agency should create META content that is unique to each of your pages to be optimized M META TAGS HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

title tag still important for ranking

description still relevant to users

a search agency should create META content that is unique to each of your pages to be optimized

usability comes first, for both users and search engine crawlers site maps are paramount google sitemaps is bliss all of your main theme pages should be easy to navigate-to from any other main page within the site. You should have a Site Map N NAVIGATION HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

usability comes first, for both users and search engine crawlers

site maps are paramount

google sitemaps is bliss

all of your main theme pages should be easy to navigate-to from any other main page within the site. You should have a Site Map

SEO = ROC = MAO ask your search agency to deploy an e-shelf strategy for your core strategic keywords use online press release distribution (with tags and RSS) to maximize your organic listings provide the proper relevant content, improve your traffic and linking, and you will appear within the organic listings O ORGANIC ONLINE PR HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

SEO = ROC = MAO

ask your search agency to deploy an e-shelf strategy for your core strategic keywords

use online press release distribution (with tags and RSS) to maximize your organic listings

provide the proper relevant content, improve your traffic and linking, and you will appear within the organic listings

PageRank is dead, viva PageRank! integrate a paid search strategy (PPC) to your organic SEO strategy for maximum reach / effectiveness learn the new 4 Ps of online marketing to avoid stress: Passion Patience Proactivity Perseverance - make sure your search agency adopted them too! note that PageRank is only one part of the overall algorithm used by Google to rank sites: content and popularity make up the other parts P PAGERANK PAID SEARCH 4Ps HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

PageRank is dead, viva PageRank!

integrate a paid search strategy (PPC) to your organic SEO strategy for maximum reach / effectiveness

learn the new 4 Ps of online marketing to avoid stress: Passion Patience Proactivity Perseverance - make sure your search agency adopted them too!

note that PageRank is only one part of the overall algorithm used by Google to rank sites: content and popularity make up the other parts

check out agency references and proof of work quality of work vs. quality of relationship make sure your paid search campaign are not impacted by previous negative quality score make sure that the money that you are investing in outsourcing SEO will provide predictable results Q QUALITY QUALITY SCORE HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

check out agency references and proof of work

quality of work vs. quality of relationship

make sure your paid search campaign are not impacted by previous negative quality score

make sure that the money that you are investing in outsourcing SEO will provide predictable results

good search agencies will provide you with rankings report within the top search engines for your targeted keywords ask also for linking reports don’t forget competitive reports try to read the reports, and use them to assess and re-plan your strategy and operations search marketing = highest ROI in the history of direct response maximize your content distribution through optimized RSS feeds regularly requesting your search agency updated reports R REPORTING ROI RSS HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

good search agencies will provide you with rankings report within the top search engines for your targeted keywords

ask also for linking reports

don’t forget competitive reports

try to read the reports, and use them to assess and re-plan your strategy and operations

search marketing = highest ROI in the history of direct response

maximize your content distribution through optimized RSS feeds

regularly requesting your search agency updated reports

avoid agencies proposing “easy” spam techniques (cloaking, excessive keyword density, hidden text, …) to rank in search engines Did you try SEMPO’s member directory and RFP section of sempo.org? pimp up your e-shelf (and boost your SEO) with relevant social media results help the internet get better: engage in social search ensure that your search agency doesn’t use these methods, unless you don’t care that your site may be penalized after initial success S SPAM SEMPO SOCIAL MEDIA HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

avoid agencies proposing “easy” spam techniques (cloaking, excessive keyword density, hidden text, …) to rank in search engines

Did you try SEMPO’s member directory and RFP section of sempo.org?

pimp up your e-shelf (and boost your SEO) with relevant social media results

help the internet get better: engage in social search

ensure that your search agency doesn’t use these methods, unless you don’t care that your site may be penalized after initial success

good SEO results take time, and so does a paid search campaign constantly optimized if you are in a rush, use paid search and online PR test all your efforts with alternative SEO strategies, landing page testing, and always test new channels (RSS feeds, social media, video content?) after testing, test again if you are in a hurry, buy listings through methods other than SEO T TIMING TESTING HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

good SEO results take time, and so does a paid search campaign constantly optimized

if you are in a rush, use paid search and online PR

test all your efforts with alternative SEO strategies, landing page testing, and always test new channels (RSS feeds, social media, video content?)

after testing, test again

if you are in a hurry, buy listings through methods other than SEO

focus on users, not on search engines users don’t navigate or search only within search engines engage with users before thinking sales – listen to users on and off site remember that users are in control of your reputation through the power of blogs and social media universal search feeds on social media don’t lose focus: website are for searchers not search engines U USERS POWER UNIVERSAL SEARCH HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

focus on users, not on search engines

users don’t navigate or search only within search engines

engage with users before thinking sales – listen to users on and off site

remember that users are in control of your reputation through the power of blogs and social media

universal search feeds on social media

don’t lose focus: website are for searchers not search engines

look outside the bottle - ask your search agency to perform a consistent keyword and competitive research help the agency help you by sharing full insight on your business, business language, and business strategies always remember that the online scenario changes often, don’t get stuck on a vision! adopt online video strategy as part of your SEO strategy SEO is an iterative process V VISION VIDEO HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

look outside the bottle - ask your search agency to perform a consistent keyword and competitive research

help the agency help you by sharing full insight on your business, business language, and business strategies

always remember that the online scenario changes often, don’t get stuck on a vision!

adopt online video strategy as part of your SEO strategy

SEO is an iterative process

What You See Is What You Get try to figure out who is the search agency who sent you a quote: search them on Google! web analytics should be offered by your search marketing agency – ask them also to help you understand data, not only to send you reports! if you cannot find anything about a search agency on the web and they provide no solid references: buyer beware W WYSIWYG WEB ANALYTICS HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

What You See Is What You Get

try to figure out who is the search agency who sent you a quote: search them on Google!

web analytics should be offered by your search marketing agency – ask them also to help you understand data, not only to send you reports!

if you cannot find anything about a search agency on the web and they provide no solid references: buyer beware

factors that affects the selection of a search agency: local company, pricing structure, contractual terms, legal and resource capabilities, reputation, … factors that affect client/agency relations: lack of communication client/agency, lack of resources, lack of understanding the nature of the work, lack of professionalism factors that affect search performance: bad SEO choices, bad content, google dance, blog power use common sense and analysis as opposed to emotions when choosing your search marketing agency X X-FACTOR HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

factors that affects the selection of a search agency: local company, pricing structure, contractual terms, legal and resource capabilities, reputation, …

factors that affect client/agency relations: lack of communication client/agency, lack of resources, lack of understanding the nature of the work, lack of professionalism

factors that affect search performance: bad SEO choices, bad content, google dance, blog power

use common sense and analysis as opposed to emotions when choosing your search marketing agency

google rules, but don’t forget Yahoo! is around same as for MSN, NetSprint, Seznam, and local integrate power of content, services and social media into your search strategy perform SEO first, then submit your website for inclusion within the directory. Many search agencies will do this for you and build the cost into their SEO price Y YAHOO! HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

google rules, but don’t forget Yahoo! is around

same as for MSN, NetSprint, Seznam, and local

integrate power of content, services and social media into your search strategy

perform SEO first, then submit your website for inclusion within the directory. Many search agencies will do this for you and build the cost into their SEO price

engage within the blogosphere and social media space for max search engine effectiveness, brand exposure, and user interaction increase relevancy and search penetration through optimized social media assets and buzz about it adopt social bookmarking and use news sites to distribute your optimized press releases adopt, optimize and distribute RSS feeds as our French friends would say: au-revoir! Z ZE END BUZZ HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SEARCH MARKETING AGENCY - A TO Z CHECKLIST

engage within the blogosphere and social media space for max search engine effectiveness, brand exposure, and user interaction

increase relevancy and search penetration through optimized social media assets and buzz about it

adopt social bookmarking and use news sites to distribute your optimized press releases

adopt, optimize and distribute RSS feeds

as our French friends would say: au-revoir!

THANK YOU! MASSIMO BURGIO [email_address] SEMPO Board of Directors, SEMPO Global / Europe www. sempo.org www. sempoglobalsearchblog.com