Hiring a Search Marketing Agency — Why It’s a Decision That’s Solid Gold

Search marketing agency services that make your business dreams come true

Not only does a search marketing agency like WebFX offer all of the following services, but they can help you fine-tune your campaign to ensure that it works for your unique business.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

SEO is an umbrella term for a variety of smaller techniques that allow you to appear in search engine results for keywords that mean the most to your business.

Consider this, without SEO, you can spin your wheels for months and might never see your website on even the deepest pages of search results.

Not only does your brand suffer, but your business will fail to make sales — decreasing your overall revenue. When users can’t find you in Google — where 63,000 searches happen per second — they’ll find a competitor that does.

It’s crucial that you use a strategy like SEO to help you gain invaluable real estate in search results.

Here are a few ways that search marketing agencies will help you use SEO to your advantage:

• Keyword research

  Keyword research involves using tools like KeywordsFX to help you determine what keywords your target customers use to find the products and services you sell. Without keyword research, you won’t reach your target audience because you won’t speak in a language they understand.

• Title and meta description updates

  Your title tag is what users see when they find your website in search engines.

  Meanwhile, the meta description is — you guessed it — the description below.

  

  Both are crucial to earning clicks because they can show users that your content is just what they’re looking for. Not only that, but when you include your target keywords, they have ranking benefits as well.

• Content creation

  Content is one of the biggest and most essential components of great SEO.

  Without content, Google has nothing to rank in search results. Your content, of course, should use the keywords that you found during your keyword research phase and can take the shape of written content, infographics, or even videos.

• Internal linking

  Internal linking is essential to SEO for a few reasons.

  First, when you link to other pages on your website from your content, you keep users on your site for longer. This decreases bounce rate, which is a great signal for Google.

  Not only that but when you link to other site pages in your content, it makes it easier for Google to crawl and locate those pages on your site.

Local SEO

Similar to SEO, local SEO allows you to rank highly in search results if you’re a local business. Though the strategy is the same, your search marketing agency will likely target more location-based keywords so that local shoppers can find you when they’re in your area.

There are also some additional action items that your search marketing agency can take when optimizing your website for local SEO.

• Claim your business on GMB

  GMB, or Google My Business, is one of the best ways for users to find your local business in Google.

  When you claim your business on the platform, it provides users with a pull card of information that makes it easier for them to find and visit your company.

  For example, when your claimed business shows up in search, the card will provide information including your hours of operation, your address, customer rankings, and more.

  When your search marketing agency claims and optimizes your business on GMB, it gives you top-notch, first-page real estate in search results, which helps you get more site traffic and more visitors to your brick-and-mortar location.

• Locally optimized keywords

  Similar to SEO, keywords are a huge part of local SEO.

  When you work with a search engine marketing agency, they’ll help you cultivate a list of locally optimized keywords that help you target users in your geographical area.

  For example, instead of using keywords like “hibachi steakhouse,” your SEM agency will help you find keyword opportunities like “hibachi steakhouse in Harrisburg,” so that you can target your local audience.

• Citation management

  Citation management is a massive part of local SEO that your search marketing agency can help you manage.

  There are tons of citation sites like Apple Maps, Facebook for business, Yelp, and Bing that can bring a ton of local traffic to your brick and mortar location.

  When you work with an SEM agency, they can help you ensure that your citations are consistent across platforms and that they’re optimized to increase traffic.

Paid advertising

Paid advertising, often known as PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, is another excellent way to ensure your website shows up in search engine results pages.

It’s an extremely cost-effective strategy that goes live as soon as you set up your ads, and helps to create real results, real fast. Typically, you’ll have to wait a few months for SEO to start producing results, but with PPC, you don’t have to wait more than a day!

Paid advertising works on a bidding system and involves keyword research like SEO. You’ll want to have a good idea of the keywords that your target audience is interested in so that you know which keywords to bid on.

You’ll start by choosing your top keywords and placing a bid for how much you’re willing to pay every time someone clicks your ad. If you win the auction, your ad will go live in Google search results, and you can watch the clicks pour in.

How to choose the right search marketing agency for your business

With so many search marketing agencies out there, you might feel overwhelmed at the thought of selecting one for your business. After all, how do you know who will drive results?

Research is key, and we recommend that you do a lot of it before deciding on your SEM agency.

Here are a few things you should look into as you’re researching search engine marketing firms:

1. Have they worked with your industry before?

You may not think it’s important, but working with an SEM agency that has worked in your industry before can give you a huge leg up. When they’re familiar with your market at the start, they’ll have the knowledge to help steer you in the right direction as far as goals and strategy.

Since they have experience with your industry, they’ll also know how to drive specific results, who your competition is, and what strategies work the best.

2. Have they been in business for over a decade?

A decade seems like a long time to be in business — and it is.

That’s why we recommend finding a search engine marketing agency that’s been in business for over 10 years.

In those 10 years, they’ve likely been able to establish themselves in the marketing industry, outrank their competition, and serve tons of happy customers. There’s a reason they’re still driving results after 10 years, and it’s because they drove amazing results since their start.

3. Do they fit your budget?

Budget is an integral part of hiring — you should set a budget when you start the search for a search marketing agency and stick to it.

There is an SEM agency for every budget, and you should hold out until you find the right one. If you find an agency that charges drastically less for their services, it’s essential to keep in mind that you get what you pay for.

Although some firms might be more expensive than others, it’s likely because they can drive real results.

4. Do they rank well themselves?

The best SEM agencies will practice what they preach. If they show up highly in search results on Google, it’s a good bet they can provide the same results for you.

If you find that an agency doesn’t show up high in search results, or anywhere in Google, it’s time to keep looking. You want to find an agency that practices what they preach to prove that they can drive real results for your business.

Start your marketing journey with a leading search marketing agency like WebFX

At WebFX, we’re a full-service digital marketing company that’s been in business for over a decade. We serve clients in a wide variety of industries, from farming to restaurants.

We’ve been able to drive over $1.5 billion in revenue for our clients in the past five years, and we don’t plan on slowing down any time soon.

If you want to work with a search marketing agency that values your goals, works with your business like they’re family, and implements strategies that work, WebFX is for you.

Did we mention that we offer more than just SEO and PPC? We also provide the following services:

• Social media marketing
• Email marketing
• Video production
• Content marketing
• Amazon marketing
• Custom infographic creation
• Geofencing advertising
• Voice search optimization
• Page speed optimization
• Website design and redesign
• And more!

If you’re ready to get started, contact us online for a free quote or give us a call at 888-601-5359!