It can be difficult to know what questions to ask when looking for a search engine marketing agency. There are numerous agencies available, and the outcomes and costs can vary greatly. Furthermore, if you’re looking for an SEM agency, there’s a good chance you lack search marketing experience and expertise, making it difficult to distinguish between the good and bad agencies.
It is worthwhile to conduct research in order to find an agency that can provide a genuine return on investment. Before enlisting the services of any SEM agency, ask the three questions listed below.
Does the agency place a premium on transparency?
Some SEM firms create a frustrating veil of mystery around the work they do for your business. They may silo your data so that you cannot access it unless you go through them. Worse, they may manipulate reporting to present a more favorable picture of results. All of these strategies have the same goal: to make an agency appear indispensable to your business or to hold your data hostage.
If you value transparency, as you should, ask prospective SEM agencies if you’ll have direct access to your keywords, campaigns, and reports. Indeed, request that they show you a sample client report and walk you through their process.
What is the pricing strategy of the agency?
Many paid search agencies charge on a per-spend basis, which means that their fee is determined by how much you spend on PPC search engine marketing. Because your service charges scale with your paid search spends, this model can be problematic. Look for an SEM agency that offers flat, hourly, or performance-based pricing if you have a lean structure.
Does the agency provide genuine value?
Consider whether the SEM agency in question will go above and beyond what you can do yourself. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a foregone conclusion. Find out what the agency does besides reporting results to you, and what they provide that you can’t do in-house. An agency is only worth paying a premium if it can provide results that go above and beyond what you can achieve on your own.
There is one more question you should consider before addressing any of the above issues.
Do You Put the Horse Before the Cart?
You should probably consider why you’re looking for an agency in the first place.
If you’re a small business with limited resources looking to maximize ROI on SEM without breaking the bank, you might be surprised to learn you don’t need an agency. If you have the time to devote to search engine marketing, the right SEM software may be all you need to achieve excellent results at a fraction of the cost. SEM allows you to save money while also leveraging your extensive market knowledge to drive traffic and conversions.
The 20-Minute PPC Work Week: This guided, prescriptive workflow enables busy business owners and non-experts to manage their PPC accounts quickly and easily by following Ranging from business Advisor’s intuitive, intelligent recommendations based on the performance of their account.
Relevance: Proper keyword grouping and organization are essential for creating more relevant ad groups, ads, and landing pages, which increases your Quality Score.
Productivity: Ranging from business Advisor uses automation strategically to help you get more done in less time while still maintaining control over your marketing efforts.
Value: A more productive marketing team and improved PPC campaign results without increasing your spending levels provide real value and real ROI for SMBs.
With all of these features (and a low monthly price point), you may find that you don’t need to hire an SEM agency.
Ranging from business Managed Services: Leave it to the Experts
Even the most dedicated search marketer has a limited number of hours in the day. Although Ranging from business Advisor can help you manage your PPC campaigns in as little as 20 minutes per week, there are times when you need a little extra assistance. This is where rankzoid Managed Services team can help.
The Managed Services team at Common sense media is made up of PPC experts with years of experience. These paid search experts can handle every aspect of your PPC campaigns, freeing up your valuable time to focus on what really matters – taking care of your customers and growing your business. You don’t have to do anything with Managed Services; simply tell us what you want to achieve, and we’ll work tirelessly to make it happen.
After collaborating with you to identify the major challenges you’ve encountered with PPC, our Managed Services team will get to work on achieving the goals you’ve set, whether it’s increasing search volumes or lowering your average CPC. You’ll receive regular reports and updates highlighting the work done in your account, as well as summaries of how your Managed Services representative’s actions have had a positive impact on your campaigns.
Every single one of our Managed Services PPC professionals is fully Google AdWords and Bing Ads certified, so you can relax knowing that your account is being managed by PPC experts with years of experience. We’ve saved our clients millions of dollars, and we can help you meet your paid search objectives as well.
