BlogSearch Engine Optimization (SEO)

What CMOs Should Expect From SEO Company

By Riya Arora
November 7, 2017

As a CMO, if you feel that your business is growing at a relatively slow pace, and the ROI is not as high as you had anticipated, then it’s obvious that you have to take the appropriate measures to handle this situation. You may have decided to prioritize SEO, and redirect a considerable amount of your funds for that purpose. After making the initial improvements yourself, you might find out that while you have the budget, you simply don’t have enough time to strategize and execute a proper SEO plan. Hence, you’ll consider outsourcing SEO services to a dedicated and professional SEO team. This leads to you finalizing an SEO company and finishing signing the dotted line with the agency. Now, you may have a question in mind as to what’s next, and as a CMO you really want to make sure that you have made the correct decision. You would also want to know how this SEO company works, and stay up-to-date about the current trends in the online world. Be informed about the Best SEO Techniques to Rank #1 in Search Engines. So, here are a few points that every CMO must take note of and expect from every SEO company so that they always keep you informed about how the company is performing online:

1. Provide a Brand Brief to the SEO Agency

After you have finalized an SEO services agency to look after your company’s online marketing, you should conduct an introductory meeting with their team, either in person, conference call or via video. This is to give them an introductory brief about your brand and introduce them to the other employees of your organisation. In this meeting, you will be introduced to the account manager and other employees of the team. This meeting would provide then with the opportunity to ask you additional questions about your business, marketing, and SEO goals. It would also enable them to outline their method of working and clarify their remuneration policies. This also includes laying down their expectations while working with them. While the company clarifies what you can expect from them, you need to ensure they have properly understood what your expectations are from them. Let them clarify things you do not know about, such as billing cycles and time allotment. It is also important to remember that the sales team you previously worked with were probably giving you generalities and some likely strategies which would work for the company. Once your team gets a chance to have a closer look at your website, they may have some different suggestions and strategies regarding internet marketing. The initial meeting also provides a great opportunity to reconcile the differences between what the sales representatives of the SEO company suggested and what your own in-house marketing specialists have suggested is the best solution. This provides an excellent opportunity for you to ask additional questions or express any concerns that you may have thought of. Make sure to list out these questions, and also make sure that all of these questions get answered.

2. Initial website SEO audit

The first thing a professional SEO company should do is to perform an initial SEO audit of your site. If you have a Google Analytics account, then your newly hired SEO team would seldom use it, since they would likely bring their additional tools and software with them to diagnose the SEO health of your site. The time it takes for them to finish the audit and declare the result will depend upon the size and complexity of your site. For example, a website with many pages will take much longer than a website with just a few pages. Someone from your SEO team would call to discuss the results of the audit. This person should be the person directly managing your account. He or she would clearly explain their observations, suggestions and lay out the next steps that need to be taken. The more interactive the call, the better it is. Depending upon the contract you have with the company, you should ideally get an e-mail with the account manager’s notes. Step-by-step directions on how to implement these changes should also be expected from the team. However, if you have given adequate website access to your team, then they can directly implement the changes for you.

3. Regular communications and check-ins

A good, reliable and professional SEO team won’t just give you a list of “to-do’s” based on their website audit observations and findings. Your account manager should always be available to answer any questions that you may have. Your SEO team should give you regular reports about all the metrics of SEO. Throughout your contract, your account manager will let you know if there is something wrong with any metric, what are the issues with it and how can they be resolved. He or she will also work with their team to troubleshoot any issues that may come up.

Conclusion

You will come to know that you have made the right choice if the company is willing to speak to you clearly about their strategies, regularly conducts SEO audits and always keeps you informed about the outcomes of implementing those strategies. SEO is not a short-term profit, but a long-term investment, which has to show results. Hence, give time to your team so that they can provide you with the desired results.

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