There is an abundance of agencies out there ready, willing and able to help your business grow online. But how do you know which will be the best option for you? With the amount of companies that claim to be an internet marketing agency, you can easily get overwhelmed and confused. The important thing is to remember that not all agencies are created equal. Here are some tried and true guidelines that you ought to use before signing onto the dotted line with any agency.

If the claim that the agency has been around for a while seems a little bit excessive, consider whether or not the clientele has changed. It is likely that the vast majority of internet marketing agencies have been around for a while but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are still relevant today. A new clientele can quickly take an agency off the internet marketing map. A good way to determine this is by checking out the clientele of any popular agency. Check out industry blogs and websites and see what kinds of clients they might have hired in the past.
The next thing to ask yourself is how specialized is the agency? This is a particularly important question to ask when you are interviewing potential candidates for your business. If you happen to be in need of only specific kinds of services, such as search engine optimization or social media management, then you will need to focus on those kinds of agencies in your quest for the perfect agency.
One thing to keep in mind is that marketing agencies may specialize in certain types of work. An SEO agency, for instance, may only offer SEO consulting services. However, an SEO consultant may also specialize in Internet marketing, thereby expanding the range of services they can provide to their clients. Be sure to ask the hiring agency how many different kinds of services they offer, especially if you have a particular focus in mind.
It will also be important for you to make sure the agency you hire has previous experience with SEO in your industry. You’ll want someone who has been successful in turning around businesses before. You’ll also want someone with at least five years of experience, preferably seven. This ensures they know what they’re doing and won’t be too inexperienced to handle the constant changes that occur in an ever-changing Internet marketing landscape.
Once you’ve established a list of prospective agencies, you can start contacting them and asking about the kind of services they offer. Each will likely be different, but at the very least you should be able to speak to someone who will take you seriously. Ask them for references. Ask them about their success ratio with their clients. And finally, talk to a couple of people from the agency to see who they get along with the best.