Shopping for an eCommerce SEO agency is a bit tough, especially considering the fact that you can’t “try” the service before you use it. This makes these sorts of services different from traditional products.
But there are things you can do to help hedge some of the risks you need to face before you hire an agency partner.
These two tips, however, are among the most helpful and pointed bits of advice you can follow to help you find the best eCommerce SEO agency.
Search for It
It sounds like straightforward advice, but the search results can tell you much more about an eCommerce SEO agency than at first will meet the eye.
Think about it. What SEO companies are selling is SEO services that are designed to get websites to rank more favorably in the organic search results.
Consequently, while you can’t try their services before you buy them, you can sort of see what type of results they can produce without even calling them and asking.
Enter an organic search for “marketing strategies for eCommerce businesses” “eCommerce SEO strategies” “eCommerce website SEO services,” or even something more straightforward like “eCommerce SEO expert” or “digital marketing agency.”
See what populates the organic search results. Then pick one of the top eCommerce SEO companies, open their homepage, and look at what sorts of services they offer, specifically.
Do they offer local SEO services? Lead gen SEO services? On-page SEO services only? How about SEO audits?
Once you become familiar with what they offer, search for these terms in the organic search results.
If you don’t see a listing for their website, it means they’re not optimized well for that search term, which is a huge red flag.
If they can’t generate organic results for their own website, how are they going to be able to buoy your online store to the top of the page?
The truth is, this is about as effective as sampling their eCommerce SEO services before you buy them, and it is an excellent trick.
Check Third-Party Reviews
One other very helpful piece of advice we can offer you is to research the customer experience before calling the company, and certainly before signing on for anything.
Pause: this does not mean reading client testimonials and reviews on the SEO agency’s own eCommerce site.
You never know what the agency traded for those testimonials and reviews, and there is a lot of tit for tat in online sales, as you may know.
The bottom line is that testimonials, reviews, and referrals that appear on the website may be badly tainted by bias.
Instead, get your information elsewhere, from a (hopefully) more impartial source.
For instance, check out the company’s Google reviews or visit Clutch.
Another good source of information is the agency’s own social media channels. These should be active and there should be evidence of interaction with clients on them – which should obviously be favorable.
That said, you should give special attention to negative reviews as these are likely to be the most honest – and if there are none, be wary.
Bonus Tip: Go with an Established eCommerce SEO Agency
Finally, to make it easy on yourself, you can also start your search for a partner that is already generally accepted as one of the best eCommerce SEO agencies in the industry.
Check out 1DigitalⓇ Agency online at 1DigitalAgency.com. They are a full-service marketing agency that offers site audits, keyword research, and full-scale SEO projects, as well as PPC, supporting digital marketing services, and design and development.
Call them today at 888-982-8269 to develop a long-term plan to start driving more organic traffic to your product pages – with the goal of conversion.
