I had a really nice conversation with an On Target prospect this morning. He owns a very unique business here in Orlando and has gone through several SEO companies in town and is looking for a fresh perspective on his site, his analytics and his content strategy.
Turns out, he’s using a fairly new company in Orlando to ‘handle’ his SEO for him, paying them a decent amount and does get reports. He (the prospect) wanted me to take a gander at the reports and give my two cents. He explained to me that he’s not sure it’s moving the needle and to be fair, his business is unique and a transaction requires a human interaction, so he’s having a difficult time determining the real ROI of the SEO efforts.
We’re chit chatting, and I’m waiting on his reports that he’s forwarding over and then he asked me what we do. I explained that we are also an SEO company, but we take a completely different approach. Yes, we tweak things on-site, yes, we look at off-site optimization, yes, we perform the technical ‘stuff’ that needs to get done, but first and foremost, we look at how to keep your audience happy and hungry. He cut me off. “I’ve already got that covered.” I said, great, where’s the content located so I can take a look? “Oh, well my guy just tells me he wrote stuff and it get’s done.” So I asked if the SEO guy and the Content guy talk to each other. He answered “Nope, I don’t think they’ve ever met.”
I begin to dig deeper. Tell me about your website. Are you happy with it? It looks a bit dated. He agreed. I also pointed out that it’s not even close to being responsive and how Google may penalize the mobile search results because his site isn’t mobile friendly. He explained that he has a guy working on a new site and it should be responsive. I asked if the web guy had spoken to the content guy or the SEO guy. The answer again, no.
Our conversation shifted to paid search. And yes. He has a guy for that as well. I asked about landing pages and optimization, he has been told by his SEM / PPC guy that yes, we’ve got landing pages. And no, the SEM guy hasn’t talked to the content guy, the SEO guy OR the new web design guy.
We have 4 guys.
We Have a Mess.
This is a classic case of knowing just enough to be dangerous. A classic case of trying to save a few bucks by hiring the cheapest guy for the job in town. This is a dangerous scenario. No one is talking to each other, there is no long term plan and worst of all, some of the players have no idea what they are doing in general.
I took some time to review the SEO report that was submitted by his SEO guy. Seems that the SEO guy, (who, BTW, is also a computer genius since 1978) dabbles in social media and buying likes as well, but that’s another story for another blog. The report clearly shows the SEO guy submitting bogus reviews to 81 review sites (that you’ve never heard of or visited), submitted links for link building to over 200 NO NAME random sites, including healthcare sites, automotive sites, dodge-ball sites, etc. and several other questionable actions that Google isn’t down with. This is a recipe for a future Google disaster. In the prospects eyes, he’s getting his moneys worth. In reality, he’s paying someone who doesn’t have a clue and is ultimately going to hurt his SEO rankings rather than help them.
There is a huge advantage to bringing your digital marketing to one agency. We talk to each other. We know why we are writing specific content and for what keywords we are seeking to get found under, we know how to design a landing page that helps improve your Google quality score and speaks to your audience in one unified brand voice, we know how to adjust the web design, after paying attention to your analytics to impact the bounce rate We all talk, we are all on the same page, we are all working for one common goal. YOUR SUCCESS.
My Father Always Taught Me…
It doesn’t pay to be cheap.
Farming the various components of your digital marketing out to save a few bucks can and probably will ultimately cost you big bucks AND drive you crazy when you need to know what’s really going on with your campaign(s). Cheap is expensive.
The Bottom Line.
Hire a digital marketing agency that talks about strategy. How to move the needle. How to analyze the needle, how to create ‘stuff’ that people want to read, how to optimize your site so that it speaks to PEOPLE first, Google second. Hire an agency that wants to see you win, hire an agency that simply talks to each other.
If you need that agency, you’re half way there. Simply call us today to discuss your SEO, Content, SEM, Web Design and overall digital marketing strategy or fill out our contact form here>>.
Thanks for reading / sharing.
@TomJelneck
