Recognising A Good Digital Agency
You might have heard the terms ‘ethical’ and ‘white hat’ bandied around in your quest to find a digital agency. Ethical and white hat are synonyms for search engine optimisation techniques which are perceived to be honest and not attempts to cheat Google. Black hat techniques, on the other hand are quick shortcuts to good search engine rankings, which are dishonest and which Google perceives as cheating the system. If your digital agency employs such techniques then you run the risk of having your site blacklisted by Google. A cheap digital agency might seem a good idea, but chances are they’re using black hat methods, so it’s a false economy.
Some of the most common examples of black hate techniques include using link farms to buy hundreds of spammy links to your site, using doorway pages and keyword stuffing your site with hidden text that’s visible only to the Google bot. No ethical digital agency would use these techniques.
A Sensible Digital Agency Will Suggest All-Round Solutions
Your digital agency should be well experienced in making online success for their clients. They should therefore always be able to suggest an all-round approach to your web marketing. This might include on and offsite optimisation, PPC and social media.
A Reputable Digital Agency is Realistic
A good, honest digital agency will carry out extensive research into your market and the associated search terms. It will then advise honestly on what it feels is obtainable. This usually means starting small and introducing more, or more competitive keywords later on. If a digital agency promises to have you ranking for more than a handful of keywords from the off, it is not being realistic and you should be wary.
Steer clear of any digital agency that promises near-immediate results and which claims to guarantee you anything. Search engine optimisation is not a one-off. Rather it is an ongoing process that must be sustained. Furthermore, a good digital agency will not normally guarantee top spot Google rankings simply because they cannot be guaranteed. If your digital agency promises something which appears to good to be true then follow your instinct: it almost certainly will be.
9xb is an award winning digital agency specialising in web design, development and online marketing. If you're looking for help with your new online strategy why not get in touch on 01423 814 555?
