When you have your initial appointment with a SEO company, you will most likely be focusing on how the company performs and what it values. The SEO company has the same questions for your own business. The best business-to-client relationship involves a mutual understanding of what the parties expect from each other. In order to achieve this relationship, a SEO company may have some particular lingering questions in mind. Providing the company with the right answers and valuable information can help improve your marketing experience.
Your Business Goals
Many business owners have a knee-jerk reaction to this question. They provide a response like “I just enjoy doing this” or “I want to make money.” While opening a business out of your passion is great, when you begin marketing you need a clearly defined goal. A goal helps your SEO company develop a plan for your next several months of digital marketing.
Determining if you are a contractor who specializes in kitchens or a contractor that specializes in patios can make all the difference. Are you expecting an aggressive marketing plan? What marketing channels interest you? For more lead-based businesses, are you looking to take on any job that contacts you or do you only want high paying leads? Where do you see your own business a year from now, or 5 five years from now? These are some of the more common questions a marketing company may ask.
Target Audience
Your target audience is the group of potential customers who are most likely to seek your product or service. Naturally, your SEO company will want to know who you believe makes up your target audience, or who you want to be the target of your marketing efforts. Each audience requires a unique campaign theme, look, design, and message.
Past Advertising Experience
Marketing for a company is much like exercising: everyone has their own unique setup that’s right for them. Although plenty of testimonials exist as to the usefulness of services like Google Adwords or Facebook ads, that doesn’t mean they apply to everybody. An SEO company wants to know what has and has not worked for you in the past. When the company learns what did not work, they may want to find out why. For example, one reason why content marketing may not have worked out before was due to poor communication from the past company.
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he financial results of past advertising companies are not the only factor. A good marketing company wants to make sure they are on the same page as their client. If there is something that you as a business owner ended up hating or were not comfortable with from a previous partner’s campaign, that is something you should mention. Likewise, you should talk about anything you liked in the past or got a positive return from. Chances are you can improve the return on investment from those campaigns.
Analyzing past advertising experience also means looking at what happened outside of the digital space. Learning what results you have gotten from past discount promotions or television ads can help lead an SEO to better target your best customers.
Your Competitors
When setting up a plan for your business’s marketing campaign, your SEO company may want to do research on how your local competitors are carrying out their own marketing. If you are in a rural location, you may find that maybe only one business is working on its digital marketing. This is a huge benefit to you! On the other hand, if you live in a big city or populated suburb, the competition can be fierce. Your SEO company will look at what keywords and tools are relevant for your own area. If you have any particular insight as to who the biggest competitors are in your area, sharing that information will be a huge help when taking the next steps forward.
No matter who you speak with, anyone who is dedicated to improving your business will have the above topics as some of their first questions. When meeting with an SEO company for an interview, come prepared with the above information so you can set clear expectations.
Still looking for an SEO company that fits what you’re looking for? The experts at Market My Market have experience with content creation, link building, and optimization. We provide businesses with high-quality service to increase their digital presence. Contact us at (800) 954-9441 to receive a free quote and learn how we can help your business’ digital marketing efforts.