@ashnallawalla

Getting the most from your SEO AgencyPubcon Las Vegas 2013

“Well begun is half done”

by Ash NallawallaCEO, TrainSEM.com &

NTCA.edu.au

@ashnallawalla

Bio• SEO consultant, auditor – TrainSEM.com• SEO trainer – NTCA.edu.au (an RTO)• Clients = banks, telcos, SMBs, NGOs, SEO

agencies• Moderator – webmasterworld.com• Past SEO agency manager (2000+ clients)• Past in-house SEO – Sensis

(Yellowpages.com.au)• Email: ash@trainsem.com• Blog: www.netmagellan.com

@ashnallawalla

Choosing the right agency is half the battle

• SEO in 2013 is a lot different from 2012. Some agencies are stuck in the 2000s.

• Low price is a good indicator of likely disappointing results.

• High price isn’t a good indicator of likely good results.

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Typical sales pitch

• Focuses on rankings – “Page 1”• Focuses on keywords – 10, 20, 30

etc• Offers a recurring plan – 6 or 12

months• Sometimes offers a “guaranteed

page 1” – don’t waste time on them.

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Devil’s in the details

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A better offering?

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A key word is missing…

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The key word is?

• ROI – Return on investment, i.e. will you get what you expect at the end of the exercise?– More visits or better qualified (but

possibly fewer) visits?– More conversions (sales, downloads,

completed forms)?

@ashnallawalla

Choose the right agency

• Tell them why you need SEO help.– More conversions?– More traffic?– More revenue?

• Ask open questions – don’t coach them.• What are their credentials?• How many staff?• How many active clients?• Have they experience in your industry?

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Questions to ask

• What will their work involve?– Get past the “on page”, “off page”,

LSI/LSA mumbo jumbo.– What will be the steps of the whole

process?– How will they get links?– How will they get content?– How will they address server issues?– Can they quantify the monthly effort?

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Touch points

• Who is the point of contact at their end?

• Will you be talking to the person who does the actual work or will the work be outsourced?

• Will communication be via one or more channels – email, phone, in-person, or self-help via some portal?

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Links

• How will they get past the Penguin algorithm?

• Look out for red flags:– Anchor text in links? – how diverse– Where will links appear and how often?

• Blog comments?• Forum signature?• Article directories?• Blogger outreach?

• Will a list of such links be provided?• Do they mention “link earning”

tactics?

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Content

• How will they get past Panda?– Off-page content?

• Article spinning?• Micro sites?

– Creating or editing on-page content?• Title elements (tags)?• Meta description?• Meta keywords?• Images?• Body text?• Removing duplicate content?• Video or podcasts?

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Server issues

• How will they fix server issues?– Ask for examples of things they fix

(since you won’t know what’s broken)• Sitemap generation?• Robots.txt generation?• Compressing images?• Caching?

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Effort

• You need to understand how much effort (in hours) you are paying for?– Initial work – audit, recommendations,

implementation– Ongoing monthly work

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Bonus points

• Do they offer a project tracking portal?• Do they mention mobiles and tablets?• Do they mention social media

integration?• Do they address accessibility?

– WCAG 2.0 Level AA• Will they address HTML validation?

– Fix serious errors?• If a rebuild is involved:

– Do they address usability?– Will the site use a responsive design?

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Short-listed agency

• Ask to see the formal contract before committing.– Our obligations– Agency’s obligations– Our expectations– Agency’s “out clauses”– Our “out clauses”– Ownership of accounts, e.g. WMT, Google+

Local– Timeline– Reporting– What will “success” look like?– Mutual NDA

• Will past clients give a telephone reference?

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Onboarding

• Answer questions honestly during the on-boarding process. The more information they have about what your business has been doing in the space, the better.– Previous SEO work– All the domains you own– Relevant logins – server, analytics,

etc

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Some more tips

• Involve your staff and web designer from the beginning of the SEO relationship.

• Tell the agency if major content changes are coming.

• Give the agency what they need – without delay.

• Keep them honest.

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Download this preso

• Grab the PPT from: http://www.trainsem.com/pubcon/

• ash@trainsem.com• Thank you