HWhat does a client do when they decide to seek help from an online marketing agency? Most often, they go to Google to find a suitable contractor. And in most cases, they end up on the website of one of the SEO agency ratings, where they choose a company to work with.
At the same time, not everyone knows that ratings do not always reflect the real picture. And if a company is in the TOP-10 of a certain list, this does not mean that it will perform the work 100% qualitatively.
What are SEO agency ratings?
Have you ever wondered what the purpose of “independent” ratings is? Do they want clients to receive quality services from the best companies in a particular field? Perhaps. But what benefit will the rating owner have?
In fact, most ratings are subsidiaries of the SEO agencies themselves. A large segment of the market is also occupied by companies that earn money through the affiliate program. That is, they receive a certain reward from SEO organizations that clients came to through recommendations.
Potential customers often cannot
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even imagine that rating indicators have nothing to do with the real picture on the market. Almost all places in the TOP are paid. This is a kind of advertising, which also gives good results, promoting a specific internet marketing agency.
It often happens that a truly worthy company is completely absent from the TOP list. The fact is that an agency that wants to be included in the rating must provide comprehensive information about:- prices for their services;
- clients (including contact details);
- ongoing and completed projects.
As a result, the possibility of commercial
secrets is completely eliminated. Potential competitors have access to the customer base and other important information. But can this be beneficial for a marketing agency that strives to be the best?
All this does not speak in favor of ratings. But there are also reliable international companies, the TOPs of which can be taken into account when choosing an organization for cooperation. is an excellent example.
Data that is taken into account when forming ratings
Any SEO agency can get into the top lines of the TOP based on the following data:
- financial turnover;
- number of clients;
- a set of simultaneously promoted sites;
- number of completed projects;
- customer and independent expert reviews;
- Domain Rating and IKS indicators of promoted sites.
It is difficult to make an objective assessment of the effectiveness of a particular organization based on this information. For example, the number of clients does not matter if they do not request services again. Much more important is the duration of cooperation with one company. And this criterion is not taken into account when compiling ratings.
Why the Number of a Company’s Clients Isn’t the Most Important Indicator
Let’s give a simple example. One SEO agency has been working with twenty organizations for more than three years. During the time of project management, it was possible to bring the companies to the TOP of search results and significantly increase sales. Another SEO agency cannot boast of such results. But in the rating you can see that during its existence the company has served more than three hundred clients. Obviously, the first agency works more efficiently and you will want to contact it for services first.
Promoted marketing companies that work with a large number of clients at the same time cannot pay enough attention to each one. Their work is put on stream. They have to do everything quickly in order to manage dozens of projects at the same time. As a result, the work is done really quickly, but not always qualitatively.
What about agencies that do not have a large number of clients? Such companies are fighting for their reputation, so they put high quality of services first. The expression “individual approach to everyone” takes on a special meaning for them.
The totality of visible promoted resources
This indicator should not be taken into account either. The fact is that search engine algorithms are constantly being improved. The top positions of a particular resource can change in just one day after an update. In addition, SEO promotion often shows stable results only in the long term. But if the work of the marketing agency was done correctly, the site will consolidate its high positions for many months and even years. And will the client who studies the rating data look at how long this or that site has been in the TOP of the search results? Most likely not.
And often companies turn to SEO agencies for services already having certain achievements. That is, they are already in the TOP of the search results. But this is not the merit of the company with which they are working now.
Marketing agency cash flow
Promotion costs depend on many factors, including:
- stage of development of a specific business;
- niche;
- geolocation;
- target audience;
- the goals that the customer sets for himself.
One project can cost hundreds of dollars, another – thousands. At the same time, both projects have a chance of success. Therefore, the financial turnover of an SEO agency has nothing to do with the quality of its work. In addition, many companies deliberately inflate the prices for their services. This is a simple marketing ploy. After all, many customers believe: the more expensive, the better quality.
Projects in progress
To be included in the SEO agency rating, it is not enough to simply indicate the names and number of active projects. You need to provide evidence that the company actually works with a specific client. This can be done using:
- placing a link to the SEO agency’s website on the resource of the company being promoted;
- provision of a cooperation agreement;
- placing a special code on the promoted website.
But difficulties may arise here. The contract is a commercial secret, which not all customers will agree to disclose. And putting the code on a how can Businesses personalize their emails? ready-made site is a difficult task, which can often be solved only at the stage of resource creation. Changing the code of a ready-made site is a costly procedure that cannot be justified.
Clutch: If you’re going to trust rating companies, trust the best ones!
Clutch.co is an American company that researches, evaluates and verifies services offered in the b2b sphere. The international rating allows organizations to create a profile, enter some directories according to the type of services offered, fill out information and receive recommendations.
With this system, recognition and ratings become very important: the goal is to provide meaningful information to potential clients and valuable advice to companies looking for IT services. Small, medium and large enterprises receive truthful information about outsourcing companies thanks to objective classification. In this way, Clutch.co helps business owners looking for alb directory technology partners to get impressions from clients who have already used a certain type of services (technology, design, marketing, etc.).