This blog post is sponsored by DesignRush!
Front9 Agency is proud to partner with this great B2B Marketplace that helps connect businesses with verified companies. Visit their website to learn more about their many great partners, including how to save on SEO optimization costs.
There are many digital marketing agencies offering website design services. However, a wonderfully designed website isn't enough to move the needle anymore. You need an all-encompassing strategy...and you may have heard the term "online presence". In this great post by Interactive Pallete, an online presence is defined as: "the collective existence of a company or individual that can be found online via an online search". That online search should also include social media.
In addition to your company website, a true online presence includes:
Social media that includes at least Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & YouTube
SMM (social media marketing - paid advertising on various social media platforms)
SEO (that is evaluated monthly)
SEM (search engine marketing that includes Google Adwords/Adsense)
An easy to use content management system (i.e. - a system that allows you to login and make basic website image and text changes.
Content syndication (expand your company's reach by quickly make content available across the web on other websites)
Multiple ways to capture and convert leads (online forms, chatbots, viral contests, etc.)
Ecommerce (online store & promotion - if your business sells goods and services online)
Add-ons that don't fit a category: video testimonials, video marketing, monthly blogging, Google My Business Management, and more!
Sounds like a lot, right? So, how do you choose the right company to create an online presence for you or your business?
In this post, we'll take you through your options and help you make the right decision for your business. We are ranking these in order of importance starting with THE most important factor.
1) Who is / Who are the principal(s) of the company you are considering? Get to know them. Make sure you know, like and trust them. Our company was founded by an online marketing expert who has been working in the industry since 1995. He has created websites for every industry imaginable, helped grow a boutique hospitality website design firm from a startup to an industry leader for nearly 2 decades of his career, and he created Front9 Agency to capitalize on offerings that almost every digital agency was missing. Offerings that should be in every online presence. It's important to feel you're choosing a true online online marketing partner that is invested in your success. Whether it's a small digital agency or a large online marketing company. There has to be a fit.
2) Does the company you're working with offer work on retainer -or- do they quote based on design and development costs and monthly maintenance? It's really about choosing what you're most comfortable with for your business. There's no right or wrong answer, but usually, on the retainer model, agencies can begin immediate work on your project because you are committing to a larger monthly payment to get the work started immediately. Just make sure all the goals within the retainer are clearly outlined so you're getting the most bang for your buck.
You can also choose to go with an initial development fee and a monthly fee for website design and development. This simply means the company you work with will outline a time frame for completion and you usually pay the development fee to get started. They should provide milestones across the project and have an idea on turn-around time for your chosen work. Again, it's about determining the comfort level for you and/or your business.
3) Do they offer a wide array of options? In the introduction to this post, we outlined the essentials for a true online presence. For instance, you may be offered design and development packages that are suitable for standard e-commerce stores with social media management and marketing on 2 platforms. Whatever the case, reference the list above when choosing the company to work with. If something is missing that your business will (or could) need, chances are you may be choosing the wrong company.
4) What is their plan for social media? Social Media Marketing (SMM) is defined by Investopedia as: "the use of social media and social networks to market a company’s products and services. Social media marketing provides companies with a way to engage with existing customers and reach new ones while allowing them to promote their desired culture, mission, or tone. Social media marketing has purpose-built data analytics tools that allow marketers to track the success of their efforts." That's a great definition and analytics is the key. What good is a social media marketing campaign that can't be measured. If you're choosing a company to manage your online presence and they don't offer analytics to measure a social media campaign's effectiveness, find another provider.
5) This is an intangible, but it was mentioned earlier. It's also a blunt question: Do you really trust that the company you're considering is invested in your online presence? How well do they understand your industry? Are they doing research on your competition? They should be able to provide reporting right from the start that measures your current marketing initiatives against at least 3 competitors. It's a great way to gauge just what you can expect from your investment in an online presence for your business.
In conclusion, it's not easy to choose a company to create an online presence for your business, but we hope the points above help make the decision a little less painless. We'd also love for you to consider Front9 Agency as your partner to create your online presence - simply because everything mentioned above are action items that we put into practice for every client project.
We'd love to work with you.
Schedule your meeting right now:
This blog post is sponsored by DesignRush!
Front9 Agency is proud to partner with this great B2B Marketplace that helps connect businesses with verified companies. Visit their website to learn more about their many great partners, including how to save on SEO optimization costs.