Running a business has a lot of challenges that come with it, and one of them is undoubtedly how you attract new customers, especially if you are in a competitive marketplace. Often it feels like you’ve reached a slump and can’t possibly grow any more without some kind of outside investment, but there are other tactics you can try.
The internet is where most businesses attract new customers these days, so you need to make sure your business has a web presence. Not only does this presence need to be well managed, it needs to constantly innovate in order to stay ahead of competitors doing the same thing.
To accomplish all of this, you really need to hire a professional SEO company. This kind of outside consultancy firm will be able to audit your web presence, and then help you optimise it so that you can attract the maximum number of new customers.
Let’s take a look at some signs you will benefit from hiring an SEO company:
1. You are not on page 1 of Google results
The first major signs that you could benefit from hiring a digital marketing agency is if your business is struggling to get clicks because it’s hidden beneath your competitors in Google search results. Google is the #1 search engine in the world, so the most clicks you are ever going to get will be from this platform, so you want to be on page 1 when people search for things that you sell.
This is because, for most purchases, people rarely go past the first page of results, since they will probably find a good offer in just a few clicks. Even if you have an objectively better deal, most customers don’t want to spend a long time searching and generally trust the businesses on the first page more, and you need a digital marketing agency to help you get there.
While some people might find your site and buy from you when you are on page 2 or 3, the number is going to be significantly less than if you were on the first page. In fact, the top 3 or 4 positions on the first page are the most coveted, since most people won’t even scroll down before they find a relevant result.
2. Your website is slow and has a high bounce rate
If you don’t know, a bounce rate is the measurement of how quickly people leave your website after clicking on it. A high bounce rate suggests there is something wrong with your website that is causing people to leave as quickly as they arrived.
This can be caused by a large range of factors, such as the quality of the graphics on your site, or simply slow loading speed. A website that looks and functions like it was made in 1991 isn’t going to be trusted or enjoyed by anyone using the internet today.
This is really important to get right, since no amount of SEO is going to convince people to buy from a bad website. Getting lots of clicks is pointless if those clicks don’t result in sales or inquiries for your business, and this is why a digital marketing agency will
3. You have gotten some kind of penalty from Google
If you have gotten a penalty from Google for breaking one of their guidelines, then it’s a sign you need to help of a digital marketing agency to get you back on track. It can be easy to make a mistake and be labelled as a spammy domain by Google if you aren’t carefully, which is why you should rely on professionals to take care of this for you.
There you have it, 3 signs you should probably hire a digital marketing agency.
Tina Johnson helped bring The Marketing Folks from a-weekly newsletter to a full-fledged news site by creating a new website and branding. She continues to assist in keeping the site responsive and well organized for the readers. As a contributor to The Marketing Folks, Tara mainly covers industry new.
