ForumsInternet/eCommerce

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an ongoing process, not a 'do it and it's done' task to be paid for and checked off. The real question is - are they (your marketing people) providing a return on investment to you. Are you getting sales?! (rhetorical). Traffic is nice, sales are better.

Would you rather have 1000 visitors, and 2 sales or 100 visitors and 5 sales (just to make a point)...??

The fact that they are starting with the home page is a little worrisome - I would target the products pages, which are more likely a source of search - are potential clients looking for you or the stuff you make? Each product page has a chance to rank for key phrases related to that product, which is a far more likely search request. Your home page is nice to optimize, or at least make look good, but people are probably not all coming in through the front door, if your product pages are set up correctly for SEO.

If you are having doubts, then you should examine why - do you feel you are being overcharged? or they are not listening? or they're moving on the wrong things? Or you just don't understand what you've signed up for (that's OK - make them explain it until you do!) If they're obfuscating (blah blah techno blah), then I'd rethink, or reach out to a different firm, ask them for a quote and compare apples (and answers).

I looked at the website (soaps etc).

There are many many problems I see (as a professional webdev person) with the website. (sorry).

Do you want me to send you a private email detailing what I am seeing, or just post here. I am trying to be respectful.

Let me point out one big issue (random): your soap page (all soaps) has a lot of unoptimized product photos for those small thumbnails. What should be 5K file sizes are coming in from 50K to 100K each, and the page takes some time to load, where it could be almost blink-fast if properly setup. If that's too geeky, I can break it down further.

Mike

Hi, Bethany -

As a business owner, be sure that you are setting very clear marketing objectives, and that you are getting an equally clear commitment from your web marketing firm to meet those objectives by a specific point in time.

Also keep in mind that web design, web development, and web marketing are not the same thing. To offer an analogy, if a girl is pretty and wears fashionable clothes, that's "design." If she is also a nice person and interesting to talk to, that's "development." If she is out with friends or on a date (as opposed to sitting at home feeling sad and lonely), that's "marketing." Design and development are rarely worth the investment if they're not wholly aligned with the marketing plan. On the other hand, good marketing can overcome a lot of design flaws and development shortcomings. Obviously, you want the whole package if possible -- good design, development, and marketing -- and the marketing plan comes first. (Just as where you're going and how you'll get there dictates what you wear and how you act, your business goals should dictate your website's design and development criteria.)

Best wishes!

Hello Bethany,

Marketing is worth it depending on the budget you have and how good is the marketing company. Try to measure the Return on Investment (ROI), measure the sales variations over time before, while you are with them, and after you are done with them.

Sometime spending money to index better on search engine is not lucrative because its a long process, so here the budget is key! if you run with a low budget dont spend a dollar on SEO.. it just wont work, it takes MONTHS!! (we are a web design and marketing company)

So if you run on a low budget... they should focus on getting sales to reinvest in the short term.

Best!

Juan