SEO is only part of the story - are you comparing like for like when comparing SEM agencies?

Despite organic search being increasingly recognised as a cornerstone to B2B marketing, and just as importantly, the realization that an investment in professional input will pay dividends, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of mistakenly comparing chalk with cheese when it comes to implementation.

Chalk with cheese? But surely, once the obvious ethical differences between different agencies have been established – it obviously makes sense to steer well clear of so called “black hat’ agencies who can leave your positioning and credibility in tatters by underhand methodology and then leave you to pick up the pieces – isn’t all SEO/SEM broadly the same?

Well no it’s not, and even if it was, that’s not even the whole story. The really important point to consider in addition to what is proposed is the ongoing story of how SEM evolves and the involvement of agency you eventually decide to appoint.

Traditionally, most SEM agencies work on implementing a set of recommended enhancements to a site and then standing back to monitor them. This project based model all too quickly becomes outdated, and not just because some recommendations will need re-evaluating as results become clearer. Longer term, as a website evolves and new pages are added, it will need ongoing and continual support if any results initially gained are not to peter out.

Questions worth considering include what happens about the optimisation of new pages? Supposing the website undergoes a complete redesign? Will that require extra funding to start the whole process again with the subsequent risk of lost rankings and diminished results?

As with all marketing, it’s not just the planning and initial set-up, it’s the ongoing implementation that’s crucial to success of Search Engine Marketing.

And that’s what makes Vertical Leap such an appealing and commercially sound proposition. The Oneprice structure doesn’t just end with the initial optimisation of your website, it includes ongoing monitoring, support and recommendations.

A key member of the management team appointed to look after your site is a Campaign Delivery Manager (CDM) whose task is to continually check the ranking and more importantly the performance of your website measured in new business leads gleaned from the search engines.

The CDM will monitor progress and make recommendations based on experience and Apollo, Vertical Leap’s own propriiatory campaign management system.

With its reputation as the clearest and most powerful interface out there, Apollo can deliver a snapshot of progress through to detailed Analytics on a 24/7 basis.

And the service doesn’t end there. Other members of your team will be involved in a link building campaign to associate your website with other reputable sites with a view to building its popularity and stability.

It is by no means unusual for a Vertical Leap client site to feature literally hundreds of quality links. Yes, it’s a labour intensive and drawn out process, but it’s a crucial part of the ongoing campaign. Of course you will be kept up to date with a regular summary of the link building campaign and you will be able to see the increasing number of links made to your site, but again, as part of the pro-active service offered by Vertical Leap this is all carried out on your behalf, without you lifting a finger.

Fully Managed Search Engine Marketing from Vertical Leap is not simply one-off implementation, it’s a living, breathing entity that is dedicated to achieving you results in the form of new sales leads.
Remember, all Search Engine Marketing Agencies are NOT the same.