When selecting and working with a search agency, sometimes it can be hard to know if that deal really is too good to be true. After having been called in a number of times to audit other SEO agencies work, I offered to speak on how to choose an agency well the first time. I also thought it would be helpful to cover how to survive the coming zombie apocalypse as the session was the last one on the last day :-)

1. How To Choose An Agency
And avoid the coming zombie apocalypse

2. Who Am I?
 I do work at an agency (but I am not a zombie)
 Got on the Internet in 1986 at my school lab
 Working online with search since 1996
 Paid & Natural Search – all aspects
 Worked in-house within e-Commerce, Publishing & High Tech
 At i-level worked with Orange, COI, NatWest/RBS, National Gallery,
CIPD, Fidelity, GalaCoral, NBC Universal, Readers Digest, Bayer &
more
 At Beyond have worked with Virgin Trains, Family Search,
Amadeus, AMD, AmEx & more
 Chosen as a founding Modern Muse, contributed to a book on
promoting websites, top finalist “Female Social Media Guru” (not
yet awarded)
 One of the SEO Chicks
...and I blog at MostlyAboutChocolate.com

3. How to Start...
http://www.buyzombie.com/2007/06/12/zombie-clothing/zombie-shirts/zombie-pwnage-t-shirt/

4. How to Start...
 Establish what your goals are
 What level of help do you need
 How much do you know about search
 What is your budget and is the ROI worth it
 What level of competition is there
 Are your goals realistic given your budget
 Is there an internal champion for the work?
 Co-ordination between all agencies is a must

5. Guarantees – We Haz Sum
Credit: Declan McCullagh

6. Guarantees – We Haz Sum
 No guarantees possible in natural search
 No “special relationship” possible for most
search engines esp. Google
 Paid search can cost more than expected
 Paid Placement in Yahoo not a guarantee
 Social media exposure and fans no
guarantee of conversion
 Yes, the DDA is important

7. What *IS* Possible Then?
www.zombieportraits.com

8. What *IS* Possible Then?
 Adjusting on-site elements
 Keyword analysis/research
 Technical audit
 Competitor/Gap/SWOT analysis
 etc
 Link building through on-site baiting,
competitions, advertorials/advertising, etc.
 Analytics-based intelligence & adjustments
 Lots... Just not special secret relationships

9. Link Farms
http://www.macworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=400446&expand=false http://www.flickr.com/photos/fifikins/4719789589/

10. Link Farms
 Links built on farms are artificial
 Built too quickly results in penalty
 Profiling results in penalty
 Wrong kind of link results in a penalty
 This kind of building requires an extremely
expert hand – look for recommendations
from people already using service (i.e.
LinkFish existing customers)

11. Expectations
http://io9.com/5080787/harold-and-kumar-director-takes-a-bite-out-of-corporate-zombies

12. Expectations
 What the agency might do
 What reports you can expect
 Link-buying issues
 Analytics
 Analysis
 Link analysis & reports – what you can do
to check

13. How To Check An Agency Out
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44124466908@N01/3971755099/
NewMediaAge

14. How To Check An Agency Out
 Paid Search? Member of IAB, Google AdWords
certification
 No official SEO industry body but do have SEMPO
membership (voluntary)
 Check search results on name & social media on
name
 Companies House in the UK, other business
registration services through government
elsewhere
 Due diligence
 Professional Indemnity Insurance
 Non-disclosure agreements
 Ask: Number of years in business, company
turnover, staff levels, staff split, awards, etc

15. How To Check An Agency Out
 Case Studies
 Public visibility of staff
 Question methodology – not always possible to be
transparent but lots
 Things like level of reporting
 Client levels – do they have lots or few & are any
long-term
 Escape clause – make sure you have one
 Input – if it is a retainer establish exactly what you
are getting for your money
 Excellent resource from the IAB -
http://www.iabuk.net/media/images/IABSearchAg
encySelectionChecklist-UK-Final_2956.pdf

16. What Can I do If They Screw
Up?
http://zombietools.net/

17. What Can I do If They Screw
Up?
 How have they done so
 Can it be specifically traced to a change
they made and
 Can it be rolled back and if so does it fix the
“penalty”?
 If not, and it is traced to a specific change
they made, and you can prove it, that’s
what PI insurance is for
 Fraud = police involvement

18. But Remember...
http://newmediapop.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/zombie.jpg

19. QUESTIONS?

20. Judith Lewis
Head of Search
Beyond
Judith.Lewis@bynd.com
Twitter.com/JudithLewis
www.bynd.com
www.SEO-Chicks.com
MostlyAboutChocolate.com