Search Engine Marketing Agencies

[robertt]

Anybody know of a good company to use for pay per click advertising? I paid $2000 for a setup two months ago, and it took them 4 weeks to complete it. Now I find out through the my change history that they haven't done anything in a month. Is this normal?

[Marcia]

Was there a timeframe specified in your agreement with them?

[Broadway]

Anybody know of a good company to use for pay per click advertising? I paid $2000 for a setup two months ago, and it took them 4 weeks to complete it. Now I find out through the my change history that they haven't done anything in a month. Is this normal?

Dear Robertt,
If there was a time frame mentioned, then it has to be followed by in any condition.

[Marcia]

robertt, if they haven't done anything, how could they be "finished?"

If they can't document what they've done to satisfaction, take steps to get a refund from them, and investigate other possibilities. It's impossible to recommend a particular service provider without knowing what your overall needs and goals are, and in addition to that, we can't have people soliciting for business here in the forums, either by individuals or companies for themselves, or by their "friends." I personally have an idea of who I'd use if I had need of services, and who I'd consider recommending, but I don't say because I question the wisdom of setting such a precedent.

We have some steady regulars (and moderators) who are pros, who frequent the PPC/Adwords forums here at SEW Forums and have posted regularly for quite a while, some of whom are among the best in the business - and there's a lot to learn in many ways just by reading, regardless of the level most people are at.

I'd seriously suggest reading through threads in those forums diligently, to get the feel of who's who around, how and what they post, what they seem to know and what they're like. Keep in mind that a working relationship for SEM/SEO is just that - a relationship between and among individuals.

Are you looking for only PPC management, or do you intend to pursue PPC and organic search?

[Mel66]

In defense of agencies in general.... just a couple of items to point out. While four weeks to set up a campaign sounds like a long time, it really depends on the situation and how much leg work has been done ahead of time. Researching keywords, getting approvals on keywords and ad copy, setting up landing pages and tracking, and other tasks can easily take 4 weeks depending on the state of the client web site and the amount of back and forth needed.

And "not doing anything" in the account for a month may not be a bad thing either, depending on the situation. Campaigns often need to run for several weeks before trends can be observed and acted upon.

All that said, it is unusual not to do *anything* to a campaign for a month. And, as far as setup-to-launch timeframes, expectations should have been spelled out at onset - for instance, if landing pages have to be built or modified, timeframes should have been provided before the work began.

Robertt, I'm not saying you're wrong to be concerned - I just wanted to point out that what you experienced may not be entirely out of line depending on the situation. Open lines of communication between client and agency are key to a successful relationship - have you shared your concerns with them?

[SanDiegoSEO]

They could be compiling a months worth of data in order to determine how to further optimize the campaign. Ask them about thier process. They should NOT be hiding anything from you. If they're not willing to share what they're doing, you're using the wrong agency. Just explain that you're new tot he process and would like to be educated. Educated clients are better clients.

[AussieWebmaster]

A good company should check what is working if they are not starting from scratch... you need to build a starting point... they should have installed or used any tracking you already had in place.

I would start from that point and at the same time be looking at your competitor's keywords etc.

[Prasad Sistla]

Dear Robertt,

Sorry for the late reply, if you have time pleasecontact imran@bluelinerny.com, he will help you out as he works for very good internet marketing agency BluelinerNY (www.bluelinerny.com).

Regards,

Prasad Sistla