More often than not, businesses of all sizes discover they’ve made a bum choice in the Internet marketing firm they sided with when it’s rather too late to do anything about it. A few months down the line, not only has the money spent on the firm’s services come to nothing, but there’s every chance that the client’s brand’s reputation may have been damaged irreparably.

Because of all this, there’s really only one safe course of action – being sure you don’t fall for a dud in the first place. And while it may seem like an idea that’s easier said than done, it is in fact surprisingly easy to spot the dodgy dealers from a mile away. You need only arm yourself with a few tips regarding what to look out for and the rest takes care of itself.

Up-Front Payments

For example, the first and most prevalent sign of would-be partner that’s not up to par is any kind of demand for payment in advance of services. The very nature of online marketing means that you’re in it for the long-haul and therefore to demand huge sums of money in advance is a little like forcing folk to roll the dice. Or worse still, it can be a sign that the provider is more than aware you’ll probably be dissatisfied and go on to bail sooner rather than later.

Too-Good-To-Be-True Deals

Another clear and immediate sign of a partner that really won’t do a great deal for your business is that of packages on offer that just seem that little bit too good to be true. If there’s a brand that’s offering marketing services for 90% less than other comparable companies across the web, chances are there’s a reason for this. Web marketing takes time, effort, dedication and experience – none of which are ever offered free of charge.

Flawed Websites

There’s a pretty good chance that you will in many ways be putting their keys to your website and your brand as a whole right into the hands of the marketing company. As such, it’s not exactly in the best interests of your brand and its reputation to choose a marketing agency that can’t even keep its own website in perfect condition. It may seem like a few typos and errors here and there don’t matter, but in the eyes of your customers and visitors, they couldn’t matter more.

Poor Rankings

In a similar vein, the whole point of web marketing is to either get a message out to a target audience or to expose a brand to traffic – it’s all about exposure. As such, before making a choice it’s worth thinking about just how visible or exposed the marketing agency you’re looking into was/is. Were they easy to find and featured prominently in the search rankings, or did you have to search far and wide to track them down? Again, you can’t expect them to do for you what they can’t do for themselves.

Limited Contact Details

These days, it’s not uncommon for self-employed freelancers to set up office in their spare bedroom at home and call themselves specialist Internet marketing agencies – really anyone can do it. In terms of how to separate the newcomers and amateurs from the fully-established companies, it’s often as easy as checking their contact details. If there’s a proper business with a real address along with its own dedicated telephone numbers and email addresses, you’re golden. If on the other hand there’s one mobile number, one Gmail address and a PO Box address, you’re looking at a back-bedroom affair.

Missing Evidence

One of the most powerful and important weapons in the world of online marketing is feedback – anyone in the game should know this by now. Positive and negative feedback alike can be exceptionally beneficial for a brand, which is why it should immediately set alarm bells ringing if there’s no feedback at all to be found on your prospective marketing partner’s website. You know it’s important, they certainly know it’s important and yet there’s none there…think carefully about what this probably tells you. A good example of client feedback is on the Jenkinson & Associates website with over 40 testimonials – this type of evidence and client satisfaction is a great steer to you choosing the right company.

False Promises

Last but not least, while it may be possible for a marketing firm to offer you, your brand and your website measurable and noticeable results, what they cannot promise are specific results ahead of time. For example, claims of getting any business to number-one in Google or increasing traffic 500% in a single month are just impossible promises to keep. Sure, they can aim to do this or may even be able to show off that they’ve done it before, but if at any time you come across promises that simply should not be promised, you’re already being lied to and haven’t even scratched the surface yet!