HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT DIGITAL AGENCY

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How to Select
The Right Digital Agency
For Your Online Business
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HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT DIGITAL AGENCY
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Your website is much more than just an online
billboard a website.
Brands you
? Attracts new customers and clients ? ?
Serves current clients
Can bring significant direct revenue through
e-commerce
? Can streamline internal processes and increase
company productivity , Of course, that s what a
great website will do for you. A terrible website
can damage your companys reputation, send
clients to your competitors and put your
business in a hole that it may never be able to
dig out from.
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So how do you find the right digital agency for
your Business?

• When you first meet with a digital Agency.
• It is important to go in with a strategy
  in place. Asking some key questions will put you
  on the right track for finding the ideal digital
  agency for your project
• How do they price their services?
• Do they offer a comprehensive set of services?
• What is the agencys track record and what are
  their credentials and qualifications?
• What is included in their Web Development
  Agreement (and what isnt)?

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• Be Prepared and Define Your Goals
• Before you begin interviewing digital agencies,
  you should have at least a rough sense of
  what your goals are and what kinds of
  functionality you require. Some important
  starting questions include
• Am I looking to attract prospects?
• Am I looking to merely generate traffic
  (advertising-based model)?
• Am I looking to generate direct revenues
  (e-commerce)?
• Am I only looking to preserve and enhance my
  brand?
• Am I only looking to increase the traffic of my
  website.

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2) Define your price range This can be the most
confusing part of selecting your digital
agency. If you Google digital agency,
you will find agencies offering
199 websites while others offer web
solutions that can run six or even seven
figures. A simple website for a hobbyist
or a basic personal site can be created
relatively inexpensively. However, if your
website is the face of your business and
a place where business is conducted, then the
price can be considerably higher.

• Some important pricing questions to ask right
  from the beginninginclude
• Which of their team members will be working on
  your project and what are their
  qualifications?
• How much time will they be spending on your
  project?
• Do they provide a flat project price that
  corresponds to a detailed
  agreement?
• Does the cost of the project match up with
  the agreed upon deliverables and hourly rates?
• Is there a clear procedure for billing for
  extra features or work outside the
  projects initial scope?

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3) When thinking of the price of a project, You
need to also think about the ROI. If a company
can prove they have a track record of a high
ROI, you should think about upping your
budget for the project.
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The price of a website project Is the
result of many variables the
complexity of the sites functionality,
the number of custom design elements
involved the expertise and experience of
the team performing the project and the
pricing schedule established by your
web Development team (i.e. hourly rates).
When you discuss price with a digital
agency, Make sure they spell out all
of the
Lastly, evaluate the price based on what
you will get out of it. A 20,000 project
that brings you no revenue is far more
expensive for your company than a 100,000
project that brings in a 300 ROI. Can the
digital agency point to specific results
(ROI) deliver for other clients?
functionality they will be providing and the
amount of time and effort that will be
required to deliver the project. The hourly
rate of the work will be based on the
experience and expertise of the team assigned
to your project.
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Look for a digital agency that offers
comprehensive web services The best websites
are the ones where design, functionality
and marketing work as one. A digital agency that
has expertise in all three areas has the ability
to build you a fully integrated site from the
ground up.
When one agency is responsible for
design, Another for development and a third for
online marketing, you will invariably have issues
with communication, integration and
implementation. A digital agency that has the
capability to handle your entire project, from
planning, to design, to development and marketing
success is better qualified to do things right
from the start. Just ask
Do they have the ability to provide
comprehensive web design, development and
marketing services to industry standards?
your company
Have they done system integrations or customized
web projects that require excellent problem
solving skills or advanced codingcapabilities? Do
they have experience developing
mobileapplications? Do they have search engine
optimization expertise and a proven
track-record of achieving Page One Google
results? Do they have copywriting abilities to
create both compelling copy for the website
itself as well as quality content for social
media?
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Project manager, a professional team, and
concrete objectives.

• Your web design project should be manned by
• Information architects to plan the site
• Web designers to design the user interface
• Web developers to code the site
• Quality assurance engineers to test it

• Online

marketing specialists to develop and
implement an efficient online marketing strategy.
project

• This team should work under an
  experienced manager to ensure a successful
  outcome.

interface designer
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What is the track record of their team? Your
project and that they are able to show you a
return on your investment.

• Before selecting a digital agency, ask about
  their previous track record
• What types of clients have they worked with?
• What kind of results have they delivered for
  those clients?
• Do they have hard figures to prove their results?
• Do they retain their clients and have ongoing
  working relationships with them?

TIP Even if your site structure
includes multiple products or services on a
single page, it is still helpful to create
separate campaigns for each service
that drives traffic to your single
landing page. This will allow you to
analyze performance of each service and
adjust your budget accordingly.
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You also want to be sure. that the digital agency
you are entrusting your business to are respected
professionals in their industry. Awards,
credentials, and qualifications are all
indicators of a web companys excellence and
professionalism.

• Are their key players recognized as
  industry leaders, speaking at events, or
  published in the media?

What is their Dun Bradstreet
rating? (DB is a third party source
monitoring client satisfaction.)
?

• Are they authorized to work for
  government agencies?
• Do they have other special credentials
  showing otherexpertise?
• Have they developed any special applications
  or done groundbreakingprojects?
• What industry awards and recognition
  have they received?

?
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Recent press mentions are also a strong
indication of a digital agencys standing within
their industry.

• Do major media outlets recognize this agency as
  experts in their field?
• Does the company receive frequent press mentions
  from a variety of sources?
• Does the company act as an informational resource
  for their industry?
• Is the company seen as a leader within their
  field?

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Website Development Agreements It all comes down
to this.
Your website development agreement Sometimes
called a service level agreement or a
detailed spec sheet- is an absolutely
critical document. Just by reading the
agreement, you can learn a great deal about the
digital agency you may be working with.

• Are they thorough?
• Do they understand my business?
• Do they have the technical knowledge to
  build my website?
• Do they have the design talent to
  make my site something memorable?
• Do they have the capacity to complete my
  project in a timely and satisfactory manner?
• Is the agency ethical

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Crucial elements to your agreement
Terms of Engagement Scope of Work The
proverbial nifty gritty of your web project. The
scope of work should be detailed, specific, and
unambiguous and set in a specific time
frame. It should set out the timetable for
each element of the project. Project Time The
best web project is doomed to failure if it is
not completed in a timely manner. Lost days,
weeks or months can have a crushing effect on a
business online prospects. Make sure that each
element of the scope of work is attached to the
time required to complete the work. Does the
agreement lay out responsibilities of both
parties, including deadlines and
deliverables? Payment Schedule This is always a
subject of negotiation. Developers will
invariably want alarge percentage of the
project price to be paid in advance, while
clients want to hold on to their money as
long as they can. Look for a digital agency
that is willing to come up with a payment
schedule that makes sense for both sides.
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Accountability Any web design project demands
a great deal of give-and-take between the
client and the digital agency they are working
with. Find out who will be the point-person at
the firm on your project. Ask how they measure
success. This is a long-term relationship and you
must be sure that this is the person you want to
enter into such a commitment with. Make sure
you like, trust and respect this person,
because you will be interacting with them
frequently over a substantial amount of time.
Promises, Promises... In any economy, many
digital agencies will promise you the moon,
just to get your business. Those promises tend
to be both grand and vague. The only thing
that matters is what is promised in
writing. You want to work with a company that
not only lists all features and functionality
in the agreement, but one willing to back it up
with specific results (i.e. increased traffic,
leads, conversions, milestones, etc.) In their
agreement.
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Want to take your company to the next level?
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Speak with a Web Specialist At SEOFIED 91-
8763817412 And for more on selectingthe Right
Website Company for your online business other
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