Your essential guide to choosing your ideal digital marketing training partner

Digital marketing is an integral part of any brand’s business strategy, and many different skills can be involved in delivering an online marketing strategy. The world of online marketing moves swiftly, and it’s easy to get left behind. Investing in digital marketing training is becoming increasingly common with businesses looking to upskill their team in the latest digital trends.

Of course, one of the best ways to quickly get the help you need is to outsource your marketing to an expert consultant or agency, but if your needs are ongoing and you want to limit your spend, then upskilling your in-house team is a great idea. Here’s why:

• Build your team’s confidence in all things digital marketing.
• Reduce the amount you spend on external marketing suppliers.
• Offer your team opportunities to grow and learn as part of their professional development.
• Equip your business with the in-house marketing skills you need to take your outreach to whole new levels of success and engagement.

Luckily, Marketing Supermarket has developed a free and easy tool to immediately connect you with the perfect marketing training suppliers that can deliver what you need to your brief and budget.

Browse our directory of digital marketing training experts

What is digital marketing training?

Digital marketing training covers all the different disciplines within the online marketing spectrum, and every business will have an individual set of needs. It may be that you need to bolster your team’s skills in content writing, or perhaps you’d like your staff to learn how to produce videos for social media. Maybe your marketing training needs are more technical than creative, in which case upskilling your team in Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO), PPC (Pay Per Click) or SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) may be the way to go. Whatever it is you’re looking for, there’s a digital marketing expert that can help.

What should a digital marketing training expert do for you?

If you’re looking for training in specific areas, then your digital marketing training consultant should be an expert in the area or areas that you’re looking for. On the other hand, you may want to employ the services of a digital marketing generalist who can take your team through the key things to know across all areas of online marketing.

Whatever it is you need, your digital marketing trainer should be able to tell you how they plan to deliver the training, i.e. in modules, in person, online etc. They should also be able to let you know what the key learning outcomes will be, and give you visibility of the syllabus and areas that the course will focus on.

What makes a good digital marketing training expert?

Someone who is experienced in teaching digital marketing should be up to date with all the latest marketing trends, and play an active part in the community – speaking at conferences, engaging in industry conversations and practising what they preach with their own marketing. If you’re looking for a specialist in one particular area then they should be a leading expert in this field, and if you’d like more of a generalist then they’ll need to be proficient in all areas of digital marketing services.

Beyond their technical skills, they should also be an excellent communicator, with proven success in explaining complex ideas in simple terms to people of all levels of previous knowledge in that area. Their teaching skills should be as strong as their marketing skills, so make sure they not only know their stuff, but also that they know how to explain it to others in a digestible, concise way.

How do digital marketing trainers price, and what factors affect this?

Digital marketing training consultants tend to price by module, and the price you pay will depend on what you need, how many people for, over what timescale and what outcomes you are looking for. If you’d like your team to come away with professional accreditations, the cost may be a bit higher. And if you’re looking for ongoing support you could discuss the idea of a retainer model with them, or ad-hoc training support.

It’s also worth exploring the many grants that are available to help businesses to upskill in digital training.

Request your digital marketing training quote

What’s the difference between using a freelance marketing trainer and a digital marketing training agency?

If you’re looking for a marketing trainer with significant expertise in one particular area of digital marketing, then a freelancer who specialises in that discipline might be the right choice for you. When you work with a freelancer you’ll get the added benefit of lower costs thanks to their smaller overheads.

If you’re looking to train a big team in many different marketing disciplines, then you may well find that a marketing training agency may have a wider range of skills, knowledge and expertise to draw on.

It all depends on what you’re looking for, and what your budget is, so make sure you shop around to find the marketing training consultant that will be the perfect fit for your business.

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the best digital marketing training

Finding your perfect marketing expert to train your team needn’t take long when you use our useful online tool to narrow down your options. Here’s what to consider:

• Previous success

  Which businesses have they worked with before, and what are they saying? Check out reviews, case studies and testimonials to assess the quality of their training delivery.

• Their technique/approach

  Different marketing trainers will have different approaches, so ask them how they deliver their training, and through what medium. They should be able to set out key parts of the training and what the learning outcomes will be at each stage.

• Their reputation

  Have a look at their LinkedIn profile and see how active they are in the marketing and training community. This will tell you a lot.

• The course content

  Make sure the syllabus and learning outcomes are what you really want/need, and suitable for your team, e.g. not too generic but also not overly technical (depending on current levels of knowledge).

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your digital marketing training consultant?

Marketing Supermarket takes all the stress out of quickly finding marketing training consultants who can work to your brief and within your budget. It’s completely free, and in just a few clicks you’ll have narrowed down your options so that you’re only spending time on enquiries with marketing training experts who can deliver what you need.

Find and compare digital marketing training experts, and if you need more help then read our helpful guide on how to compare digital marketing training suppliers.

Get digital marketing training quotes

Find out what to look for in a public relations and PR expert

Great brand awareness and reputation is hard-earned and easily lost. Public relations and digital PR professionals are the experts when it comes to improving and managing people’s perceptions of your brand.

There are many reasons why you might look to hire the services of a public relations professional, such as:

• You want to raise awareness of your brand
• You want to influence opinion and behaviour
• You want to come back from negative press/media attention
• You’ve had a post that’s gone viral and you’re attracting sudden, mass attention
• You’re in the middle of a PR crisis and you need to act quickly
• You want to build the relationship between you and your community
• You need a press release written and distributed for maximum exposure

Using a PR consultant is a great way to achieve these things; they’ll have the knowledge and address book, along with the external perspective to be able to help manage and protect your reputation while showcasing your brand in its best possible light.

Browse our directory of PR experts

What is public relations and digital PR, and what’s the difference?

First, let’s look at what public relations and digital PR actually is, because there is often some confusion.

What is public relations?

A public relations supplier manages your brand and reputation via traditional, offline means, for example getting your brand featured in local and national newspapers and magazines, building relationships with key stakeholders, and assessing public attitudes towards your brand. It focuses on earned media placements, which is the hardest and therefore most powerful form of marketing as you can’t pay for it; you have to offer something of value.

What is digital PR?

Digital PR is exactly the same thing as traditional public relations, but it uses online platforms as part of its media coverage strategy. This could be in forums, on social media, via guest posts and anywhere else your brand may have relevance. It’s no surprise that digital PR has become more and more in demand, given the rise of 24/7 news and social media.

Whether traditional or digital PR, it’s important to remember that while many people think it is just reactive (i.e. only necessary when things go wrong), managing public relations should actually form an integral part of your proactive marketing strategy, too.

What should a public relations expert do for you?

Your PR expert will be able to assess current levels of brand awareness and what people really think of you through a variety of tactics. They may carry out consumer surveys, they could trawl online reviews and forums to see what people are saying about your brand, and they may also speak to staff and key stakeholders to ask them their perceptions of your brand and what they hear people saying about it too.

(Of course, if you’re in the eye of a media storm then they’ll need to work a lot faster as time will be of the essence. In this case, they’ll guide you through the best way to manage your response to the crisis in real-time, monitoring responses and making sure any damage done to your brand and reputation is limited.)

Once they have a thorough understanding of your current reputation, they will begin to design and deliver a PR strategy that is proactive and supports your wider business goals.

There will be a lot of skill crossover between a PR expert and other marketers, and you’ll likely find that your PR supplier will also be good at content creation, because good writing and communication skills are such an integral part of PR.

What makes a good PR and digital PR supplier?

As mentioned above, whether it’s a traditional public relations or digital PR expert you work with, they should have exceptional communication skills. They should be well known, with good interpersonal skills and a wide network. They should have the contact details of all the key decision makers in the industry that you’re operating in, or know how to get them (there are paid-for databases of key contacts with email addresses etc. available online).

Your PR professional should have an instinct for a newsworthy hook, and be able to maximise its impact with exceptional storytelling and smart distribution. That’s why you often find that PR experts are ex-journalists – both use very similar skills.

How do public relations suppliers price, and what factors affect this?

If you’re looking for one-off PR support, then you’re likely to be charged an hourly or daily rate. This will depend on the urgency of the job – if it’s an out-of-hours PR emergency then you should expect to pay a premium for their advice.

Brands playing the long game with public relations will usually opt to commit to a PR agency on a monthly basis, so that a proactive strategy can be designed which cumulatively builds and nurtures their reputation and seeks to get them more coverage in national media, whether online or offline.

Whether it’s a one-off job or a long-term arrangement, like most digital marketing services, the price you pay will depend on the seniority, influence and experience of the public relations supplier in question.

Request your digital PR quote

What’s the difference between using a freelance PR expert and a public relations agency?

A freelance PR expert will have lower overheads, so they’re likely to be able to provide the services you need at a lower price, and they may also be able to work with more agility and flexibility too if you need urgent help.

A PR agency on the other hand may have access to more in-house skills and could also have more experience and influence in your industry. It’s always best to speak to a couple of PR freelancers and agencies to understand their process before you commit.

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the perfect digital PR supplier for you

• Slow down

  Even if you’re in a huge rush because you’re in the middle of a media crisis, take a breath and choose your PR expert wisely. It’s important that they are the right person to help you manage the issue.

• Ask what’s included

  When it comes to media coverage, a lot of PR work can be speculative with no guarantee of publication, and it can be difficult to know what you’ll get for your budget. Ask them to be clear about the deliverables of the project, and get it in writing.

• Ask them about their approach

  See how they would approach your public relations and digital PR and ask what they know about your industry already (and who they know, too).

• Check their social proof

  It should go without saying that a good PR agency should have impeccable PR themselves. What sort of media coverage do they get? What are people saying about them in reviews and testimonials? This will tell you a lot.

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your PR expert?

Our quick, free and easy online tool significantly speeds up the process of finding digital marketing suppliers, because we know what questions to ask to match you with the perfect PR supplier for you. We also know that costs are regularly a deciding factor, so we only match you with PR experts who can work within your budget so your time is used most efficiently.

At Marketing Supermarket, you can easily find and compare PR experts. Check out our guide on how to compare PR suppliers to help you make your choice.

Get multiple quotes for your PR needs

Your guide to finding the perfect email marketing provider

Email marketing is a superb way to maintain contact with your brand’s community, keeping them up to date with your news, products and services and offering them rewards, opportunities and top tips in exchange for loyalty to your brand and membership of your mailing list. It’s also an effective way to generate new leads and sales, too, through the email equivalent of cold calling.

Email may be viewed as a bit old-school these days, with more and more brands using social media, WhatsApp and chatbots to communicate with their audience. But, despite all that, email is still the king of marketing channels, boasting a whopping 4 billion daily users (and growing), and there’s no doubt that it should be a core part of any robust marketing strategy.

Why do brands invest so heavily in email marketing? Well, the return on investment (ROI) in email marketing is potentially huge – $36 for every $1 spent according to Litmus. If that hasn’t already convinced you, then here are some other reasons that email marketing continues to go from strength to strength:

• With email, you have 100% control and ownership of your email list and data (unlike a social media channel, which could potentially be deleted or experience downtime at any given time).
• You can tailor content to appeal to specific audiences with powerful data segmentation options.
• You can conduct A/B testing with elements like subject lines and content topics, so that you’re always measuring what works best.
• You’ll get detailed analytics and metrics including bounce rates, open rates, URL clicks, unsubscribes and much, much more.
• You can repurpose content that’s been produced for social media, i.e. blogs, videos etc. so that they deliver more value and you’re not always creating from scratch.
• You can use regular emails to nurture warm leads who aren’t quite ready to buy yet.

Browse our directory of email marketing experts

What is email marketing?

Email marketing ‘does what it says on the tin’ – it’s quite simply mass-emailing your customers and potential customers with offers, news, tips and incentives. It’s a fairly inexpensive way of reaching a lot of people, but as with all digital marketing services, there’s a lot more to it than you’d first imagine, so unless you’ve got an email marketing whizz in-house, you’ll need to consider outsourcing your email marketing to an expert.

One of the core skills of a good email marketer (beyond excellent content creation and design) is excellent data segmentation. Your audience will fall into different groups, for example: a) existing customers, b) lapsed customers c) potential customers, and what you send them must be relevant to them, or they’ll likely unsubscribe.

What should an email marketing expert do for you?

A good email marketing expert will be able to grow your mailing list and create more relevant and interesting content that provokes further engagement. It’s not just a case of firing off a bulk email every week or so; there’s a lot more that goes into it than that.

A good email marketer will take a step back, get to know you and your business and design a mass emailing strategy that should help you achieve your wider objectives. They’ll be able to advise you on the best tools to use, for example, Mailchimp or HubSpot (but there are loads more freemium and premium options available).

For contacts who have already opted in and given their permission to be emailed by you, a regular email newsletter is a great way of keeping in touch. Your email marketer will look at your existing content and see what could be repurposed, suggest topics, competitions, special offers, rewards and other ideas, and identify gaps in your content that need to be filled. They’ll then package this content into a beautifully designed email or newsletter and monitor the open rates and engagement rates.

If you’re using an email marketer to generate new business, then you need to tread slightly carefully. While it’s not illegal to send unsolicited emails, you need to operate within the confines of GDPR rules, so your expert should be fully up-to-speed with data protection legalities and best practice.

What makes a good email marketing expert?

A great email marketer should know the power of a well-placed CTA (call to action), a sizzling subject line and a beautiful image or captivating video. They’ll also be exceptional content writers who understand direct response copywriting and they’ll be great with managing and segmenting data. They’ll know the ins and outs of the legalities around sending solicited and unsolicited emails, and they’ll be able to continuously refine, test and measure to ensure optimum results and a growing ROI.

How do email marketing professionals price, and what factors affect this

An email marketing strategy takes time to develop and deliver, so don’t expect results overnight – although one great email may well do you a lot of good in the meantime. You should expect to commit to an ongoing strategy, which will usually be billed monthly – often with a retainer option – although some email marketers charge by email instead.

The price you’ll pay will be dependent on a number of factors, including:

• The number of emails to be sent per month
• The amount of new content that needs to be created
• The number of ways one email needs to be tailored for different audiences
• The amount of data analysis and management required
• The number of subscribers to your mailing list
• The amount of new data that might be needed (e.g. collecting prospective customers’ email addresses)

Don’t forget to factor in the associated cost of your email marketing software platform. This will likely increase depending on the number of contacts on your mailing list.

Request your email marketing quote

What’s the difference between using a freelance email marketing expert and an email marketing agency?

While an email marketing agency will likely prefer to work on a retainer basis, and some may even have a minimum contract value, a freelance email marketer may be able to offer more flexibility.

An email marketing agency will have access to a wider variety of skills in-house, such as content writing and video production, whereas a freelance email marketer will have areas of strength and weakness that may either help or hinder you.

Because every job is different and every brand has different needs, it’s always best to get a quote from multiple email marketing companies before making your decision.

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the perfect email marketer for you

• Check their GDPR knowledge

  Ask them about their knowledge and application of the legalities surrounding sending solicited and unsolicited emails.

• Ask to see previous work

  See what sort of email marketing they’ve created for previous clients and ask to see metrics demonstrating the impact and return on investment achieved.

• Sign up to their mailing list!

  An email marketer worth their salt should have a pretty impressive email marketing strategy of their own! Sign up to their list and see how they do it.

• Ask them about specialist skills

  Sending an email is the easy bit! Ask them about their skills in content writing, video production (if relevant), data management, segmentation and analytics, template design and ask them what their preferred email marketing platform is and why, too.

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your marketing email consultant?

The world of digital marketing services is hugely populated, and searching for an email marketer via search engines throws up an overwhelming amount of choice with no easy way to sort the good from the bad. Marketing Supermarket offers an easier way to find the best email marketing suppliers.

Our free, quick and easy online tool grants you access to multiple quotes and a directory of email management experts who can work to your brief and budget.

Find and compare email marketing experts, and check out our guide on how to compare email marketing suppliers to help you make your choice.

Get email marketing quotes

Finding the right social media marketing partner for you

Whether you’re selling a product or a service, you can’t afford not to have a strong presence on social media if you want to get noticed and stand out from your competitors. Social media marketing has come a long way from its infancy, when brands could easily use various platforms to market to their audiences for free. Now, if you want to be seen, you’ll need to have an intelligent, well-thought-through strategy, and you’ll need to invest in it, too.

According to Hubspot’s 2023 Global Social Media Trends Report, more than 90% of marketers are confident that their social media marketing activities in 2023 will deliver a positive ROI. Social media management is a growing profession in an evolving industry where things change very quickly. If you’re looking for strong results you need to find a social media expert to work with, and not just delegate the job to your most junior member of staff (as can often be the case!).

So why invest in your social media marketing, beyond the obvious reason that you want to achieve more profit/growth? There could be a number of reasons:

• You’re too busy to do it in-house
• You or your team simply don’t have the up-to-date skills and knowledge
• You want to reach new audiences
• You want to grow your community
• You’re looking to build brand awareness

Browse our directory of social media marketing experts

What is social media marketing?

Social media marketing is the practice of promoting and selling products and services using platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc. and it extends far beyond simply posting, liking and commenting. A good quality social media strategy can include some or all of the following considerations:

• Platform/s: Which is/are best for our brand to be on? (Hint… it’s probably not all of them!).
• Strategy: Should we focus on social commerce strategy to generate sales, or a social selling strategy to build relationships with potential customers?
• Budget: Should we use paid social or can we achieve what we want to with organic social?
• Topics: What sort of content/topics might our target audience engage with?
• Medium: Do we post videos, images, blogs or a combination?
• Other tactics to drive engagement, e.g. polls, competitions, etc.?
• Metrics: How will we measure success, i.e. likes, follows, shares, other engagement?
• Tailoring: How will we make our content native on each platform?
• Scheduling: What time should we post? How often should we post? And which scheduling platform should we use?

What should a social media marketing expert do for you?

If you’re employing the services of a social media marketing supplier, you’ll need to know what results you’re looking for first. If you can explain to them where you are currently, and what you want to achieve, they’ll start to get an understanding of what good looks like to you.

But they should also want to do their own research, too, by looking at the industry you’re operating in, and seeing what tactics your competitors might be using in order to gain ground. And, they should ask to see your current metrics to get a sense of what works for you, and what doesn’t.

Once your social media strategy is agreed and up and running, and depending on the deal you strike with them, your social media expert will create and post regular content for you, answer customer comments and messages, and monitor metrics to see how things are performing. You should expect them to report back to you at least once a month to demonstrate where they are adding value.

What makes a good social media marketing company?

A great social media marketing company invests in the knowledge of its staff. Because things change so rapidly, they will keep their finger on the pulse of every new development in social media and across all platforms so that they’re always operating using best practice and latest thinking for optimum results.

They should have an in-depth knowledge of the inner workings of all the major social media channels, and they should also have the capability to develop good-looking, attention-grabbing content – whether that’s video, imagery, graphic design or written content.

They’ll also keep a keen eye on metrics at all times, testing, tweaking and refining to do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

How do social media marketing professionals price, and what factors affect this

As with many other digital marketing services, social media marketing is a long game, so you’ll need to be prepared to commit for a period of time (a few months at the very least) with the supplier of your choice. Social media experts tend to work on a retainer model where they bill you an agreed amount every month to manage your social media profiles. If you are looking for content creation alongside the management of your channels, then you should expect to pay more.

Request your social media marketing quote

What’s the difference between using a freelance social media expert and a social media marketing agency?

A freelance social media expert will usually be the cheaper option, while a social media management agency will be able to offer more in-house skills such as design, copywriting and content writing and social media video production. Depending on the size of the agency, they may also be able to offer complementary services such as SEO, Conversion Rate Optimisation and email marketing.

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the perfect social media marketer for you

• Are they good with people?

  Perhaps most importantly, bear in mind that the social media expert you choose will be speaking directly to your customers and potential customers, so how are their levels of customer service? Are they friendly and approachable – perhaps even unflappable? They’re an ambassador for your brand, so you’ll need to be confident in their people management skills.

• Ask them about their crisis management policy

  Every social media manager knows that, even with the most carefully planned social media strategy, things can go awry. A social media post that goes viral for all the wrong reasons can bring a brand to its knees in an instant, so your expert must have a robust and comprehensive crisis management policy which details, step-by-step, how to quickly manage and mitigate a social media disaster.

• Have a clear budget in mind

  The cost of social media marketing can easily spiral, so it helps to have a clear idea of roughly what you are prepared to pay each month before you start speaking to potential suppliers.

• Seek social proof

  A good social media marketer will know the value of social proof, so have a look at reviews, testimonials and case studies. Follow a few of their clients on social media so you can keep an eye on their activity and engagement rates.

• Ask about their specialist skills

  With in-depth social media knowledge a given, ask them about any other specialist skills they can offer, such as content writing or video production.

• Ask them how they stay up to date

  How do they keep their finger on the pulse when it comes to the latest social media trends? How do they keep their knowledge up to date?

• How do they report?

  Which metrics do they tend to report on, and how do they conduct their statistical analysis?

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your social media consultant?

Marketing Supermarket was developed by a team of marketing experts who know the pinch points of digital marketing in detail. It’s free, quick and easy and in just a few clicks you’ll gain access to multiple quotes and a directory of social media management experts who can work to your budget.

With Marketing Supermarket, you can find and compare social media marketing experts, and check out our guide on how to compare social media marketing suppliers to help you with your decision.

Get social media marketing quotes

The ultimate guide to choosing the perfect CRO supplier

Are you attracting plenty of visitors to your site, only to see them fall away without taking action? CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) is an important part of your digital marketing strategy, and it focuses on ways to increase the number of people who take action when they visit your site.

The action you want them to take will vary from business to business, but some typical actions might include:

• Booking a call
• Buying a product or service
• Filling out an enquiry form
• Downloading a lead magnet (such as a free PDF)
• Subscribing to a newsletter

Brands often find that, despite investing heavily in a beautiful website, it is failing to convert people. That’s where a CRO specialist comes in, and in this article we’ll tell you how to narrow down your options to find the perfect CRO supplier for you.

Browse our directory of CRO experts

What is CRO?

In the simplest of terms, a good CRO strategy converts more of your website’s traffic into customers, and it’s well worth investing in. After all, what’s the point of designing a great website and investing in SEO and PPC if it’s not going to generate profit for you? CRO is very popular with ecommerce sites looking to increase sales, but it can also be important if you’re a brand that’s looking to generate more leads.

CRO can be very helpful in identifying stumbling blocks or conversion choke-points around your site – there could very well be a part of the site that is letting you down in terms of user experience. So, while CRO is a very useful diagnostic tool, it’s not uncommon that you’ll need to spend time improving certain areas of your website and/or enhancing your content and user experience to make a big difference to your conversion rates. A CRO specialist will identify areas for improvement and test changes using a range of techniques, all the while focused on the main goal: to drive conversions.

What does a CRO strategy factor in?

A CRO strategy focuses on 2 core areas; qualitative and quantitative data:

• Qualitative data helps you better understand visitor motivations and can include user surveys and research, interviews and exit surveys.
• Quantitative data uses tools, metrics and analytics to understand visitor behaviour on your site. This could include heat map analysis (showing where visitors spend most of their time on a webpage), funnel management and data segmentation.

What should a CRO supplier do for you?

When you approach a CRO expert for help, it’ll be because you need them to help you boost the number of visitors who take desirable actions on your website – so you’ll need to be clear on what action you’re looking for – what does ‘conversion’ mean to you? Sales? Leads? Or other engagement such as building a community of subscribers? A good CRO provider will help you understand this if you’re not quite sure.

Conversion rates are very easy to measure using tools like Google Analytics, so they should ask you about what’s working and what’s not in your current CRO strategy. They’ll consider how you currently record and measure conversions – and whether that’s the best method based on what you want to achieve.

Be wary of any CRO supplier who says they can guarantee an increase in conversion rates on your first call without first analysing your site and how it currently performs – as with any digital marketing services there are lots of caveats to success.

What makes a good CRO supplier?

A great CRO practitioner will listen carefully to your needs and ask you pertinent questions to fully understand what you want to achieve from your CRO strategy. They’ll take time to understand the metrics behind your business before recommending a strategy that will make a difference to you. They will have a range of skills from content enhancement through to website design and data analytic skills – or they will have a team around them that can offer these different skills to build a comprehensive CRO strategy.

How do CRO suppliers price, and what factors affect this?

Most CRO consultants have a few packages to choose from, ranging from basic to bespoke, and this will depend on how much work will be involved and how far you want to dig into the detail.

If you’re working with a CRO agency you should expect to be billed monthly and this may include a commitment to a contracted amount of time (e.g. 6 or 12 months). A CRO freelancer may be able to offer more flexible payment terms, including charging by the hour. No matter which CRO expert you engage, make sure you fully understand their pricing terms and what’s included for that before committing.

If extra work is required outside of your agreement, for example, if extra A/B testing is required or more user surveys are needed, then there may be an additional fee added.

Request your CRO quote

What’s the difference between using a freelance CRO consultant and a CRO agency?

The main benefit of using a CRO freelance consultant over an agency is that their fees will likely be considerably lower. If you’re looking for a budget-friendly CRO strategy, this is probably the route for you. But, if the stakes are higher and you have more marketing budget to invest, then an agency will be able to offer multiple skills to help make your website the best it can be, including project managers, data analysts, developers, designers and copywriters.

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the perfect CRO supplier for you

• Ask the right questions

  Before committing to a CRO expert, ask them to review your website and give their opinion on which web pages they would focus on optimising, which tools and processes they would use and where they would recommend you focus your budget.

• Check their social proof

  Online reviews, testimonials and case studies will tell you a lot about the quality of the CRO expert. To make things easier, you’ll find all of these on their Marketing Supermarket profile.

• Understand how they will communicate with you

  How will they report, and how regularly? Who will be your main point of contact and what sort of response times can you expect?

• Know what you’re looking for

  It will help to know which metrics you want to increase and what you want to get out of your CRO strategy before you start shopping around.

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your CRO supplier?

Marketing Supermarket saves you time and money by helping you narrow down your choices depending on what’s important to you, what your budget is and what sort of timeframe you’re working with. We’ve developed a set of questions which are quick and easy to answer, but that will ensure that you only spend time speaking with CRO freelancers or agencies who are able to help you with your specific requirements, and that can supply these services within your budget.

Use our free and simple tool to find and compare CRO experts, and check out our guide on how to compare CRO suppliers to help you make your choice.

Get CRO quotes

All you need to know to choose your ideal video expert

The internet has never been more saturated with brands trying to stand out from the crowd and get remembered by their target audience. Whether you’re selling your services or you’re an e-commerce brand, video marketing is a powerful way of getting noticed.

The advent of the smartphone changed everything in online advertising. Suddenly, consumers were able to view short videos on their social media feeds, interact with their favourite brands and share ads of interest with their friends. Video marketing began to evolve from traditional TV advertising to using platforms such as YouTube. Increasingly, brands are now adopting a range of other visually led platforms such as TikTok and Instagram to tell their story and carry their advertising campaigns.

In a recent survey, a whopping 92% of marketers reported that they achieve good ROI on their video content (up from 87% in 2022). The same survey reported that a video on a landing page can increase conversions by up to 80%! This is an all-time high, so it’s a great time to start thinking about investing in a video marketing strategy if you haven’t already.

If you’re considering video production and/or marketing for your brand, then it’s likely that your goals are one of the following:

• You want to increase engagement
• You’d like to build a bigger community
• You want to tell your brand narrative
• You want your story to stand out from competitors
• You’ve got a beautiful brand/product/service and you want to showcase it
• You want to quickly and visually demonstrate the benefits of your offer
• You want to inform and/or communicate a complex idea simply
• You want more sales, leads and business growth

Browse our directory of video specialists

What is video production and marketing, and what’s the difference?

Video production and marketing are two separate services, albeit with considerable overlap. It’s important that you’re clear on whether you’re looking for video production, marketing or a combination of the two. Let’s outline the differences here:

What is video production?

Video production is the process of designing and creating a video, or a series of videos, that can be used as assets in your marketing strategy. It requires expertise in pre-production, production and post-production (and we’ll go into a bit more detail about this later on in this article).

What is video marketing?

Video marketing services promote your brand using emotionally engaging, short video clips which grab attention and stick in your target audience’s minds. A strategic approach to video marketing considers your brand’s overall goals and metrics, along with where your customer is in the sales funnel. It will also determine the best place and context in which the video ad will appear to your customers. When a video has an impact and generates a conversion, it will be because it has been viewed by a customer who is at the very point they are looking to buy.

What should a video creator and video marketing expert do for you?

A good video producer will take time to understand your goals and design a video campaign that is tailored to your needs. There are different types of video, such as corporate promotional videos, explainer videos, animated videos, live videos, social media videos, and even the more traditional TV video ads, so a video expert should be able to advise you on which type of video marketing might best suit your needs.

If you’re working with a video marketer, then once the campaign is live, they should monitor metrics and identify where the campaign is reaching your audience and making an impact, and where it might need to be tweaked.

What makes a good video production/marketing supplier?

A good-quality video production and marketing supplier will have an excellent pre-production process in place, where they take time to understand your goals, your industry, your competition and any other factors which might determine the success or failure of your video marketing campaign.

They must be able to take a good brief from you, and apply their skills and knowledge to develop visually appealing videos that are on brand and on message. Of course, they’ll need to have access to talented filmmakers with good-quality video production cameras and other equipment to do this well.

They should also have a robust post-production process and be fluent in editing, special effects and incorporating any amends you request.

How do video marketers price, and what factors affect this?

The cost of video marketing can vary wildly, based on factors such as whether you are commissioning a one-off video or a series of videos for a campaign. It also depends on whether you want your video marketing supplier to manage the campaign for you, too.

You’ll find that most video marketers charge using one of the following pricing models:

• Hourly – they’ll tell you what they charge by the hour and give you an idea of how long the project will take.
• By project – they’ll understand the scope of the work and give you a price for the full project.
• On a retainer – if you need ongoing support with your video marketing then you may wish to explore a retainer agreement.

If there are large figures involved, then you should expect to pay up to 50% of the full cost upfront, with the balance being settled on completion of the work.

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What’s the difference between using a freelance video marketer and an agency?

A freelance video marketer will usually be able to offer you more favourable rates, and depending on their workload they may also be able to deliver the work in a shorter timeframe than an agency. Most video marketers are either more skilled in video production, or in managing the video marketing process, so choose one that is most qualified in the areas that matter most to you.

A video production agency will be able to offer more capacity, and they’ll have access to a wider pool of talent – from pre-production experts through to digital marketing experts and video editors. They will likely have access to higher-quality camera equipment, and they may also have copywriters and content writers who can help to develop supporting video scripts.

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the perfect video marketing expert for you

Choosing a great videographer needn’t be difficult as long as you’re clear in your mind about what you want to achieve and what budget you have available to invest in it. Here are our top tips for making your choice:

• Know your audience

  It helps if you are clear on who you want to target with your video marketing, as it’ll be one of the first questions they ask you.

• Ask them about their processes

  You should be able to know what to expect from every part of their process, from pre-production through to post-production, their amends process and campaign management.

• Ask to view previous work

  Watch video showreels that they have created in the past and decide if they match the quality of what you’re looking for.

• Ask for previous metrics

  If you’re investing in a video marketing expert to not only create your videos but also to help you run and manage your video marketing campaign, ask to see the metrics of previous campaigns that they have run. If the numbers are steadily going up each month and conversion rates are growing, this is a good sign that their video marketing strategy is having an impact.

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your video production and marketing company?

Marketing Supermarket is a free, online tool that takes all the guesswork out of finding a great digital marketing supplier who suits your needs and budget. It has been developed by marketing industry experts who understand the sector and know where the pain points can occur.

Check out our quick and easy-to-use tool to find and compare video marketing experts, and check out our guide on how to compare video producers and video marketers to help you with your decision.

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Our guide to finding the perfect content supplier for you

Great quality content makes a good website great, and it’s a significant consideration when you’re building your presence online. However, when you head to the search engines and try to find a great content writing supplier, you’ll be overwhelmed with choice and it can be difficult to know where to start narrowing down your options.

At Marketing Supermarket we’ve got you covered. As marketing experts ourselves, we know the value of great quality copy on your website, and also on your social media. Everybody’s content goals are different, but yours could be:

• To help explain complicated ideas more clearly
• To grab attention
• To encourage more visitors to take action
• To reinforce your SEO and/or Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) strategy
• To solve your audience’s problems
• To develop materials for content marketing i.e. newsletters, email copy.

Browse our directory of content writing experts

What is content writing?

A content writer develops engaging and informative content for your website or social media, aiming to educate and entertain, first and foremost. They’ll also be experienced in good SEO practice and be able to naturally incorporate target keywords and internal links into your content.

Good content writing is always written for humans first, but a great content writer always keeps the search engines in the back of their mind as they write. They know that the search engines reward what is known as EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness). That means staying on topic, demonstrating knowledge, always providing content that is helpful and relevant, and – of course – making sure it’s free of typos and grammatical errors.

You may be wondering whether you need a content writer or a copywriter for your needs, and this very much depends on what you want to achieve. If your main aim is to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, build relationships with your target audience and populate your website with interesting and engaging web copy and blogs, then a content writer is your best choice. If you’re more focused on building sales and leads, then you’ll need a copywriter. Most experienced content writing suppliers will offer a combination of copywriting and content writing.

What should a content writing supplier do for you?

A good content writer will take the pain out of content creation for you, and depending on their skillset they may also be able to offer content strategy, too. (Content strategy is the way you generate content topic ideas and design and deliver your content, using scheduling tools and a content calendar to keep things on track.)

By taking a full brief from you, they’ll be able to translate what you want to say into digestible, interesting content that people are more likely to understand and engage with.

Content writing extends far beyond web copy and blogs – it also includes content marketing (for things like newsletters, email marketing campaigns and much more). So make sure the content writer you choose is experienced in the areas that are most important to you before committing to them.

What makes a good content writing supplier?

Much of the skill of a good content writer is in the way they take their brief from you. They’ll want to fully understand what you need your content to do before putting pen to paper. When it comes to great content, Return on Investment (ROI) should build slowly and steadily and, with a consistent approach, over a few months you should see your engagement metrics rise, with visitors staying on your site for longer.

With the advent of AI copy being so freely available, good content writers know that to deliver value they have to offer something not just better, but different. Their skills in communication and human connection should set them apart.

Good quality content writers are skilled in research and know the value of taking the time to really dig into a subject so that they can write authoritatively about it. You’ll find that some content writing suppliers specialise in a particular niche or industry – for example, fintech or SaaS – while others are more generalist.

And finally, it should go without saying that their grammar and spelling must be impeccable, and they should be good at planning their time so that no deadline is ever missed.

How do content writing suppliers price, and what factors affect this?

There are a few ways that content writers fix their fees, the main ones being:

• Price by project – where they’ll establish the brief and give a full project price.
• Retainer – where they offer a monthly deal if your content needs are ongoing.
• Price by word – where they give you a price for, say, 400 words of copy.
• Price by hour – they’ll calculate how long the work will take them, and price accordingly.

They may ask for 50% deposit or even payment upfront for larger projects. Remember that the actual writing only makes up part of the time they will spend on your content; there will also be time factored in for research, interviews, amends, proofreading and more.

Of course, it is highly likely that the content they write for you needs your input, comments and amends for further shaping and tailoring before it can be used. This is an essential part of the process, and it is fairly standard for up to two rounds of reasonable amends to be included in the price they quote you.

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What’s the difference between using a freelance content writer and a content writing agency?

A freelance content writer will generally be the cheaper option, and they may be more flexible on price depending on their pipeline. They may be limited by their skillset; because copywriting and content writing covers so many areas, across so many industries, you’ll need to find one that ‘speaks your language’.

A content writing agency will have more in-house expertise across different industries, and while you’ll pay more for this, many bigger brands find that the additional experience and capacity are worth investing in.

Whoever you choose, bear in mind that if multiple writers (including yourself) are writing content for your brand, then you’ll need to ensure a degree of consistency in tone. This should be set out clearly in every brief.

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the perfect content writing supplier for you

• Know what you’re looking for

  What do you want your content to do for you?

• Check out their website

  There’s no better way to vet a content writing supplier than to have a look at their website and social media channels.

• Find out their industry specialisms

  You’ll want to know that your content writer has previous knowledge of your industry so they can write authoritatively.

• Social proof

  Ask for case studies and check out their reviews. Take a look at the different types of content they produce, e.g. web copy, blogs, newsletters, social media posts etc.

• Supporting skills

  Ask them what additional skills they have, i.e. proofreading, editing, SEO expertise, content marketing, content strategy etc. A good content writer is far more than just a good writer.

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your content writing supplier?

At Marketing Supermarket, we know marketing inside out, so we developed an online tool that speeds up the process of finding digital marketing suppliers.

Use our completely free and super-easy tool to find and compare content writing experts, and check out our guide on how to compare content writing suppliers to help you with your decision.

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Everything you need to know to find your ideal website support

Whether you’ve got an existing website that is no longer performing for you, or you’re building a new brand that needs a beautiful website to bring it to life, investing in a competent and talented website design and management supplier is an important choice.

It’s important to be clear on your goals before you start looking, as it helps to know what you want your website to do. Perhaps it’s:

• To generate more leads and enquiries
• To showcase your products or services
• To capture data and build a community
• To increase functionality
• To improve look and feel

…or maybe it’s something completely unique to you.

Whatever your goals, searching for a web designer needn’t be difficult if you are clear on your budget and requirements from the start. At Marketing Supermarket, we’ve made it really easy to narrow down your choices so that you’re only spending time having conversations with web design and management experts that are suitable for you.

Browse our directory of website design experts

What is website design and management?

What is web design?

In the simplest of terms, a web designer builds your website. What this entails will entirely depend on the assets that you already have available, and the budget you have available to spend. There is often confusion over how much ‘graphic design’ is a part of web design, and the truth is that there is a lot of crossover.

Let’s break this down a little bit: when we say assets, we are talking about your brand identity, such as your logo, colour palette, images, videos and content. If you have all of this to hand already, then the brief to your web designer will simply be to use these assets to build a site that accurately reflects your brand. If you don’t have these assets in place already, you’ll need to ask your web designer to help. What you need will have an impact on the price you pay.

What is web management?

Depending on your arrangement, a good web management expert will monitor your site’s health, carry out updates as and when they’re needed, and keep an eye on your Google Analytics to see what’s working and what’s not. Web management deals may or may not include hosting – keeping your site live on the web.

What is the difference between web design and development?

These two terms are often confused, and there is a lot of crossover, but the four main differences are:

• Web development focuses on functionality, while web design focuses on visual appeal
• Website developers are not responsible for creating assets
• Website designers do not write code
• Web design tends to be cheaper than development

Web design takes into account essential considerations sure as user experience, information architecture (the flow of information across the site), developing and/or integrating software, writing code and all manner of other skills. But it’s largely about the look and feel of the site.

If your site’s functionality is your priority, then you should probably look for a developer as opposed to a designer. Often, web agencies will offer web design and development rolled into one, as there is often a need for both elements when building a site.

What should a website design and development supplier do for you?

A web design/development expert should be able to listen carefully to the needs of your business and establish what features your website should have to deliver on your goals. They should work in partnership with you throughout the design and development process, managing your expectations and advising you on best practice along the way.

Depending on their experience, capacity and your needs, they may also be able to help you with associated website requirements like SEO, content writing and social media.

What makes a good website development service?

There are several types of platforms that websites are built on, and the most common ones are WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and Shopify. What you need will be unique to your business requirements, and you should make sure that the web designer/manager is a specialist in your chosen platform.

How do web designers price, and what factors affect this?

The most common way that web designers price is to quote by project, taking into account your requirements and timescale. You should expect to pay up to 50% upfront to book the work in, or alternatively be given a payment plan with payment dates to keep the work on track. Web design can be a long process, so understandably they won’t want to wait until project completion before they see any money.

Web management services tend to be billed on an ongoing monthly basis. Your web management agency or freelancer will be able to recommend the best package for you based on your needs. This will often include an SLA (Service Level Agreement) that includes a certain number of hours per month for fixing issues and carrying out development work, along with a guarantee of uptime.

Request your web design and management quote

What’s the difference between using a freelance website design and management consultant and an agency?

A freelancer is normally going to be the most cost-effective solution, and depending on their availability they may be able to deliver the project more quickly, too. You can embed them into your existing marketing team quite easily for the duration of the project.

With a web design and management agency you’ll be able to tap into a larger pool of different skills depending on your website’s requirements. For example, a good web development agency will likely have a user experience (UX) specialist in-house, and they may even offer content writing services too (don’t forget your website will need copy!).

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the perfect website design and management supplier for you

• Tell them what assets you have already

  They’ll need to know what you have in terms of logo, colour palette, graphics, images and videos already.

• Ask them which platform/s they specialise in

  For example, if you’re an e-commerce brand, you’ll likely need something that’s built on Shopify or similar – so be sure to seek out Shopify experts rather than generalists.

• Be clear on whether you need a designer or a developer, or a combination of both

  Is your main priority aesthetics or functionality?

• Check out their previous work

  Look at case studies and examples of live sites that they’ve built.

• Ask them to give you a demo of their CMS

  The CMS (Content Management System) that they use is an important consideration, as you will likely be using it a lot yourself as you maintain your site. Some use an off-the-peg CMS, while others use their own bespoke CMS. The latter can sometimes be restrictive and clunky, so check this out carefully. Ask them to show you their CMS so you can see how you would be using it – if it seems easy and intuitive then all good, but if it’s confusing it might not work for you.

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your website design and management supplier?

Marketing Supermarket was developed by marketing experts who totally understand the pain points and pitfalls of procuring marketing services. We focus on saving you time and money by taking you directly to the web design and management providers that are best suited to your needs and budget.

Use our free and simple tool to find and compare website design and management experts, and check out our guide on how to compare website design and management suppliers to help you make your choice.

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Everything you need to know to find the right PPC supplier

If you’re in a hurry to get your product or service featured at the top of the search results, then PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising – a form of digital advertising – will be a useful and relatively low-cost tool to invest in.

The main goal of a PPC campaign is to drive sales by:

• Driving more traffic to your site
• Improving the quality of traffic to your site (those with buying intent)
• Appealing to the right audience/s
• Avoiding wasted ad spend
• Reducing overall advertising spend

Businesses that want to gain more visibility in the search engines tend to work with an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) expert to help them improve their rankings organically. While this can generate impressive results, you’ll need to be patient as it can take 6-12 months to make an impact. And the good news is that PPC and SEO campaigns can work very well together.

Another acronym that you’ll come across regularly as you shop for PPC experts is ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). This can be improved by boosting ad quality, ad targeting, your bidding strategy and the competition in your industry. You may also hear them talk about CTR (Click Through Rate), CPC (Cost Per Click), Conversion Rate and ROI (Return on Investment) – all key metrics in PPC.

With a carefully designed PPC campaign in action, you should expect to see an increase in leads, sales, calls, or whichever metric means the most to you. Ads will become visible in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) almost immediately, which should lead to a quick flow of users to your site.

Browse our directory of PPC experts

What is PPC?

You’ll have seen PPC adverts when you’ve searched for things online – the first two or three results tend to be sponsored and if you look carefully you’ll see it’s been marked up as ‘sponsored’ or similar. You will likely have come across Facebook or other social media Ads when scrolling, too. If you click on the link in the advertisement, the advertiser will pay a small fee.

The idea of PPC advertising is that you (the advertiser) only pay a fee when someone clicks on your link, so you retain full control of your budget at all times. Because PPC ads operate via an online auction, the price you pay can fluctuate depending on factors such as ad placement, competition, the time of day the advert is posted etc.

PPC is available on Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads) and also social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Tiktok etc. Facebook Ads, but by far the most powerful platform to invest in is Google Ads. Through a smart PPC campaign, you can also remarket to visitors who have shown previous interest in what you do, and therefore have a much higher likelihood of converting.

What should a PPC supplier do for you?

Each PPC expert will have their own process, but you should expect them to follow these steps:

Step 1: Build a strategy

They’ll get to know you and your business, find out what results will mean the most to you, and then get to work building a PPC advertising strategy and choosing the platforms that will form part of your campaign.

Step 2: Research

Your PPC consultant will then start to research keywords, competitors and audience demographics for your ad targeting. At this stage, it will be helpful if you have some information on the types of people you are trying to reach, i.e. what age group are they? Where might they live? What are their interests?

Step 3: Create advertising copy and multimedia elements

Your advert will need to be carefully designed if it’s to capture the attention of (and the clicks from) your target audience. It will need to be written well, with a clear call to action, and accompanied by interesting visuals such as a video or image. They’ll also look at your landing page design to make sure it’s relevant to the ad (otherwise it will alienate visitors immediately and fail to perform so well).

Step 4: Manage the campaign

Once the ad copy and creative are both live, your PPC professional will manage activity, ensuring maximum return on investment along the way. They’ll spot if something is performing particularly well, or particularly badly, and tweak the campaign accordingly.

Step 5: Track performance and report back

You should expect your PPC expert to report back to you regularly to let you know how your online advertising is performing and whether your budget is right.

What makes a good PPC supplier?

A low-value PPC supplier will rely heavily on automation, whereas an expert will have the skills to manually tweak your campaigns to deliver the best performance. A good PPC agency or freelancer should be able to demonstrate previous success by showing you what they have achieved with other campaigns. They should have a specialism in Google Ads (naturally), but they should also be clued up on social media marketing and multi-channel ad campaigns, too. They will be able to clearly explain their reporting process to you so that you are fully aware of performance, and they should also show you how their audience/keyword/competitor research is conducted.

How do PPC suppliers price, and what factors affect this?

Most good PPC suppliers charge a monthly fee, which is paid on top of your budget for ad spend. If you’re looking for a relatively low-cost option then you could consider supplying the creative yourself – particularly if you have in-house talent who can manage this part of the process.

Agencies often work with a tiered pricing system that’s based on your ad spend, for example, £500-£1000 per month for an ad spend of up to £5k. Another factor which could affect the price you pay is the number of keywords and ad groups you’re targeting.

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What’s the difference between using a freelance PPC consultant and a PPC agency?

If you’re on a shoestring budget, then a freelance PPC consultant is probably your best bet. While the lack of overheads will keep the cost of their services down, they should still be able to do a pretty comprehensive job for you.

However, remember that good PPC ads perform well not only because of the strategy but also because of the quality of the ad copy and accompanying creative. It’s hard to find one person who is able to master and deliver all of these skills, so if your budget is higher then it’s better to go with a good PPC agency that can cover all bases.

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the perfect PPC supplier for you

• Be clear on your budget

  Before you start looking for a PPC expert, be clear on the amount of money you have to spend on a monthly basis. You can enter this into our PPC quote request form so you’ll only get responses from suppliers who are able to come in under your allocated budget.

• Ask for a free consultation

  You shouldn’t part with any money or sign any contracts until you’ve had a consultation with your chosen PPC supplier and asked them to review your existing ads campaign set up, to ensure you’re a good fit for each other.

• As for details of previous work

  You’ll find that a good PPC agency or freelancer has no shortage of success stories under their belt, so ask them to show you an example of where their input on PPC had an impact on metrics.

• Understand how they report

  You should expect your PPC provider to report back to you on your chosen metrics at least once a month. Any less than this and they’ll start to miss important information that could help shape your campaign.

• Understand their areas of expertise and processes

  Be sure that their knowledge extends beyond Google PPC advertising to social media marketing and multi-channel marketing. And ask them about their research process – how do they find the information they need with regards to audience profiles, competitors and keywords?

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your PPC supplier?

Marketing Supermarket is your dedicated comparison site for PPC advertising services. It was designed by marketing experts, for marketing experts. We understand the intricacies of a cleverly designed PPC campaign, and we’ve designed our quote request process to ask the most pertinent questions that will deliver the best outcomes.

Use Marketing Supermarket to quickly narrow down your PPC supplier choices, and check out our guide on how to compare PPC suppliers to help you make your decision.

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Choosing an SEO partner – what you need to know

So, you’re looking to find a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) expert to help you achieve your business goals.

Investing in SEO is always a smart move, not least for the following reasons:

• Build visibility in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages)
• Boost brand credibility and awareness
• Generate more leads/sales
• Support your content marketing strategy
• Maximise your PPC campaign
• Reach more people and boost engagement

You’d think it’s as easy as heading to Google/Bing, doing a quick search for SEO specialists, and narrowing down your options. But obviously, it’s not that simple (otherwise you wouldn’t be here). The market is flooded with people claiming to be SEO experts, and it’s a very time-consuming process to separate the good from the bad – and the downright ugly.

The good news is that it needn’t be that difficult – we’ve got the answer. Marketing Supermarket is the perfect tool to quickly find the SEO services you need. In this article, we’ll talk you through some of the most common considerations to help inform your choices.

Browse our directory of SEO experts

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation (or SEO for short) is one of the most powerful online tools to support your digital marketing efforts. Done right, it’ll help your business/brand gain visibility in the search engine results pages for the keywords you want to be found for.

An SEO expert ‘optimises’ your webpages so that they rank higher in the organic (i.e. not paid for) search results and therefore your business generates more traffic, sales/enquiries and brand awareness.

Still not sure if SEO is for you? What if we told you that 88% of businesses who already invest in SEO plan to increase or maintain their investment this year? That’s fairly substantial proof that SEO is one of (if not the) most powerful online marketing tools available to you.

Good SEO is different for every single business, so a tailored approach is always needed. For example, if your marketing strategy is to attract clients from your local area, you’ll want to be found in searches for your product/service, along with your town name – e.g. ‘mattresses in Birmingham’. Conversely, if location isn’t that important to you because your clients are nationwide/global, then you’ll want to attract people using non-location specific search queries such as ‘buy mattresses online’.

A good SEO supplier will help you identify the key search terms that you want to be found for, before designing an SEO strategy to underpin that. Once things are up and running, they’ll regularly tweak and refine the plan based on performance to maximise results.

What are the benefits of SEO?

With good SEO, you can expect:

• Improved rankings
• Increased volume of traffic to your site
• Better quality of traffic to your site
• More leads/sales
• Better brand credibility
• Better brand exposure

And who doesn’t want all that? Sure, it costs money to implement a robust SEO strategy, and you shouldn’t expect immediate results, but if you’re working with an SEO expert and you’re in it for the long run, you should begin to see a return on investment within 6 to 12 months.

In a world where your online profile is everything, visibility in the SERPs (search engine results pages) isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’, but an essential; your brand will be drowned out by your competitors if you’re not investing in optimising your website. It also supports any content marketing you’re doing, along with any PPC (Pay Per Click) campaigns you’re running.

Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of good SEO is that, because it’s data-led, it will generate meaningful metrics on what’s working for you, and what’s not. You’ll be able to keep a close eye on keyword performance and engagement rates – and then implement more of whatever is working for you to boost results even further.

What should an SEO supplier do for you?

While every SEO company will have slightly different processes, they should all start with a thorough SEO audit. This is where they look at what’s currently working for you (and what’s working against you). They’ll do a technical audit of your website, review user experience and check there’s nothing going on in there that might impact your search results (things like using duplicate or thin content can work against you, and you’ll be penalised in the search results until you fix it).

Once the website audit has been completed, they’ll work to understand your goals and expectations and find out what ‘good’ results look like to you.

Next, your SEO provider will design and implement an SEO strategy that’s based on your agreed budget. This strategy will also likely include optimised content creation which keeps a steady flow of fresh, relevant content being added to your site. They may also recommend you invest in generating backlinks, where referral links to your website boost your site’s authority.

When the SEO strategy is up and running, they’ll monitor and report back regularly (usually around once a month) so you know how things are performing. They may also recommend tweaks to the strategy at this stage to make sure that results are being optimised.

What makes a good SEO supplier?

Unfortunately, this is an area where you’ll come across a few people who promise the world, but fail to live up to their claims. Be wary, for example, of anyone who quickly promises to get you on page one of Google. How they can be so confident in this before they even know what terms you want to be found for is nothing short of baffling, and this should serve as a big red flag.

A good SEO practitioner, whether an agency or a freelancer, will be honest and upfront with you and manage your expectations accordingly. There should be no hidden costs and you should feel like you’re in safe hands. The best SEO experts are the ones who are really invested in your success and get as excited about growing your business as you do.

Be warned though – SEO is not a one-time, quick-fix job. To see the best results from any SEO strategy, you should expect to wait at least a few months. You won’t scale the rankings overnight; it takes time for the impact of your SEO strategy to shine through.

How do SEO suppliers price, and what factors affect this?

Most SEO agencies use a monthly retainer model. This reflects the fact that SEO is a long game – so be prepared to sign a contract.

Freelancers may be able to offer you a more flexible pricing model, and sometimes work on a daily and/or hourly rate. You should always feel able to negotiate if needed.

It really helps if you’re clear on your business goals, priorities and target audience, and also your budget, before you start the SEO ball rolling. That will help the SEO supplier provide you with a realistic quote.

Whatever you choose, don’t sign any contracts until you are confident that it’s the right deal for you and that you’re clear on what you’ll be getting.

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What’s the difference between using a freelance SEO consultant and an SEO agency?

A freelance SEO consultant will likely be able to offer you more flexible terms, whereas an SEO agency will be more likely to ask you to sign an ongoing contract.

Those with smaller budgets should probably opt for a freelancer, but if you have a more substantial pot of money to invest then an SEO agency is probably the right choice for you. Marketing Supermarket asks you about your budget so we’ll only match you with suppliers that operate at the level you’re looking at.

Marketing Supermarket’s top tips for finding the perfect SEO supplier for you

1. Be clear on your budget

We all want the moon on a stick, but the fact is that your budget will determine the level of SEO service, and therefore the speed of results, that you’ll get. So have an idea of what you have to spend before you start conversations.

2. Ask for a free consultation

Following your enquiry, any SEO supplier worth their salt will take a look at your site and carry out a quick audit to see where you’re currently at. They will expect to spend some time with you to establish whether you’re a good fit for each other. Book a call before committing, and have a list of questions at the ready.

3. Check social proof

Can they do what they say they can do? The best people to answer that question are their previous customers. Case studies, testimonials and reviews will tell you a lot about what they’re like to work with (you’ll see these listed in their Marketing Supermarket profile) – and they should also feature some impressive metrics too.

4. Understand how will they report

Understand how the SEO supplier will report back to you. What metrics will they use? How regularly will they report?

5. Understand their Service Level Agreements

Be clear on what you can expect in terms of service levels, response times and who your lead contact is, as well as what to do when things go wrong.

Why use Marketing Supermarket to help you choose your SEO supplier?

Marketing Supermarket is here to take the pain away from finding the best SEO supplier for your business.

Use our handy online SEO supplier search tool, answer a few questions about your budget and what you need, and you’ll get instant access to a range of suppliers who are a good fit for your brief. Alternatively, use our quote request tool to speed up the process of getting prices and comparing providers.

Use our free tool to find and compare SEO agencies, and check out our guide on how to compare SEO suppliers to help you make your choice.

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