An online marketing company can help small businesses, organizations and large companies launch their web properties with maximum power.

Due to the high demand in this industry, there are dozens of strong players (big and small) that provide a variety of services from marketing campaign management, SEO (search engine optimization), content production, etc.

There are 3 key factors that come into play when choosing an effective online marketing company:

# 1: Size & Scope

Generally speaking, a large firm isn’t the best in the land. Why? Because large firms tend to have a small group of master marketers and the rest of the work is given to the junior marketers who may or may not perform as well as their more experienced peers.

Pricing is another concern with large firms. Expect the bill to go up, especially if the firm specializes in large-scale contracts for multinational companies. If you want to save time and effort, go for smaller agencies. You will be able to contact the agency owner/founder and it would be easier to work with them, too.

Bear in mind that the cheapest agencies are usually not worth your time, unless the agency has solid evidence of high performance. SEO, one of the key functions of an online marketing company, requires a lot of time and effort to carry out properly. If you’re “paying pennies”, you’ll get the same value of SEO which can be disastrous for your website in the long term.

# 2: Expertise

Determining the expertise of an online marketing company can be difficult because everything on the company’s website is designed to promote it. Before hiring a company, be sure to research the company’s past projects very thoroughly. Case studies are often provided as proof of expertise. Examine the case studies for any inconsistencies.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions if something doesn’t feel or sound right. If the company is doing everything within the current standards of the Web, you should be able to receive a clear reply. If not, you’ll get excuses or vague answers.

Asking plenty of questions will also help you gauge how familiar the company is with what it’s supposed to be doing. A clear sign that you are talking to an expert in this industry is if you can get very concise answers that you can comprehend even if you’re not an expert yourself.

# 3: Actual Strategies

The Web is essentially under the sway of the big search engines like Google and Yahoo.

Google is the most powerful search engine right now and its standards are adopted widely so that websites are not penalized. For example, Google has recently adopted a change in its search algorithm that penalized websites that have yet to make adjustments to accommodate mobile traffic.

Ask the representative of the company about key insights he/she may have about the changing landscape. What are they doing to keep abreast of the rapid changes in how websites are ranked by search engines? Where do they get their content? How do they organically boost search rankings?