Wriggle's MD Nick Gianfreda brings you this weeks blog post, covering what to expect when instructing Wriggle SEO services.

Over the years I have seen many agency pitches, and have experienced first hand agencies promise to deliver SEO results in 2 months. This is something that I feel quite strongly about, as this is simply just not possible. In order to assess your website and it’s suitability to be ranked, Google analyzes over 200 different factors. 

An investment into SEO is a long term strategy and we should treat it as such from the outset. I would suggest agencies are duty bound to show traction and effort over the course of the initial 5 months, and results should begin to be generated over 6 months, with the real results coming after 12 months. Those businesses who stick at it and commit the trust and budget for 12 months are the winners. 

For those of you who are considering investing in SEO but are apprehensive you are not alone. Unless you have had a good agency experience you are likely to be nervous about the investment. The main concerns and questions that we as an agency come up against are set out below and I hope you find the responses useful: 

How long does it take to generate SEO results? 

In general our clients see results after 6 months. When we optimise a website we go after core keywords that we decide with you based on our in depth keyword research. But, when we start working on these core keywords, different things happen. 

It's a little like a scientific reaction: the knock on effect of optimising the core keywords causes other keywords around your products and services to rise too. Whilst six months seems like a considerable amount of time, this depends on many factors and you will see traction and movement before this point, but the considerable results take 6 months. 

As an agency we try to identify ‘quick wins’ from the outset, and where possible if you have phrases ranking on page 2 - 3 of Google we will try to pull these up the rankings to page 1 in a shorter period of time to allow you to see an RoI. 

Can you guarantee results? 

No agency can guarantee definite results. What we can confirm with Wriggle is that we have a proven track record (view our results here), we retain 95% of our client base and, we have a team of experts who are trained in how to obtain a compelling RoI for our clients. 

At this point I would ordinarily point you to our Feefo Reviews, take a look!

As the MD of an agency I have tried on many occasions to put myself in the shoes of those listening to our pitches. The proposition is compelling and we demonstrate how we believe we can get a strong Return On Investment. Our overall goal is to get our clients onto page 1 and ranking in positions 1, 2 & 3. Below I have placed the click through rates you can expect to achieve on page 1 

• Position 1 – 43.32%
• Position 2 – 37.36%
• Position 3 –29.90%
• Position 4 – 19.38%
• Position 5 –10.95%
• Position 6 – 10%
• Position 7 – 5.28%
• Position 8 – 4.13%
• Position 9 – 4.13%
• Position 10 – 3.11%
• Page 2+ - 0nly 0.78% of searchers click on results from the second page onwards.

The cost of not taking action can be huge. The financial cost of this could be considered immeasurable, as this is not just about the sales you are losing, but your brand is not visible. Your customers are going to your competitors and you are not adapting to the market. 

To put this into perspective there are 3.5 billion searches carried out globally on Google each day, this is 40,000 searches per second and these searches are growing 10 - 15% per year. Not many people consider this, and with the uptake in digital services throughout and after the pandemic, if you do not start now it will be harder for you to catch up. And in the meantime you are losing valuable market share.

One final question people ask me is, how would I choose an agency if I had to? 

I have put my answers in priority order:

Trust and Results Driven

You must have trust in the people you are instructing. You should feel confident in them, and they should be able to answer your questions, objections and hesitations with ease. The agency must also be able to show through previous projects that they can and have delivered an RoI. If the company shows clients on their website, pick one at random and ask for a contact for a reference, this is not uncommon. 

Most importantly if they say they can generate results in 2 months and that they will take a reduction in fee, move on. You get what you pay for and a wrong decision if you are not 100% certain on the agency could cost you thousands, leave a very bad impression of SEO and put you even further behind. 

Dedicated Specialists 

Make sure that the team working on your account consists of specialists. For example each medium should have a dedicated individual or team that has the experience and knowledge to achieve results. Each medium be it SEO, PPC or Social is a specialism. It would be like getting your plumber to rewire your house. 

Small but not too small

Choose an agency with a good strong team of no more than 40 specialists (Wriggle are currently at the time of writing this 14). This will keep the service you receive personal, the package will be bespoke, and you will have contact with the key individuals in the agency. 

If you are interested in instructing Wriggle for SEO services, or any of the digital services that we provide, give us a call on 0191 815 0815.