I’m looking to expand my business through a joint venture but struggling to identify the right agency partner. What criteria should I focus on when evaluating potential partners? Any red flags to watch out for during the selection process?
We worked with an agency on a B2B campaign once and their editorial calendar was totally out of sync with our product launches. They were stuck thinking in old-school TOFU/BOFU funnels while we needed content that could pivot fast around new features. Learned that how you work together matters just as much as strategy - their content pillars were good, but their slow production killed our ability to adapt when the market shifted.
We worked with an agency once that had great case studies but couldn’t explain how they’d actually track sentiment or measure our specific audience segments. Three months later, their lookalike targeting was way off because they never got our community’s behavior. Bottom line: if they can’t walk you through their process upfront, they probably can’t deliver when it counts.
The Problem:
You’re struggling to select the right agency partner for a joint venture, and you’re concerned about potential pitfalls during the selection process. You need a reliable way to assess their technical capabilities, especially concerning SEO.
Understanding the “Why” (The Root Cause):
Many agencies market themselves effectively, but lack the true technical expertise to deliver results. Overlooking this can lead to significant setbacks in your campaign, wasting time and money. Focusing only on impressive case studies without verifying their understanding of the underlying technical aspects (like schema markup or crawl budget optimization) is a common mistake. A partner’s ability to clearly explain how they’ll achieve the desired results is a critical indicator of their competence.
Step-by-Step Guide:
Step 1: Request and Analyze Log File Analysis Samples: Before engaging any agency, request samples of their log file analysis. This is crucial for assessing their understanding of technical SEO. A proficient agency will be able to demonstrate their expertise in areas such as crawl budget optimization and the identification and correction of issues like duplicated structured data. Carefully review the analysis for indicators of a true understanding of website health and SEO best practices. Look for concrete data, not just abstract conclusions.
Step 2: Verify Their Understanding of Schema Markup: Assess their knowledge of schema markup implementation and its impact on search engine visibility. A poor implementation can hurt your rankings and overall SEO performance, which is what happened to the client in the original post. Ask specific questions about their approach to implementing and maintaining schema markup across multiple domains.
Step 3: Evaluate Their Communication Style: Discuss your preferred communication cadence and project management style to ensure alignment. Clarify expectations about reporting, feedback loops, and general collaboration dynamics early in the process.
Step 4: Implement a Short Trial Project: Consider a short, paid trial project before committing to a long-term partnership. This allows you to evaluate their workflow, communication, and overall effectiveness before fully integrating them into your venture.
Common Pitfalls & What to Check Next:
- Buzzword Bingo: Be wary of agencies that throw around SEO jargon without providing concrete examples or data to back up their claims. Dig deeper to understand the why behind their recommendations.
- Lack of Transparency: If an agency is hesitant to share details about their processes or data analysis, consider it a red flag. Transparency is key in a successful partnership.
- Unrealistic Promises: Be cautious of agencies promising unrealistic results. Sustainable growth takes time and effort.
Still running into issues? Share your (sanitized) config files, the exact command you ran, and any other relevant details. The community is here to help!
We hired an agency that looked amazing on paper, but their communication style was totally different from ours. They wanted weekly check-ins while we needed daily updates for our fast iterations. The mismatch created so much friction it actually hurt our campaign results. Now we always do a 2-week trial project before signing anything formal. It catches workflow issues you’d never spot in those first meetings and saves you months of pain down the road.