"XXXX is a leading YYYY service provider" has become a cliché on the web, and in an ironic way because they don't seem to have checked out over a million other competitors on the web who are better than them in every way. They even seem to have ignored another million people who claim they are the best or they have forgotten that best and leading are superlative degrees, meaning there can only be one. Plus, they conveniently forget to justify why they believe they are the best.
Far from being enticing, statements like these have become a turn off. Often, such baseless claims are accompanied by a bad design complete with equally bad content. They promise the moon, but their website itself speaks volumes about the kind of work they are capable of returning, not to mention the service can be expected to be is bad and untimely.
But in the web world, you do get away with such claims because there are not many genuine standards to quantify the authenticity of accolades displayed on a website. There are cases where, say a website with a good search engine ranking hosts an award event and sells the award upon mutual agreement with a certain company. The one hosting the show gains monetarily and the one who is awarded walks around with a fake feather on the cap. Even better, some companies create websites for temporary use and stuff them with fake information because they are looking at immediate profits and don't care if they are banned later.
All this comes as a warning for clients out there who were thinking that good search engine ranks or accolades were the best way to judge the merit of a service provider. That myth being debunked, its time to address the question, "So, what are good practices in judging a service provider?" Here are some facts that you need to know and apply it as a checklist in your judgment:
• Going by the latest trends with search engines, it's clear that search engines are getting smarter by the day. Ranking on the merit of Meta tags and keyword stuffing is passé. However, it is still possible to rank using unethical techniques and some websites still succeed in doing so, at least for a short period of time. But there is a flip side to this. Not all websites which have good ranks belong to this group. A handful of them have high merit and you want to make sure you don't ignore them. There is some ways to judge a service provider's merit.
• First impression is the last impression and so it is with websites. The design and the content of the website and its impact on you is a good ay to make a judgment about the company. A good company will portray themselves realistically, promise what they can really achieve and include a certain amount of real time facts and statistics as proof. The website content coveys the competence and merits of the company most powerfully.
• Whether or not a company is a brand, one way of testing their merit is by talking to their clients. They would have the experience of working with the company and by getting them to share their experience with the company; you can judge them on the basis of client's testimonials.
• Why not get a first hand experience with the company itself. Get talking and let them answer your concerns in associating with them. If they are convincing then that is it. Most often, companies offer some free consultancy or report. Let them take it up for you and see what they can do to improve your business.
• Network: social media is a good way to judge a company. Is they are authoritative on networking sites and have good contacts associating with them. In addition you can also check out their blog and the blogs they associate with.
The checklist above should be able to help you make a good assessment of the competence and integrity of the company.
I am a consultant marketing professional and I offer my services across a variety of firms including
internet marketing India, advertising agencies and television commercials. I also offer
SEO copywriting services.
