Search Engine Marketing agencies offer a substantial number of articles and White Papers, which in great deal cover the many strategies and tactics to implement in order to reduce ‘bounce rate’; make your website ‘stickier’, and ensure your site meets the SEO checklist. Before selecting an SEM agency, check out their website and evaluate whether the agency meets the website criteria that have been identified for online success.

What follows are some of the errors and key points to look out for on agency websites. Some of these errors indicate poor execution or carelessness, thus, if they are occurring on the agency’s online property, the likelihood of such mistakes being transferred to your site cannot be excluded.

#1. Homepage information overload & navigational confusion
You land on the homepage and there is so much information, you do not know where to start or what to read! The page scrolls down ceaselessly and much of the text appears to be redundantly repetitive.

If this is your first impression of the homepage, it may be one of the tactics that the SEM agency is employing to achieve strong search engine rankings. By loading the page with text and keywords, the relevancy of the homepage increases, but only to the search engines, and not to the targeted audience – YOU!

#2. No clear call-to-action on homepage
If you hesitate on the homepage and do not know where to continue on the site, this demonstrates that the company has not thought through its navigational strategy. There should be a clear call-to-action that directs the user to the next level of valuable information in their search.

If an agency does not understand the link between website usability and search engine optimization it may be time to move along. Strong search engine rankings are only one aspect to securing a sale or website conversion. An agency that cannot funnel sales through its own website, may struggle to assist you in solving conversion or bounce rate related issues on your own site.

#3. Outdated blog entries
If the last blog entry dates back to December 2008, the agency may not be adept at prioritising repetitive and ongoing tasks that may sometimes go unnoticed. Whether this is because of poor resource allocation or a lack of attention to detail, neither bodes well for your business.

#4. Lack of Social Media presence
If you have not yet heard of the Twitter rave, do take a peak at what everyone is talking about. If the agency website has no mention of a blog, Facebook, social bookmarking websites such as del.icio.us and StumbleUpon or most recently, Twitter, this may be a sign that the agency has little interest in following the most recent online trends. This ironically, is expedient to online success.

This does not mean that the agency needs to offer Social Media services, as this is a niche segment that not every agency may wish to pursue, however an indication of knowledge of some of the latest social media trends is a requisite to online credibility in 2009.

#5. Spelling mistakes & syntax errors
It is unprofessional, careless and egregious. If mistakes proliferate, consider how successfully this agency would prepare copy for your own business website.

#6. A website built completely in Flash
Though it may not appear erroneous for a professional SEM agency to have a predominantly Flash based website, the search engine robots cannot ‘read’ these types of sites. This means that the web pages cannot be fully indexed and strong search engine rankings will not be achieved. In addition, this is a manifest indication that the SEM agency does not understand the first thing about search engine optimization.

#7. Browser incompatibility
If a website has broken links with text and pages that do not align, this may demonstrate that the website has not been tested across different browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Chrome and Opera. SEM agencies should not be guilty of this type of oversight.

#8. Broken links or broken form functionality
You may click on links that lead to 404 errors and pages that no longer exist. Whether they are old press releases or links to former clients who have now gone out of business, is this a harmless error or a presage to similar mismanagement on your site?

#9. Keyword stuffing & over usage
If you notice the redundant repetition of words in sentences that follow each other, this may be a demonstration of keyword stuffing for the purpose of increasing keyword rankings on the search engines, such as:

“We are a full service search engine optimization and internet marketing company. SEO services include affordable search engine optimization and internet marketing.”

The concern is how your web copy will look once the SEM agency has optimized your website. It is important to maintain a balance between optimizing for the search engines and optimizing for searchers who are expected to convert in some way on the site.

#10. Claiming top rankings for obscure search terms
Be wary of SEM providers who proudly display client search engine rankings for long tail type search queries that are not very competitive and do not receive high search volumes. Examples of this may be ‘Motor Home Rentals in Vancouver’ or ‘Buying Real Estate Investment Property in Canada’.

What you are searching for are top rankings for high traffic key phrases that are between one and two words long. If an SEM provider achieves 1st page client rankings for phrases such as ‘conferencing’ or ‘accommodation Whistler’, this is illustrative of quality results that are a worthy case study of agency capabilities.

For another perspective from SearchInsider on finding an SEM firm, take a look at Want to Hire an SEM Agency? Check Its Site First