1. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. If you’re dealing with a company that’s offering their small, medium or large package or telling you that their price is for a certain number of pages optimized per month – that’s a red flag. You need somebody to work end to end on your website. 2. Big or small Agency. Bigger agencies usually have a set process but that also mean lesser flexibility and less accomodative to your needs. Smaller agencies are more attentive but if they dont have a history, that also means, they are experimenting a lot more. (could be both good or bad). 3. 𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬. Reputable companies are not going to use high pressure sales tactics. Good partners want you to feel confident about what you’re buying and who you’re working with. If there are tactics like signing up in next 2 days and get 20% discount, I definitely see that as big red flag. 4. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡. When I was working in house, it became a running joke that we’d meet a team of major league allstars during the pitch process only to have the high school JV team show up to work on the account. Ask to meet the people that are going to work on your business. Make sure they're a fit and seem like people you’d enjoy working with. Those things are often more important than whether they have slick sales decks and are good at closing. 5. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐬. Find a partner whose company is focused on the field you’re hiring them for and isn't going to be pitching you on additional services in three months. If you’re talking to an SEO company that also does tv advertising, media buying, creative, direct mail and print – you’re probably talking to someone that’s okay a lot of things but not great at any of them. As the old saying goes, “the man who chases two rabbits catches neither”. Find a partner that’s chasing the rabbit you’re hiring them for. 6. Proven case studies and references. Big no, if they dont have case studies and references. 7. Good presence on the internet and linkedin. - I like to read founders, executives posts on linkedin to gauge their expertise. Internet presence like reviews and reading quality of their articles also help. Those are a few of the things I’d think about as you evaluate your potential partners. Getting the wrong one can be a big problem but , if you get the right one, together you can drive great results for your business