A taxonomy is , in an oversimplified manner, a hierarchical organization and categorization of a subject.  The categories of this blog, for example, represent a basic taxonomy.  DMOZ, or the Open Directory Project represents a more complex taxonomy.

Categorization is important so we can understand how a thing fits in with other things around it.  The more we understand the relationships between things, the more we understand the thing as a whole, right?  Ok, enough rambling.  I bring this up because I often see SEO specialists calling themselves marketers, designers call themselves SEO specialists and a whole lot of other muddled definitions.  There’s no certification required in most of these disciplines, and sometimes none available.

But there are distinctions between disciplines.  People that perform well in some areas may not have any experience in others.  A branding specialist may not have any experience with public relations, programmers may not be able to slice a PSD.

Before you hand over a cent to a service provider, ask them these questions to make sure they’re spending their time, and your money, wisely.

If they specialize in internet marketing.

Internet marketing includes disciplines such as PPC management, affiliate program management, banner campaigns and paid link building.  It could include social media and content development and syndication, but I tend to look at those as separate disciplines.  If you’re looking for any of these services, there are a lot of questions you could ask to see if they can handle your needs.

Pay Per Click Q&A

Q: What sort of volume do you handle on a monthly basis?

Anything over $2000.00 would be a good answer

Q: How many clients are you handling currently?

Don’t want too many here, if they say “20″ – then it seems like they’re not committing a lot of time to you.

Q: Have you ever worked in this industry before? 

“Yes” would be good here.  If they haven’t, ask what similar industries they’ve worked in.

Q: Are you a certified AdWords professional?

This is a certification process for managing AdWords.  You have to take a test and score well.  You also have to spend a certain amount over time.

Q: What sort of results can I expect as far as increased clickthroughs and lower costs?

I can’t say this enough, ask for specific targets to be defined here.

Affiliate Marketing Q&A

Q: Can you tell me about the work you’ve done for other companies?  How have you improved their sales?

Look for an overall, sustained increase in sales.  Ask for referrals

Q: How long have you been in business?

5 years + in the affiliate business is a good benchmark.

Q: How many affiliates do you have in your recruiting pool? 

You want thousands, if possible.  Ask about some of the top affiliates in your industry.

Q: Which affiliate networks are you familiar with?

Shareasale and Commission Junction are the two top affiliates.

Banners and Paid Links Q&A

Q: Which banner networks are you familiar with?

Buysellads is popular.  Google AdSense and Doubleclick offer impression based advertising as well.

Q: Does your company provide creatives and tracking? 

Will you have to get your own designs done?  Will they create tracking links for you?

Q: What advantages are there to using banners and impressions?

Banners are great for branding, text links and paid links are great for SEO and traffic.

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In the next article, we’ll talk about SEO and Social Media.  Make sure you don’t miss any of our posts in this series by subscribing to our RSS feed.