An IT services business needs marketing that explains responsibility and trust. Ask a prospective provider how it will describe your actual work, qualify inquiries, and involve technical staff in reviewing claims.
Use one real service as the test
Give the provider a brief for a service you already deliver. Ask which customer problem it would lead with, what questions the page should answer, and what information it needs from your team. A useful response should distinguish the service from unrelated offerings rather than defaulting to a list of popular keywords.
Give every candidate the same facts and constraints. Include the intended customer, service boundary, common questions, and claims your team can substantiate. Ask the provider to explain its reasoning, not merely present a polished headline. The exercise should show whether it understands the offer and can identify what still needs clarification.
Inspect the working process
Ask who interviews your subject expert, drafts the copy, checks accuracy, and approves publication. Review a sample deliverable for clarity and unsupported promises. Confirm whether the provider supplies original work or expects your team to write everything.
Google’s people-first content guidance offers useful editorial questions for reviewing the sample’s original information, sourcing, and relevance to the intended reader.
| Work stage | Question for the provider |
|---|---|
| Discovery | Who gathers service facts from our team? |
| Drafting | What original material will you produce? |
| Review | How are factual corrections tracked? |
| Publication | Who approves the final version? |
Verify ownership and reporting
The business should retain access to its website, domain, advertising accounts, analytics, and finished creative files. Ask for reporting that separates traffic, inquiries, qualified opportunities, and known sales outcomes. A provider should explain the limits of attribution instead of counting every interaction as revenue.
If the report uses Google Analytics, its attribution guide explains how credit is assigned to interactions. Ask which settings and definitions underlie the agency’s figures.
Request a sample report with the terms clearly defined. A visitor count, submitted form, accepted sales opportunity, and completed sale describe different events. Ask how duplicates and incomplete information are handled. Keep your business's access to the underlying accounts so the engagement can be reviewed using more than a presentation prepared by the provider.
Start with a defined engagement
Start with a deliverable that your team can meaningfully review. For example, agree on a service page brief, draft, factual review, and final handover. Record which inputs your staff must supply and when. Use the first review to assess the working process as well as the output, including whether questions and corrections were handled clearly.
Agree on one audience, service, scope, and review point. Record included revisions, response responsibilities, and cancellation terms. Compare proposals against that same brief using the cost comparison guide. For help clarifying the technical offer before approaching agencies, contact Your Expert Tech.
Review Your Expert Tech’s marketing service for technology companies when comparing support for your technical offer and website.