What is a free 360-degree analysis?

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

It is a sales tool typically used by agencies to get new customers by offering a free 360-degree analysis of their online presence. The report examines, for example, the website / webshop, Google Adwords, Facebook and Instagram accounts to find out what improvements can be made and / or whether there are technical errors to be corrected.

The agencies know that if they don’t find errors, they probably won’t get a new customer either. It therefore goes without saying that you have to take what you are presented with a grain of salt.

How to make a 360-degree analysis?

Analyses are done more or less automatically using various tools that quickly analyze Google Adwords account, website / webshops, etc. The reports generated are then imported into a Word template - ready to be presented.

What do I get from the report?

The reports and not least the subsequent presentation can be very beneficial and will certainly point out things that can be improved. Typically, they are divided into different sections, for example:

• PPC (pay-per-click)
• SEO
• Technique

If you are lucky with the person presenting the report, you can ask questions and get sensible answers for things you don’t understand or want to explore deeper.

With some reservations, you therefore have everything to gain and nothing to lose by getting a free analysis (see a few reservations further down).

Analysis Tools

There are a lot of tools for making analyses. Common to them all is that when the analysis is made, it must then be interpreted, so unless you are technically sharp, it would be of no use to simply create some trial accounts and do the analysis yourself. It’s necessary to get the data translated and explain what it all means.

Examples of popular analysis tools

Screamingfrog is a good 360-degree tool for analyzing a website / webshop

Tools to measure speed, i.e., how long it takes for a web page to load:

• Google Page Speed
• Pingdom
• WebPageTest
• GTMetrix

Optmyzr is a PPC (Google AdWords, Facebook, etc.) analysis tool

Is there anything to watch out for?

Access to the systems

Often, agencies will request access to Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and Facebook Business Manager, etc. so they can do the analysis. If the analysis also includes a website or webshop, they will ask for more access to the administrative part as well as access to the source code (unless it’s a proprietary system).

It’s obvious that when you give them access to it, you also give insight into your business. The agency can see how many visitors you have, how much you sell for what you sell, etc. If the agency works with a competitor, then you should re-consider the engagement or at least make a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). We have an intriguing blog on why only Adwords vendors, SEO experts, and management consultants should sign an NDA.

Other business partners

It’s normal for agencies to work with or have preferred suppliers. A software developer works with a PPC agency or vice versa. If the analysis detects errors or rooms for improvement, one must not forget that should one be advised to contact supplier X in order to resolve one or more problems, then it’s not uncommon to pay a so-called return commission. It follows that one cannot rule out favoritism.