Many factors play a key role in the success of an online business. One of the most critical of all those factors is a strong marketing plan. A great marketing plan, if executed properly, can improve business visibility, increase traffic, build a reputation, and increase revenue. 

A commonly practiced strategy of internet marketing in Dubai involves campaigns that build an online presence for starters. But finding the right firm that fits your business environment is tricky. Here’s a guide to finding a reliable internet marketing firm that can get the job done. 

• Budget - You need to have a decent budget to hire a good internet marketing company. So it's recommended to first establish a steady cash flow for your startup before investing on online marketing. Typically, an internet marketing firm might either require an upfront fee or a percentage of sales revenue or both.
  
• Be wary of cheap-jacks - You may find companies claiming they have the perfect formula for online marketing that will get you a fortune online. They will be aggressive in convincing you that you will benefit from their services. But many of them just offer guides you can use to convince other people to buy your product. You need to be wary of such firms who are just trying to sell their products. They may sound convincing but won’t benefit your startup.
  
• Do not look for partnerships - Many businesses seek partnerships with online marketing companies agreeing to pay a percentage of sales as fee rather than paying upfront. The fact is, a good self-respecting marketing firm will never agree to do business while they only get a cut of the profit and no upfront pay or deposits. They won’t sell their hard work and commitment without receiving an upfront compensation. 
  A good internet marketing company will always require you to make an investment before availing their services. However, they may want a piece of the action once they begin their job. Many firms will require you to pay a percentage of sales once business starts improving. This means that they are confident of their abilities, which is a good thing. 
• A specific skill set you need to look out for - Skills like web programming, core critical thinking and analysis, graphic designing etc. are signs of a great online marketing company. If their game plan involves introducing creative elements to the marketing strategy, you need to do a background check of the professionals involved. They may either be experimenting (you don’t want that) or they know what they are doing. 
  
• Keep away from aggressive marketing consultants - Marketing consultants usually don't execute a marketing strategy. They will, instead, advise you on good strategies that you can adopt or good firms you can hire for marketing. For startups, this means they will have to invest on consultants and marketing companies. 
  

A good marketing firm will have in-house expert consultants who can provide all the information you require and then execute appropriate search engine optimization strategies after giving you an idea of the results. They will be result-driven. 

If you keep these factors in mind, you can find a good internet marketing firm. However, you still need to do a lot of research on what a marketing firm can do and the background of the firm you are planning to hire.