You pay your digital agency every month, but do you know what it actually brings back? Many Moroccan businesses renew their provider out of habit, on the strength of flattering reports full of figures that prove nothing. Yet evaluating an agency takes only five well-chosen indicators, provided you know which to watch and which to ignore. Here is the evaluation grid a decision-maker should apply to any digital partner.
Start by discarding vanity metrics
Before listing the right indicators, let us eliminate the wrong ones. “Vanity metrics” are the figures that flatter without proving anything: likes, impressions, followers, raw page views, or rankings on keywords nobody searches. They fill monthly reports, give an impression of activity, but often have no link to your business results.
The test is simple: ask whether the indicator could rise without your revenue or your leads moving. If yes, it is a vanity metric. Ten thousand impressions that generate no contact are worth less than one visit that becomes a client.
An agency that communicates only these figures has something to hide, or simply is not steering your results. The five KPIs that follow all connect to value created.
KPI 1: qualified leads generated
The first indicator of a digital engagement is the number of genuinely usable business contacts it produces: relevant forms, inbound calls, quote requests. Not visits, not clicks: qualified leads, the ones your sales team can work.
The adjective “qualified” is essential. A hundred forms filled by the curious are worth less than ten serious quote requests. Your agency must not only generate volume but track quality with you: which leads become clients, which channels produce the best ones, and how to improve the ratio.
This tracking requires clean measurement from the start: tracked forms, identified contact origin, and a feedback loop between your sales team and the agency. If your provider does not know your monthly lead volume, that is the first problem to fix.
KPI 2: cost per acquisition
Generating leads is not enough: you must know at what price. Cost per acquisition (CPA) divides what you spend (fees plus ad budgets) by the number of clients or leads obtained. It is the indicator that turns the agency’s activity into economic reality.
Its value is twofold. First, it makes channels comparable: if a lead costs three times less through SEO than through advertising, that information should guide your budget allocation. Second, its trend over time reveals the quality of the work: a falling CPA signals real optimization; a CPA climbing without explanation deserves a serious conversation.
Demand this figure per channel in your reporting. A performing agency tracks it on its own, because it is also its steering tool. Our article on the digital budget of a Moroccan mid-sized company explains how to use it to arbitrate your investments.
KPI 3: growth of qualified organic traffic
SEO traffic measures the long-term asset your agency is building (or not). But mind the nuance: raw volume is not enough. What counts is qualified organic traffic, the kind that comes from searches related to your business and behaves like a prospect (pages visited, forms, calls).
Three signals deserve your attention: the organic traffic trend over six to twelve months (SEO is judged over time), the rankings on the keywords that matter commercially to you, and the share of organic traffic that converts. A traffic curve rising thanks to articles unrelated to your business is an optical illusion.
This is the KPI of asset value: unlike advertising, this traffic belongs to you and endures. An agency that grows it is building your independence from ad budgets.
KPI 4: conversion rate
Attracting visitors is expensive; converting them is what pays back the spend. The conversion rate measures the share of visitors who complete the targeted action: contact request, quote, purchase, sign-up. It is the indicator of your site’s own effectiveness.
Its great advantage is that it reveals hidden gains: doubling a conversion rate has the same effect as doubling traffic, often at far lower cost. A complete agency does not just bring people in, it optimizes what happens next: page clarity, journeys, forms, speed, reassurance.
If your reporting never mentions the conversion rate or the actions taken to improve it, your agency is working only half the problem. Our guide on conversion rate optimization in Morocco details this often-neglected lever.
KPI 5: overall return on investment
The last KPI is the one that synthesizes everything: for every dirham entrusted to your agency (fees and budgets included), how much comes back? The exact calculation depends on your business (client value, lifetime, margin), but the order of magnitude is enough to steer: does the engagement return more than it costs, and is the trend improving?
This calculation requires linking generated leads to their commercial outcome, which takes collaboration between your team and the agency. It is an effort, but it is the only figure that ultimately justifies or condemns a digital budget.
A sign of maturity: a good agency seeks to establish this link itself, because it wants to prove its value. An agency that systematically dodges the return question would rather you did not calculate it. To go further on measurement, see our article on the ROI of marketing campaigns.
How to run this evaluation in practice
These five KPIs come alive in a simple ritual: a monthly or quarterly review where the agency presents the figures, their trend and the actions that follow. Evaluation is not done on an isolated month (digital has cycles), but on three-to-six-month trends compared against goals set together.
Two reflexes complete the grid. First, set numbered goals at the start of the collaboration: you can only evaluate against a target. Second, also judge the reaction to failures: a serious agency explains a disappointing figure and proposes a plan; a mediocre one changes the subject or repaints the report with vanity metrics.
If your current provider can supply none of these five figures, you are not steering your digital investment: you are enduring it.
Want an objective audit of your current digital setup’s performance? We evaluate your numbers and tell you what works and what must change. Request an audit
FAQ: evaluating your digital agency
How often should you evaluate your digital agency?
Monthly reporting to follow activity, and a quarterly in-depth evaluation on the five KPIs (leads, cost per acquisition, qualified organic traffic, conversion, overall return). Digital has cycles: judging on a single month invites hasty conclusions, in either direction. Three-to-six-month trends are the right scale for decisions.
What figures should you demand in your agency’s reporting?
At minimum: qualified leads generated per channel, cost per acquisition, organic traffic evolution on commercial queries, the site’s conversion rate and the actions taken to improve it. Each figure should come with its trend and a resulting action. A report listing impressions and likes with no link to your results teaches you nothing.
What if my agency misses its targets?
Distinguish the result from the reaction. A missed target with an honest explanation and a correction plan is normal: digital carries uncertainty. A target systematically missed and masked by vanity metrics or shifting excuses is a signal to end the collaboration. Set a three-month recovery course with precise milestones, and decide on the facts.
Are vanity metrics completely useless?
Not completely: impressions, followers and reach have meaning as intermediate awareness indicators, especially early in a strategy. The problem arises when they replace result indicators instead of complementing them. The rule: vanity metrics may appear in a report, but never at the top, and never alone to justify a budget.
Want a partner willing to be judged on your results rather than its reports? Discover our approach: numbered goals from the start, reporting centred on leads and return, and continuous reallocation toward what works. To start the relationship right, also read how to brief a digital agency.
