SEO has become a crucial element when it comes to building an online presence – and yet it’s hard to know where to start or who to hire for help!
Tips for Hiring an SEO Consultant
With thousands of SEO professionals out there and substantial differences in prices and skills (not to mention conflicting advice), it can be tough for businesses to decide who to hire.
Let’s think about what you want from an SEO expert:
- Clear, transparent, actionable
- Long-term collaborations, not a one-stop project.
- Results-based experience you can trust.
- Pricing that matches your available budget.
If you have SEO work to do but don’t know where to begin, we’ll run through some insider tips for hiring an SEO consultant who can help transform your business.
Where to Find Great SEO Contractors
First up, we all know that everyone seems to profess SEO expertise.
Business owners probably get at least twenty spam emails a day offering ‘fail-safe’ SEO advice!
But enhancing your digital performance isn’t something you want to hand over to a random person on the internet.
SEO consultations typically go one of three ways:
- Your consultant spends a lot of time and cash with few results.
-
You get some decent traffic spikes, but no long-term, tangible improvements.
-
Your business takes off into the stratosphere, and your only constraint is your capacity to scale!
We’re after box number three.
That’s why it’s essential to consider where you get your SEO advice and find experts who have the portfolios, testimonials, and evidence to back up their claims to greatness.
The Best Places to Find an SEO Expert
Freelance SEO consultants are often the easiest option available – they’re flexible, remote, and offer portfolios of previous projects so you can instantly see if they’ve got the expertise you need.
Most contractors are more than happy to offer references, so you can check whether they’ve worked in your sector before and view their results.
SEO agencies are another possibility.
Again, you’ll want to ask for word-of-mouth recommendations or at least have access to reviews that confirm the quality of their skills – especially since agencies tend to cost more.
Make sure you’re clear about your objectives and the exact business improvements you want to implement before you start digging into a portfolio. Only with clear goals in mind will you be able to find the SEO expert you need.
A brilliant SEO consultant can bring major shifts to your online presence, so it’s wise to take your time and look around until you feel confident you’ve got a grade-A professional on your hands!
How to Shortlist Top SEO Consultants
We’ve covered a few of the basics, but let’s discuss some golden rules for picking the best SEO experts.
1. Set Your Budget
An SEO expert costs will be higher than a newbie’s, but in fairness, it’s an area where you get what you pay for.
But be transparent about what you can spend and what you’re expecting in return.
A great SEO consultant will tell you what they anticipate achieving and where they’d recommend focusing your investment, so you get the most significant returns.
If they hum and haw, or try to drive up a budget you’ve already set, then find someone who is more business savvy and won’t steamroll your cash flow!
2. Trust Your Gut
SEO consultants tend to work best over the long-term, developing and growing a digital presence one click, one platform, one funnel at a time.
Even the best SEO experts in the world can’t create a million-dollar business overnight!
That’s why you’ll want to have the rapport and freedom to share your ideas with them since your work together is likely to be a long-term collaboration.
Trust your instincts if you feel that an SEO freelancer, however good, isn’t the right fit for your business.
3. Ask What’s Required of You
Unfortunately, hiring a contractor doesn’t bypass all responsibility for getting the job done.
Sure, your SEO consultant can make leaps and bounds in link building, driving traffic, finessing your content – but you will undoubtedly need to implement their recommendations to see results.
You get to decide how involved you will be in the strategizing and planning phase, but SEO almost always means getting your web designers, copywriters, and marketing teams on board.
Any SEO consultant worth their salt will be clear about the team effort needed to achieve the impact you want.
4. Never Trust a Guarantee
Conclusion
Finally, don’t be lulled into a false sense of security by any SEO agency or contractor who makes a promise.
SEO is a fickle beast, and it is impossible to make sure-fire guarantees!
It’s not a magic wand or a secret sauce.
Look at top performers in any industry, and it’s obvious they pour millions of dollars and hours of research to fine-tune their SEO.
The reality is that SEO is a work in progress, a long-term business investment, and something that invariably requires tweaks, changes, and pivots along the way.
If you find a brilliant contractor who is upfront about what they offer, sets measurable targets and doesn’t promise you the moon, then you’ll be on track to take your business to the next level.
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