If you want to grow your brand’s visibility online, then by now, you should know the value of SEO in helping you get there. Since 90% of online searches begin with a search, you are missing out on potential clients if you aren’t optimizing your website to be at the top of Google searches.
Enter SEO, a strategy to help your website rank high on Google SERPs and increase conversions.
This article covers the benefits of hiring an SEO expert and what to look for during the hiring process.
Insights From The Article• With 90% of online sessions starting with a search, SEO is critical for brand visibility and attracting potential clients. • An SEO expert offers specialized skills crucial for advanced SEO tactics such as link building, content optimization, and site auditing. • If your website isn’t driving sufficient traffic, if you’re looking to elevate your SEO approach, if you lack SEO knowledge, or if you don’t have time to manage SEO effectively, consider hiring an expert. • Define your SEO goals, learn basic SEO concepts, understand platform limitations, decide between hiring an agency or freelancer based on your needs and budget, and monitor progress consistently, as SEO is an ongoing process. |
How Does Hiring an SEO Expert Help?
While many SEO certification courses online can help you with basic SEO, you’ll eventually need the guidance of an SEO consultant to work on deeper, more complicated aspects of SEO.
Let’s look at how an SEO professional is going to make a difference to your business:
Link Building
When reputable sites link to your pages, it tells Google that your website is trustworthy and relevant. This can boost your site’s authority and help it rank higher in search results.
However, building these links takes time. There are different ways to do it, but they often need time and effort. That’s where an SEO specialist comes in handy. They can handle the process for you, saving you time and helping you acquire valuable links more efficiently.
Optimized Content Creation
When reputable sites link to your pages, it tells Google that your website is trustworthy and relevant. This can boost your site’s authority and help it rank higher in search results.
However, building these links takes time. There are different ways to do it, but they often need time and effort. That’s where an SEO specialist comes in handy. They can handle the process for you, saving you time and helping you acquire valuable links more efficiently.
Keyword Research
SEO experts play a crucial role in analyzing data to identify the most relevant and high-performing keywords for your website’s on-page SEO. They use specialized tools and techniques to understand search trends, competition, and user behavior.
By leveraging this information, they help you optimize your website’s content with the right keywords, increasing its visibility and attracting more targeted traffic from Google.
What does an SEO Expert do?
Site Audit
If you want high Google rankings, you can’t overlook your site’s on-page and Technical SEO. An SEO consultant can help you determine what is and isn’t working on your site and suggest strategies to boost its online performance.
Technical SEO
One of the main aims of technical SEO is to ensure search engines can crawl and index your site effectively. Even if your site looks great and has fantastic content, it won’t rank well if search engines can’t properly find or read it.
A good technical SEO expert should be able to:
- Fix any crawl errors
- Ensure your site is mobile-friendly
- Fix any broken links
- Implement structured data markup
- Improve URL structure
- Optimize your site’s navigation and internal linking
When is it Time to Hire an SEO Consultant?
There are some common situations when you may want to consider hiring SEO services or specialists. Here are a few such instances to consider:
Your Website Isn’t Driving Much Traffic
The whole point of SEO is to help you get noticed online to drive website traffic to your site. High-quality SEO can result in higher rankings in search engine results pages, which in turn can lead to more website traffic and conversions. If your site isn’t getting the required traffic, then it’s concerning because it means that your site isn’t getting many visitors, and that will affect your rankings.
SEO consultants can look at the gaps in your site and make the necessary changes to help drive traffic to your site.
You Want to Elevate Your SEO Strategy
Initially, SEO might not be your main concern when you’re building a website. Your priority might just be to get it online and working smoothly. However, as time goes on, paying attention to SEO becomes crucial for attracting visitors to your site.
If you’re working on boosting your SEO tactics, getting help from a professional can make sure you’re heading in the right direction. They can also help you avoid common mistakes that could hurt your SEO efforts.
Signs you need to hire an SEO expert.
You are Short of Team Members
You might have an in-house team handling your online marketing strategy, but if they’re overwhelmed with tasks, it’s time to bring in an expert for assistance. This allows your team to allocate time to other priorities while ensuring your SEO campaigns have the best chance of success.
You Have The Budget
Although pricy, investing in SEO services can be a valuable investment if you aim to boost traffic to your website and increase conversions. Before considering hiring an SEO consultant, it’s important to have the budget in place.
While there are various pricing options, it’s essential to remember that quality often aligns with cost. Allocating enough funds is crucial if you want to hire SEO experts who can provide top-notch work.
You Lack Search Engine Optimization Knowledge
If you have little to no SEO knowledge, its always worth it to bring in an expert because any mistakes could backfire and cost you more time and money to fix.
If you’re not confident in managing SEO by yourself, it’s a good idea to seek assistance from a professional service. While you might grasp the fundamentals, beating those at the top of search engine rankings can be challenging.
Using the expertise of SEO professionals is important for going head-to-head with your competitors.
You Don’t Have The Time to Look Into SEO
Search engine optimization is an ongoing process rather than a final destination. Since Google frequently updates its algorithms, your strategy needs to adapt accordingly.
With your daily tasks, you might not have the time to stay updated on all these changes. In such cases, hiring a professional whose responsibility is to stay informed about algorithm updates can be beneficial.
How To Find an SEO Expert
Wondering how to hire the right SEO expert? Now that you know the different SEO requirements, lets look at how you can go about this process.
Here are some best practices to help you:
Define Your SEO Goals
SEO is more than just about getting on the first page of Google. It’s about pushing people deeper into the conversion funnel. Determine what exactly you want to do.
Do you want to boost your conversions or schedule more free discovery calls to generate leads? I want you to dig deeper.
If you approach an SEO agency with specific objectives in mind, a skilled professional will assist you in determining how realistic your goals are and identifying the necessary steps to progress toward them.
Often, providers of high-end services only require acquiring one or two new clients per month to meet their objectives. This suggests that your SEO consultant could focus on highly specialized keywords to attract a small yet targeted audience to your website.
Learn Basic SEO
Every website platform, like WordPress, Shopify, or Wix, has its own set of capabilities and limitations when it comes to SEO. With or without an SEO expert, it’s important to educate yourself about these limitations.
For example, WordPress offers more flexibility in customizing URLs than other platforms. Some website builders provide responsive templates by default, while others may require additional customization to ensure proper mobile display.
Learn about the SEO limitations of Your Platform
Every website platform, like WordPress, Shopify, or Wix, has its own set of capabilities and limitations when it comes to SEO. With or without an SEO expert, it’s important to educate yourself about these limitations.
For example, WordPress offers more flexibility in customizing URLs than other platforms. Or, some website builders provide responsive templates by default, while others may require additional customization to ensure proper mobile display.
Pros and cons of different platforms.
Talking to an SEO expert who knows about different website platforms can help you identify problems early and figure out how to fix them. This might involve customizing templates, implementing third-party plugins or apps, or considering a platform migration if necessary.
Decide Between Hiring an SEO Agency or a Freelancer
Outsourcing SEO consultancies is better than hiring an in-house professional because you avoid the expenses of training, equipment, and software required for the job, as well as the time it takes to onboard a new employee.
However, deciding between hiring a freelancer SEO or SEO company for your campaign can be confusing at first. Let me simplify this for you:
Agencies typically have a team of specialists with diverse skills, including SEO analysts, content creators, and technical experts, helping you benefit from a range of expertise.
Agencies can also scale their services according to your needs. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, they have the capacity to handle projects of different sizes and complexities.
Freelancer SEO vs. SEO company. Source: Clutch.
Most importantly, working with an experienced SEO firm usually comes with a higher level of accountability and support. The best part is that you have a dedicated account manager or team responsible for communication, reporting, and addressing any concerns.
They also offer SEO tools and digital marketing services like PPC advertising, social media marketing, and web design.
On the other hand, investing in a freelance SEO expert may be cost-effective and flexible, offering specialized expertise that aligns with your business goals.
The decision between hiring an SEO firm or a freelancer depends on factors such as the complexity of your project, your budget, your timeline, and your preference for working style and communication.
In my opinion, you must hire a freelancer if you prefer personalized attention, have a limited budget, and require flexibility in project timelines and scope. But if you have the budget to hire an agency (like ours!), then it’s worth it.
Decide on a Budget
SEO assistance rates vary according to the expertise and the SEO work offered by the company. Begin by outlining your SEO goals and the specific services you require, such as on-page optimization, local SEO, link building, or technical SEO audits.
Setting a budget for SEO.
It’s very important to view SEO as a long-term investment rather than a one-time expense. Allocate a budget that allows for ongoing optimization and monitoring to sustain and improve your website’s search visibility over time.
Consider extra costs beyond the base service fee, such as software subscriptions, advertising budgets, or content creation expenses.
Tips For Hiring The Right SEO Specialist
Once you’ve narrowed down the potential SEO experts or companies you’re considering, you begin requesting proposals.
When sending out an SEO proposal request, outline your project requirements and provide a list of questions for candidates to address.
The aim is to gain insight into each candidate’s services, their approach to SEO projects, and how they would adapt their strategies to meet your specific business needs. After reviewing each proposal, you can proceed by sending a call letter for an interview to the top candidates and make your final decision.
Hiring an SEO specialist.
Before finalizing an option, consider asking them questions to help you decide better. Here are some questions you could ask.
- What does your audit typically cover?
- Will you share a report detailing the changes with me?
- How do you recommend we measure progress in our SEO work?
- What are some emerging SEO trends you’ve noticed that may affect our approach going forward?
- How long does it typically take to see results?
- Will you help me optimize my off-site SEO?
- Do you provide supporting materials so we can continue to build on what you’ve created?
- Can you share information on your past clients and their results?
There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, but by the end of this conversation, they should be able to help you gauge the professional’s fit for your company and business needs.
Stay Engaged Throughout the SEO Campaign
Pretty obvious, but staying involved in SEO is crucial. For instance, your agency might suggest text alterations on your website following their keyword research. This could affect your messaging, so collaborate with them to find a balance or consider the consequences of not implementing those changes.
To maximize their effectiveness, incorporate their suggestions and ideas into your current and future marketing strategy. Use the resources they provide to the fullest extent.
Clarify the Next Steps
Once the initial project has been wrapped up and your goals have been met, it’s important to decide whether to continue the agreement or move on.
If you proceed beyond the initial engagement, ensure you have documented all completed tasks (such as a checklist or similar document) to share with new team members or future marketing strategists.
I highly recommend having a database on Google Drive or any other platform to document all your SEO efforts thus far and for the future.
Monitor SEO Progress
Reviewing search engine trends every quarter and adjusting and monitoring for another three months involves analyzing your rankings, prominent terms, and inquiries received from your website.
Are these inquiries from qualified leads likely to engage with your company? If the quantity has increased but the conversion rate hasn’t, these insights provide valuable data to refine your SEO techniques as your business progresses.
SEO is Not a One And Done Activity
As mentioned earlier, SEO involves multiple steps and covers multiple important aspects. Your SEO efforts directly align with your business’s long-term growth.
It’s an ongoing process that requires regular attention and updates. You need to continually optimize your website to keep it performing well in search engine results.
Hence, SEO involves consistently monitoring your site’s performance, adapting to changes in search algorithms, and making improvements over time to stay competitive.
Things to Remember While Hiring an SEO Expert
It’s pretty easy to pretend you know SEO. How can you tell if someone really does?
Do your homework. Here are a few things I think you could do to track progress:
- Request a monthly summary of all SEO tasks completed.
- Obtain a ranking report from Ahrefs to check the progress of search phrases that aren’t yet attracting traffic and see if their rankings are improving.
- Use Google Search Console to monitor traffic for search phrases that are already generating traffic.
Hiring an SEO Expert.
Tip: The SEO expert you hire should help you develop a strategy and determine the next steps. If all they do is give you blog posts or say they created links, that’s not a good sign.
If you are still having trouble deciding how to go about this process, here’s the best tactic to use: word of mouth and referrals. Do you know any marketing professionals that could ask their network? Anyone at your company?.
LinkedIn is another good option. It shows you people connected to your network first, making it easier to find trustworthy candidates.
As a business owner, you’re often busy and focused on other projects, limiting the time or energy to create perfect marketing funnels for yourself. That’s why hiring an SEO expert is important—they can make sure your marketing is on point while you concentrate on what you do best.
Final Thoughts
I hope that by now, you understand the importance of hiring or outsourcing a professional SEO expert and are able to decide whether investing in an SEO consultancy is worth it.
Although SEO takes time, it’s vital for anyone aiming to increase their website’s rankings, traffic, and revenue.
Selecting a good SEO consultant is important for enhancing your website’s organic search visibility. Therefore, if you’re considering hiring a skilled SEO expert or team, it’s important to thoroughly evaluate your prospective SEO candidates.
