Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the gateway to opening your business to more customers. It enhances your searchability to keywords or phrases related to what you offer. When done right, it acts as a funnel between a prospect's problem and a new customer who's satisfied with your solution.
Here are some helpful steps to follow when hiring the right SEO specialist for your business.
SEO Basics
First, let's review the basics of what SEO is. It's the process of improving your website's content so it ranks well on search engine results pages (SERPs). Every search engine uses bots to evaluate the content on each webpage and determine where it best fits in the Internet of Things.
If these bots determine a page is of high authority, extremely relevant to a topic, and possesses a high degree of accuracy, it'll push your page higher in the results.
Search engines are designed around the user experience, and constant algorithm updates are all done in pursuit of better getting users from their initial search to the right solution.
Signs you need help with your SEO include low traffic or conversion rates, long-winded URLs, a lack of relevance to a particular topic, and an absence of mobile compatibility.
How to Pick the Right SEO Specialist for Your Business
- Determine what you want from your specialist
- Set a budget
- Look at their past work
- Make sure they have the right skillset
- If possible, contact references who can vouch for their performance
Determine what you want from your specialist.
Without a clear direction of what you want to get out of the project, you won't be able to select the right specialist. You may want to do an SEO audit first to help you determine weaknesses and what you want to have addressed.
Set a budget
Since SEO experts and agencies come with different packages depending on the project's scope, it's wise to set an upper and lower range in your budget so that you have some room to work with.
Look at their past work
All good freelancers and agencies come prepared with samples of their past work. Look closely at the results those projects got and if they match the goals you want to achieve.
Be aware of "black hatting" SEO practices, such as instant results or repeating the same content. These are unethical practices that can result in search engine penalties, which will make your SEO even worse.
Make sure they have the right skill set
Look at the types of content and practices the specialist or agency used to achieve their past successes. If what they've used doesn't work for your industry, it likely won't achieve the goals you've set.
If possible, contact references who can vouch for their performance
Don't just rely on what the specialist provides. Do some more digging into your top choices to confirm that they did in fact deliver those results and are able to meet deadlines, work collaboratively and transparently, and communicate progress regularly.
Conclusion
Hiring a specialist doesn't mean you'll get onto the first page overnight. It's a long-term effort as search engines need time to have bots recrawl and reindex your pages before adjusting their ranking. From there, users need to start using your site to get the information they need and ultimately make a purchase, which will also have a positive impact on your ranking.
Patience and commitment to the process, along with the right specialist, will get you the SEO results you need in the long run.
