From plateaued traffic to website redesigns, SEO specialists provide the support your business needs to generate traffic and revenue from search engine optimization. Learn when and how to hire an SEO expert now!
When to hire an SEO expert
The three biggest indicators for when it’s time to hire an SEO expert are:
- Time: You or your team doesn’t have the time to do SEO.
- Results: SEO isn’t generating the necessary traffic and revenue.
- Resources: You don’t have the resources, whether it’s talent or tools, to do SEO.
Additional motivations for hiring an SEO include:
- Getting support for critical company initiatives, like a website redesign
- Troubleshooting sudden SEO challenges, like a drop in website traffic
- Providing support while a team member is away, like on maternity leave
Why hire an SEO expert?
There are several perks to hiring an SEO expert, including:
- Improving your SEO performance
- Scaling your SEO program
- Adapting your SEO to economic, industry, or algorithm updates
- Aligning your SEO efforts with other digital marketing initiatives
- Optimizing your day-to-day
You can’t do it all when it comes to marketing your business, which is where experts in specialized areas, like SEO and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, can come in and help both you and your business.
What does an SEO expert do?
An SEO expert, whether as a consultant, freelancer, or specialist, provides search engine optimization support to websites. This support can focus on all, some, or one of the following: On-page SEO, off-page SEO, technical SEO, or SEO content.
In some cases, SEO specialists will have training in areas like:
- Public relations
- Marketing
- Content marketing
- Web development
When hiring an SEO, you’ll get to learn more about their background and experience.
How to hire an SEO expert
Ready to get all the benefits of an SEO pro? Then follow these steps for hiring an SEO expert:
1. Outline your needs
Use the following questions to determine what you need from an SEO pro:
- How long are you looking to work with the SEO?
- What SEO areas would the SEO work on?
- Do you have preference on pricing models, like hourly or monthly?
- How will you measure the SEO’s performance?
If you know people within your network that have in-house, contracted, or freelancer SEOs, consider meeting with them to learn more about their experience when hiring an SEO. They might even have recommendations for who to hire!
2. Set your budget
Next, determine your budget.
While there are ‘cheap’ SEO offers available, it’s imperative to avoid these. What counts as cheap SEO depends on the service deliverables and pricing. That’s why a good barometer is the mantra, “If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
3. Research your options
You can find SEO consultants or specialists in several places, including:
- Your professional network
- Job sites like Upwork, Fiverr, and SEOFOMO
- Social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook
- Review sites like Clutch, G2, and Upcity
Besides the above options, you can also use Google to source potential candidates.
4. Find your SEO expert
Now, you can start researching some potential SEO experts to hire. Consider the following:
- Reviews
- Case studies
- Years in business
Since many SEO consultants are active on the web, you can also browse their public profiles (like LinkedIn) to learn more about their SEO consulting services, search engine optimization opinions, approaches, and more.
5. Vet your options
Now, you can vet your shortlist of SEOs. For this step, consider meeting and asking:
- Do you have experience in our industry?
- For this partnership to work, what would you need from my team ongoing?
- Can you provide some references?
- How do you measure SEO’s success?
- Do you have experience with our tech stack?
A few signs of a good SEO specialist include:
- Realistic expectations: Avoid working with anyone who guarantees fast results, like 30 days. SEO takes time to work, and a true professional will make that clear from the outset.
- Full transparency: Whoever you sign with should be open with you about their business model, pricing, reporting frequency, technology tools, deliverables, and industry experience. If you have trouble getting a clear answer to any of your questions, it’s best to go elsewhere.
Based on your meeting, you can decide if you’re ready to move forward.
Can you do SEO without an expert?
While you can do SEO by yourself, it requires time to build (and maintain) your knowledge.
Google updates its algorithm frequently, so you need to keep a constant eye on industry news. And while there are plenty of courses from top SEOs you can work through and SEO automations you can use, becoming an SEO expert happens with consistent practice.
If you don’t have the time or resources to do that, consider hiring an SEO company.
Solve your SEO challenges with SEO experts
If you want the best results, you need the best people on your team.
For that, we’ve compiled a list of the best SEO companies — based on hours of research and decades of experience — to help you find the best SEO service provider for your business. If you’re looking to work with our team specifically, contact us online today!
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The top digital marketing company behind SEO.com.
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Meet
The top digital marketing company behind SEO.com.
Ready to get results? Connect with us, today!