If you’re looking to bring in an SEO consultant to improve your website visibility, it’s important that you appoint a credible consultant or freelancer. To help you understand what to look out for, we’ve compiled a few top tips.
Look for somebody with a proven track record in driving results
You want to choose an SEO consultant who has grown a website significantly. What you need to be mindful of is somebody who claims to have achieved steady growth. This is likely to be the result of natural progression based on domain age and business maturity. What you want to see is somebody who has taken a keyword from position 100+ through to the top ten.
Partner with somebody who can tell a story
SEO is storytelling. You need somebody who can communicate a solution to a problem in a way that makes sense and is engaging, and shows credibility and expertise. After all, Google looks for content that shows expertise, authoritativeness and trust.
Niche website? Check for sector experience
If you’re a niche business or organisation, you’ll want an SEO consultant that has referenceability. That means proven experience in the same or similar sector to you. This is particularly important if you work in a niche area, including those heavily regulated. Having a consultant who can work in the same way as you do will prevent unhappiness later down the road if the content created isn’t quite up to the spec you need.
Honesty is key
SEO doesn’t happen overnight and we’d like to stress the importance of partnering with somebody who is clear about that. If they promise to get you into position #1 on Google within 30 days, they’re likely either not going to be able to do that or they’ll be looking to buy backlinks, which have their pros and cons.
Ask your potential consultant a few questions about how they would approach working with you. Whilst you may not know whether their answers are right or not, sense out their confidence on the subject matter.
Check the cultural fit
Whilst the ability to do the job at hand is key, it’s important that there is a good culture and personality fit. If there isn’t, the relationship won’t work. Given that SEO takes time, you need to be working with somebody you’ll genuinely gel with.
Never enter into a long-term agreement. Start off with three months. Figure out how you can personally work together and then look at the improvements that have been made.
Be honest about your expectations
There is nothing worse than operating a closed-off mentality and then being disappointed later down the line. By being honest, both parties know where they stand and can navigate the relationship in that way. It gives your SEO consultant an opportunity to push back if they think your expectations are unrealistic.