Internet usage is booming, and you need to navigate the search engine playing field to survive as a business. You know that search engine optimization (SEO) is essential, but hiring SEO experts can be intimidating.
So, what’s the best way to hire SEO experts? Finding out what they can bring to the table is your first step to earning the premiere spot on search engine results pages (SERPs).
Before you buy an SEO package, it’s helpful to learn the SEO basics so you can properly vet your SEO prospects. If you have an existing in-house marketing department, you might have a decent grasp on digital marketing.
Essentially, you’re looking to organically show up at the top of Google, Bing, and Yahoo’s rankings — meaning you earn the spot rather than buy it.
No matter your level of SEO know-how, you can arm yourself with these 5 pivotal questions to ask qualified SEO experts. When you’re finished, claim your free SEO request-for-proposal (RFP) template to get your questions ready to send!
1. What sets you apart from other SEO experts?
As you browse the best SEO companies, you’re narrowing down your options to land on the best fit for your business. It’s useful to hear straight from candidates about their most valuable qualities and services.
Getting a company to describe their methods and experience is wise because they have to pitch themselves to you. SEO specialists should have a foundational sense of marketing, and their answers to the question, “What makes you different?” are telling.
Especially during keyword research and determining search intent, you want them to pinpoint the wants and needs of an audience — just like they’ll appeal to your desire for better rankings and more visibility.
Their answer can give you an initial taste of their depth of SEO knowledge. Depending on how they explain their link-building practices and content optimization, you can gauge their skill level and familiarity with current search engine practices.
Results-driven SEO experts are a positive sign because they rely on data rather than labeling their services as “cheap” or “quick.” SEO campaigns require time, tracking, and hard work to produce traffic and revenue, so the SEO experts you choose shouldn’t promise immediate ranking changes.
2. Can you give a summary of your SEO process?
Within SEO methods, there are multiple ways to approach and refine your site to top search engine rankings and drive traffic. Ask the SEO experts to lay out the usual cornerstones to their strategies.
Offer the SEO experts a practical example and let them respond with their tips and tricks for better site performance. Contextual scenarios can help you observe their real-world capabilities.
3. Do you inform clients about technical site changes?
In SEO, your website is going to get shaken up with code-level changes and structural transformation. Everything from the aesthetic appearance to the navigation is liable to change, which means you can end up with a total makeover.
When your SEO experts are transparent about major site components, it’s a good indication. Hiring an SEO agency that’s straightforward about their methods keeps you away from black hat SEO and penalties.
Later on, you can experience problems from deceitful SEO if you’re kept in the dark about your site — and your business and website could suffer.
While it’s not necessary to learn the ins and outs of SEO yourself, you can still stay aware of the impacts that technical SEO has on your site for your visitors. If your SEO experts have an educational air as they work with you, you can take in their reasoning for modifications and remain confident in your growth.
4. What tools do you use for SEO campaigns?
As SEO experts build a campaign, they use tools to diagnose your site’s condition, your backlinking practices, your competitors’ success, and more. The tools your SEO specialists select can impact the overall success of your strategy.
You can research the popular SEO tools on the market easily — like Moz and SEMrush — but it’s also favorable when the SEO Consultants has its own software. It shows that they’re an established group of professionals who use a distinct angle for SEO.
5. How long will it take to see ranking results?
You can’t expect an SEO campaign to garner results after a day — but how long does it actually take to start ranking for keywords? Each company has a different pace to perform SEO, based on its resources, time investments, and employees.
SEO strategies are an ongoing process. As you implement changes, you track them — then the cycle repeats. Long-term business growth is a pillar of SEO, but you can still judge SEO experts’ pace via their answer.
The marketing SEO specialist you’re communicating with should be able to give you a general time estimate for your campaign to take off. While they shouldn’t be able to nail down an exact date for specific marketing goals — because search engines are constantly updating — they can base their estimate on past campaigns they’ve worked on that are similar to yours.
