There are many people online who market themselves as freelance SEO specialists. They might talk a good talk and have affordable services, but how do you know you’re really getting your money’s worth? If you don’t know much about SEO, you’re more likely to just assume that the professional knows best and give them free reign of your site. Unfortunately, this can result in lackluster strategies and wasted money with poor results. Bad SEO can even harm your online ranking.
To help business owners like you get the most out of your marketing budget, here are questions you should ask any SEO consultant before hiring them. Want to learn more? You can also check out this guide on where to find and how to hire the best SEO companies to use to maximize your success.
Can You Break Down What Services You’ll Provide as Part of this Package?
Hiring someone to do SEO services is extremely vague as there are many different types of techniques required for a robust strategy. Don’t be afraid to ask for specifics. Ask exactly what services someone intends to provide and in what quantity. How often will they track data? What is their timeline for optimization, that is, will they be providing the same strategies that they started with a year from now?
If someone is vague, says it’s too complex to explain or defends their SEO secrets, run the other way. These are the type of people who will take your money, throw some keywords onto your page and get you nowhere. A good answer will offer the baseline strategies and processes the professional intends to use. They will also likely specify that certain things are subject to change as your online presence evolves.
What Will Be Your Approach to Content?
The saying, content is king, has circulated in the marketing world for the last decade. It’s become an old adage at this point that, although somewhat tiring to hear, still rings true. Without solid content, your SEO will be pointless. Ask how the professional or agency intends to go about producing new content for your site. Will they write it in-house, outsource or ask you to provide content that they then edit and optimize? Be sure to also ask them how they intend to optimize existing content on your page. Anyone can use the word without actually specifying what it really means for you and your brand.
How Will You Go About Link Building?
Backlinks are web pages that link back to your site. They help build credibility and make search engines more likely to present your site to viewers in the future. Building backlinks takes time, patience and high-value content. Search engine optimization happens just as much off-site as it does on. Make sure your expert knows how to get quality backlinks and has a plan in place before you hire.
Will You Be Implementing Any Technical Changes to My Site?
Behind-the-scenes SEO optimizes your website to rank higher based on factors like https, site speed and fixing crawl errors. Performing a technical SEO audit may not be in everyone’s wheelhouse, and you shouldn’t assume by default that the person is an expert in technical aspects of optimization. If they aren’t, that may be okay so long as they have a plan in place to routinely assess, address and correct any issues on your site.
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