If you are a business owner going through some enticing SEO packages on Fiverr with glimmering eyes, I have news for you.
It isn’t worth it!
Most of them are bargain basement gigs that promise something they can’t fulfill.
To find good SEO experts, join groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. They frequently engage in discussions about topics concerning organic traffic. These guys know their stuff, and you can hire them for a reasonable price. The only challenge is to spot the right SEO expert to get your job done.
In this blog, I’ll explain everything you need to know to find a top-notch SEO professional who can move the needle of your business.
Should I hire an SEO expert or an SEO consultant?
You have the option to hire either an SEO expert or a consultant, as they are essentially interchangeable. They would both work on SEO activities to drive traffic to your website. However, It’s important to be aware of those who engage in the right activities that can make a difference. To find the right SEO expert, look out for the following qualities :
1. Hire an SEO consultant who can measure the right KPIs
Most “SEO experts” you meet online might prove their worth by showing the number of keywords their client’s website is ranking for and their position on the results page.
But these are vanity metrics that tell you only half the story. It doesn’t give you a clear picture of how it brings home the bacon for the business.
An expert should be in a position to explain how his/her efforts will drive revenue for you. After all is said and done, revenue is the name of the game for any business.
Well, sometimes businesses have a long sales process, and there are a bunch of people involved in the decision-making process.
The whole attribute model will look like a big puzzle with lots of pieces and a complicated way of figuring out who gets credit for the sale.
In that case, resorting to measuring the organic traffic would be the only option.
2. Hire an SEO specialist who understands correlation and causation.
An expert should have an analytical approach and understand the changes that caused the keywords to rank up and drive traffic.
The ranking might have changed due to an algorithm update, or maybe due to certain edits made on the page—it can be anything!
But it can also be a coincidence.
Most SEO horror stories I’ve read and heard include causation being misinterpreted as correlation, resulting in a budget burn.
Yikes!
This is where an SEO expert’s analytical prowess swoops in to rescue your wallet from unnecessary expenses.
If the person you hire just assumes things and doesn’t take action based on facts, all that money you spend on links and content will be a total waste.
A good SEO expert will be able to invest time and money in what matters most. So, before hiring, it could be a good idea to ask the person about the importance and role of correlation and causation in SEO.
3. Hire an SEO specialist who has run Industry-specific SEO campaigns
I feel it’s not a wise idea to work with an SEO expert who is not familiar with your industry.
An expert would know of industry-specific writers who can churn out the content you need to attract traffic, not just some BS low-quality content.
Ask for some industry-specific success stories, maybe even some references to look into.
As a client, it would be reassuring to hear that the strategies were able to help someone in the space you are in.
Many businesses throw the towel on SEO if they don’t see results after 8–9 months. Sometimes things don’t always work out the way you plan.
But when you see their success stories, it kind of makes you trust and believe in them. Even if they mess up at first, you still have hope because if they make it work for someone else, they can do it for you too.
How much does an SEO consultant cost?
If you want to hire an SEO consultant, it can set you back anywhere from $100 an hour to $10,000 a month. It’s all about the company’s needs and what floats their boat.
If the company wants to hit the ground running with content creation, optimization, link building, keyword tracking, reporting, and consulting, it should be prepared to shell out around $1500 to $10,000 per month.
You should also think about how tough your industry is, whether you need to rank for one city or a bunch of places, how frequently you want the expert to churn out fresh content, and so on.
Ask the expert for some client referrals. That way, you can get a ballpark figure for how much it’ll set you back.
And for the love of God, don’t fall for someone who’s trying to sell you SEO services for $200. They’ll probably mess up your website. These peeps use link-farming strategies and crappy content to back up their cheap deals.
Know the difference between good and bad content: What is a Good Content Strategy ( Content that works in 2024)
I have to bring it up because I’m sick of people falling for it. You’d get nothing out of it in the end.
Are SEO specialists worth it?
I would say that SEO specialists are well worth their money if online sales are what drive your industry.
According to a research by BrightEdge, 68% of the buyer’s journey starts with a search.
So, it would only make sense to optimize your website to show up on the front page of Google to get sales.
SurveyMonkey’s SEO team hit the ball out of the park by turning the company’s organic search from a mere drop in the bucket to a major player in generating global revenue.
A decade ago, they had organic traffic of around 400,000; now it has almost touched 3 million visitors.
They nailed it by being persistent and consistent. This just goes to prove how the right SEO expert can turn your business upside down in the grand scheme of things.
Related topic : Does Search Engine Optimization Work (Or is it just a Lie?)
What matters most in SEO? (Best practices to follow)
Creating content according to user intent matters the most in SEO. In simpler words, your content should be able to answer the specific queries of the users.
It might sound obvious. But you would be surprised by the irrelevant search results users get when they search for something on Google.
So, I always recommend hiring a content writer who is a subject-matter expert in the industry you are in.
Sure, the SEO expert you hire should be able to optimize the content for the search engine. But for the content to have an impact on the prospect, it should carry some value. Only an industry-specific writer can add that value.
But hey, if you’re a pro in the field and can whip up some content for the SEO expert to work their magic on, that’d be awesome.
The SEO professional can also help you out with link building by reaching out to websites in your industry that aren’t necessarily your competitors.
In the eyes of Google, having other sites vouch for your site makes it look credible. This increases the ranking position of all the pages of your website.
Of course, you have to shell out some extra cash to the expert for the outreach. It’s no piece of cake to connect with others in the same field and score a mention on their website.
In most cases, you may even need to pay for the links separately. FYI, many companies run a business of inserting links in high-traffic websites.
If you’re up for investing, I’d recommend checking out Authority Builders. They’ve got some pretty reasonable packages.
Besides optimizing the content and building links, the SEO professional will also be working on technical SEO.
If you want my opinion on what’s most important, I’d say content optimization is the top priority, followed by link building, and then technical SEO.
Should the whole website be rebuilt for SEO?
Unless the website has a lot of technical issues, It’s not required to rebuild the whole website for SEO.
Sure, the SEO expert will be tweaking content and some of the elements to increase conversions, as long as they can get into a content management system like WordPress.
But from a design and branding point of view, you don’t need a total makeover.
However, there are scenarios where agencies or experts try to sell you on the idea of a rebuild.
In the grand scheme of things, it could be a case of killing two birds with one stone, where they’re looking to make a quick buck by going the extra mile, or perhaps your website is as plain as day, made with HTML and CSS, or even made with other CMS platforms like WIX or Squarespace.
Most marketers dig WordPress because of its awesome plugins. I mean, plugins like RankMath, WP Rocket, and Elementor make things a lot easier for both you and the expert.
Not only that, but a cool plugin like Elementor can jazz up your web pages.
But, that being said, an expert can still work with a WIX, Squarespace, or any such CMS.
If you are in a dilemma, maybe it would be wise to ask experts in the LinkedIn and Facebook groups that I mentioned earlier.
I can’t give you a straight answer because it all depends on what industry you’re in and how much competition you’re up against.
If you want to make your site pop, you might want to throw in a bunch of bling.
What if my website is built on HTML & CSS?
Well, in that case, your web developer and the SEO expert have to work together. For this, you might have to look out for SEO companies or an SEO agency that has different departments for SEO, web development, video creation, PPC, and so on.
Another option is to move your site to WordPress, where you can use plugins to make it look and work better.
Final Say
By now, you’ve probably figured out that finding an expert isn’t as tough as you thought it would be. As long as you look for the one with the qualities I mentioned, you should be able to have a solid online presence on Google search.
Before you hit up an expert, make sure you’re ready with a list of your SEO needs and rank ’em based on what’s most important to you. This will help the pro give you a price estimate.
Once you find an expert, just figure out the timeline you want to go with. To understand how long it takes to see organic results, read my blog.
Read more: How long does it take to get organic traffic? ( A little-known way of getting it fast)
Once you read the blog, you’ll get an understanding of when to evaluate the performance of the expert. But don’t forget to have meetings at least once a week to see how things are going.
That’s pretty much it. I hope this blog was helpful. The information I have shared should be good enough for you to find someone who’ll make your business soar with SEO.
Related topic: How to drive organic traffic to a business website in 2024
