We have already taken a look at two questions that you can ask your potential SEO consultant, courtesy of Terence Chang. I have found another resource article that provides more questions that you can use to determine if the SEO consultant is right for you. This is written by Jon Rognerud. Let’s take a look at them.
What ranking guarantees do you provide?
If the answer is anything but “none,” look elsewhere. You might tell them you heard a page one ranking can’t be guaranteed, since nobody owns the search engines, except search companies. A superior search firm may add that while ranking is important, keyword research, relevant traffic and a steady increase in traffic that turns into sales are more important.
This one is a very important question. Although we love to hear guarantees, when it comes to SEO and rankings, there are really no guarantees. And if a potential SEO consultant will guarantee you a specific number with regard to ranking, you should see that as a red flag. Remember, SEO is not simply all about numbers and rankings - it is all about the overall performance of your web site AND the conversions.
Are you going to make changes to my website?
Changes are crucial for SEO, especially changes to content and structure within your site. If you have a lot of graphics, flash and complex navigation with pull-down menus and hierarchical trees that spiders can’t follow, you have a serious problem. Visit some of the sites they have optimized and see what SEO tactics they have applied.
You have to know at the outset how much work it will entail on your part. If you need to re-write a lot of content (or come up with a lot of new content), then you should know at the beginning so that you can come up with a strategy that is feasible for you.
3 Comments to "Hiring An SEO Consultant? (Part 3)"
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I’ve had trouble getting a new site, which is technically a sub-domain (I own the main one two) of mine been picked up by the search engines for 2 weeks now.
I never had these problem with my first site. It’s exceptionally well linked in, and it’s got even better SEO since i’ve had the chance to learn from my mistakes of last time, and had it from the beginning.
I’ve done a lot of this myself (learned a lot from you) so I know definitely that nobody can guarantee a placement. It should also entail a lot of work on the site owner’s part to clean up and optimize.
Hey, thanks for the advice. I am just getting into this whole internet marketing “campaign” business and it’s a lot to take in, especially when you don’t know anything about it.
IM seems simple but to someone who isn’t tech savvy it can be a bit overwhelming, however, with going to school and working part time I thought it would be worth a shot as far as supplementing my income.
Any information on the subject is helpful, thanks again!
Dawn