Getting the right SEO consultant can be challenging when the busy small business owner is not savvy in digital marketing. Here are some practical things to look out for and questions to ask when choosing the right SEO consultant.
3. Digital
Marketing
Trends
PROBLEM: HOW TO HIRE
THE RIGHT SEO
CONSULTANT
• Don't know what SEO is or Can Do
• Fear of being overcharged
• Don't know if the SEO consultant is really competent
enough
4. Digital
Marketing
Trends
5 RED FLAGS WHEN HIRING
A SEO CONSULTANT
1. They Don't have a Coherent SEO Strategy
2. They Spam Backlinks and say They can Get you to
Page One Fast
3. There is no process for regular updates &
Performance Review
4. They Charge too Little
5. They have an irregular Client Pool
5. Digital
Marketing
Trends
THEY DON'T HAVE A
COHERENT SEO STRATEGY
• SEO usually involves:
Website Audit: load speed, mobile responsive, backlink penalties
Competitor Keyword & back-links research: look for long-tail or less competitive
keywords to rank
On-Page and On-Site Optimization: meta tags, schema markup, anchor text,
internal links
Off-Page link building with Good Content vs Quantity
Local Search, Citations and Reviews Building
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Marketing
Trends
QUESTIONS TO ASK
ABOUT SEO STRATEGY
"Can you briefly tell me what's your
recommended SEO strategy for my business?",
"If I have Google penalties, how do you resolve
them?"
7. Digital
Marketing
Trends
THEY TALK ABOUT BUILDING
HUNDREDS OF BACK-LINKS AND
GETTING TO PAGE ONE FAST
• More is NOT BETTER
• Google does not like unnatural link-building
• Google algorithm looks for low-quality content
• Get to Page One FAST is not always achievable
• Spamming SEO articles, comments may work for a while
• You have to overcome incumbent competitors who have
more back-links
• Question: "Do you guarantee that I will be on 1st page?
How?"
8. Digital
Marketing
Trends
THERE IS NO PROCESS FOR
REGULAR UPDATES &
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
• "How would you measure success?", "What metrics do
you track?"
Traffic, Keywords ranking, Conversion
"What reports will I receive regularly?“
- Updates of what actions they took, problems they encountered, how
to solved them
- Reports of backlinks built, blog or forum comments, articles
distribution list
- Reviews of performance statistics, feedback
"What tools do you use for SEO?"
9. Digital
Marketing
Trends CHARGE TOO LITTLE
• Typical overheads: each articles range from $20-$80
• Single project for on-site/ on-page audit, optimization usually
$4,000-10,000
• Retainer for building backlinks and reports/update can range
from $500-$5,000
• Reference: http://seogoodguys.com.sg/why-seo-expensive/
10. Digital
Marketing
Trends
IRREGULAR CLIENT POOL
• "Who are your longest active clients? How long?"
• SEO is an on-going battle with Competitors for keywords
• Requires articles, link building, optimization all the time
• Good SEO Consultants should have long-time clients
11. Digital
Marketing
Trends
FINDING A GOOD SEO
CONSULTANT
• Track Record & Case Study
Systematic Process, with Regular Reports/Updates
Charge Reasonably
Good Coherent Strategy
Can relate to other marketing strategies like Social Media,
PPC etc.