With millions of searches conducted daily to find products, conduct research, and make purchases, search engines play a key role in most web users' online experiences. Marketing your website effectively via search engines can help you win some of this valuable targeted web traffic.
Many online marketing techniques can be learnt and implemented yourself, but hiring the services of a search engine optimisation (SEO) expert can save you time (lots of it!) while keeping you abreast of the best techniques and delivering real results. So how can you identify a reputable SEO consultant?
Asking the Right Questions
Search engines have become extremely sophisticated in the way they crawl, index, and rank a website's content. An online marketing strategy set up primarily to trick search engines into artificially ranking web pages higher than competing pages is ill-advised and can get your site banned from search engines altogether.
On the other hand, an effective, long-term SEO plan will adopt best practice techniques, working within search engine guidelines to justify good rankings. The following questions should be asked when selecting a firm to outsource your SEO.
How much experience does your SEO team have?
This will help you determine not only their SEO experience, but also their business acumen, which plays a key role in identifying the best online marketing activities for your website.
What SEO methodologies do you adopt?
A genuine SEO firm will not be vague or try to hide its methodology. Instead, it will mention such things as keyword research, competitor analysis, internal linking, updated content, well-structured pages, inbound link building, and more.
Will my website need to be updated as part of the SEO campaign?
This is a key question. Your SEO plan will undoubtedly require your website to be modified – sometimes significantly. Updates might include making the content more targeted and readable or modifying the site's internal linking structure.
How long will it be before we see results?
A SEO plan should not be adopted as an instant web marketing fix. A confident, honest answer is better than promises of thousands of new web visitors a few weeks from starting.
What can I expect in the way of reporting?
Many SEO firms will utilise various methods of reporting the activity and progress being achieved on your behalf. Make sure you understand the reporting process and are being kept informed of the strategies being adopted.
Can I speak to a few of your current clients?
Many SEO firms keep their clients under wraps in order to maintain a competitive advantage—but there is no harm in asking.
Other questions you may want to ask include:
- Have you ever got a website banned from search engines?
- Do you have any experience in my industry?
- Who will manage my account?
- How will my SEO activities be aligned with my PPC and/or social media marketing?
- Do your SEO packages include consultation time?
- What is your approach for growing inbound links and will I need to be involved?
Establishing a good working relationship with your SEO consultant is vital. You should feel comfortable enough to ask questions and expect honest answers in a language that you can understand. If you would like to implement a SEO campaign, please contact us.
