What You Need to Know Before Hiring an SEO Consultant
The invention of smartphones and tablets has significantly increased the volume of internet users worldwide and this has pushed every business to commence their online presence. In this digital age, putting up a website and taking advantage of social media platforms are what many businesses have resorted toto expand their customer base. While this initially sounded enough, business competition has inevitably intensified and thus extra effort to stay on top becomes extremely necessary. There is where SEO comes to the rescue.
The Wonders of SEO
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a set of tacticswhichaims at optimizing and improving a website’s performance, visibility, and ranking on search engineresults. To simply put, it is a technical, and somehow aesthetical, makeover that a website needs to undergo to make sure it shows on Google’s top results when an internet user searches for a product or service similar to what it offers. Through the years, the concept of SEO has evolved. Today, SEO is no longer just about search engines but it also involves practices that enhances the usability and user-friendliness of a website.
However, SEO is a complex, highly technical process that you can hardly do by yourself even if you are technically versed. More often than not, you’ll need to hire an SEO Consultantfor your business to gain its online market share, thereby maximizing your profit.
Hiring an SEO Consultant
The internet will give you a wide variety of options available if you consider hiring an SEO consultant. Google will most likely suggest endless amounts of SEO firms from different parts of the world and they are usually priced differently. However, if your business is based in California, hiring a Los Angeles SEO Consultant provides an easier route if you want to be familiar with everything your website’s search engine optimization entails.
Your chosen SEO firmwill do all the necessary tasks to boost your website rank and show it on the first page of Google results, increase your website traffic, and attract more leads and convert them into customers. YourSEO consultant will not just promise you of these results but will show you the way towards it. You will be shown the issues your website is currently facing and will be given progress reports and updates from time to time throughout the SEO process. But to have a better understanding of the process and to shift your expectations to a realistic standpoint, here are some facts you should keep in mind:
- A successful SEO can’t be accomplished in a matter of days.
You are seeking the help of an SEO consultant for two main reasons: first, to help boost your website traffic; and second, to maintain that traffic as well as a greatly working website. This means algorithmic or manual issues have to be addressed in a timely manner. If the consultant you are considering claims his team can deliver results within days, then better crash him out of your list as such claims are usually far-fetched and are only being said to mislead business owners who have less knowledge in the technical field.
Although small positive results can already be noticed early on, best results can hardly be attained in 15 to 30 days. Quality SEO means lots of steps have to be consistently taken. A good SEO consultant will always be upfront with you and does not give false promises just so you can say yes to the deal. If it looks like it needs months to put your business on top, then he’ll tell you it right before you sign anything.
- SEO services are a pricy investment.
If a promising product or service is sold cheap, then chances are its quality is compromised. The same is true with SEO. Looking for a cheap SEO service may only put your website at risk more than it can do well. If you are planning to hire a quality SEO consultant for your SEO needs, you really have to be financially ready. You’ll find SEO services that are priced at least $99 to a few hundred dollars monthly but quality ones are usually worth a few hundred to thousand dollars a month depending on the degree of work that needs to be gone through and anything less than that is already considered risky or useless.
- Your SEO can’t do any magic to your product or service.
SEO can fix and improve your online appearance and reputation but your chosen SEO consultant can never compensate for your bad product or service. Advertisements may initially convert your leads to customers but that’s just it. Your chances of expanding your loyal customer base will be ruined because of your poor product or service.
As the owner of your business, you need to comprehend that SEO consultants are only there to drive traffic to your website and build your brand on the web. At the end of the day, it is still your job to ensure that the product or service being marketed is truly worth buying. Before hiring a Los Angeles SEO consultant, make sure other holes in your businesses have already been addressed.
- Hire an SEO consultant that focuses more on ROI.
SEO is about accurate keyword rankings. If your consultant is trying to rank a keyword that isn’t going to produce a high ROI to justify the SEO, then cut the deal right away. For a greater ROI, the right consultant knows how to identify and target the right keywords to rank.
- SEO is not just about links.
In optimizing your website in search engines, links play an important role but so does other factors like page speed and load time, content, on-page optimization, and user experience. It involves an interconnected effort to make sure you get the best value of your traffic and leads, i.e. your website should also load fast and should be mobile friendly. Neglecting the other essential parts may draw potential customersaway and this can mean missed opportunities.
