How to hire an SEO expert?

Search Engine Optimization is now being considered as one of the most important marketing strategies by in all kinds of industries. A lot of people think that SEO is a simple process and try to do it themselves, a few days later, they realize that this ain’t their piece of cake. Now its time to hire someone who can do it for them. While drafting this paragraph, I remember my uncle so I am going to bore you with a short story.

This uncle of mine doesn’t know a lot about computers, yet he has the desire to learn everything and become “Expert of all“. He would sit on his laptop all day god knows what he does. One day he called me asking if I can help him a bit with SEO. I told him that “the process of SEO is simple, however, the order of the procedure varies depending on the market, compeition etc etc.” A month later, I get another call from him “Beta, I spoke to google guys over the phone (kidding me?) and they said they can get my website on top of Google within a month, it is guaranteed. Since my business can do well if its doing good on Google, I paid themRs.50,000/- for 1 month. Now, my site is no where near even the 3rd page and they are not picking up my phone calls.” All I had to say was “I will write a small blog post to guide you and other fellows like you”. Which I thought of doing tonight!

Getting back to the business, I always advise my friends , relatives to not to play around with the productive stuffs. For example, if you want to learn SEO then simply set up a new domain and do whatever the heck you want with it, instead of screwing over your business website. As SEO evolved into a whole new industry creating thousands of jobs, a lot of scammers also jumped in the wagon as there are no specific metrics for SEO. In this article, I will discuss a few points you can consider before hiring someone for Optimizing your website.

Preparations

1. Analyzing the scope:

Having your website listed on top of Google pages could be good for your business, however, not every industry gains expected economical benefits from it. The very first thing you need to do is “CALCULATE”.

• If you spend X amount on SEO for X months, and you get X visitors per month, how much could you actually make?
• Is it even worth distracting yourself from core business?
• Estimating the months it could take to recover your investment for optimization (afterall, its all money right?)
• If your website ranks #1 on Google, what benefits will you get?

Once you have answer to these questions, the picture would be much more clear to you. You would have exact idea about the amount you’re to invest and returns you’re expecting. Ofcourse both the amounts are variable, but having an “idea” is always better then “A blind date with SEO expert”! 

2. Resources to tweak the website:

I assume you already know that SEO is done onsite as well as offsite. Offsite is pretty much handeled by your SEO expert and doesn’t require any changes to your websites in most of the cases. However, ONSITE SEO (being an important factor) would require a lot of changes within your website’s structure. Here, you need to ensure that you do have the resources to tweak your website accordingly, in case you don’t then you need to confirm it with your SEO Expert that he will have someone do it for you.

Hiring Procedure:

1. Shortlising Companies:

There are a lot of local SEO companies available these days in almost every part of the world (The part thats on Internet). As per my knowledge, most of the Local companies are not worth spending your money. Ofcourse there could be exceptions to this, however, most of the SEO companies that I’ve come across in Mumbai & Delhi were pure bullsh1t. The simple solution to this problem is , Google! – Since you are trying to hire someone who will help you rank your website in Google, why not just search on Google and make a list of people who’ve already done it for themselves! Afterall, a Doctor who can’t cure his wife’s fever is of no use right?

2. Call them:

You never want to fall in trap of those “one man show SEO” type of companies. They are mostly run by a single person who has multiple projects in hand. Those kind of companies would always be nice when you are in the “negotiation” phase, but once the money is paid, you will see totally changed man! Hence, its always better to call the companies directly and have a word with them to understand how serious they are.

3. Ask for references:

Almost every SEO company would have glittering “its all good” kind of testimonials on their websites. Being a businessman, you already know that its more of marketing then actual appraisal. While you’re on the phone with your potential SEO vendor, you should ask them to provide you with a couple of references around the same location as yours. Be clear that you’re willing to discuss further only in case they are willing to fulfill your reuqest of reference. Otherwise, this deal stops right here.

4. What can they do for you?

Almost every SEO expert guarantees to rank your website in top 3, which is not the case. So don’t just hold him accountable for the 100% ranking gurantee. Ask him questions, where should you see your website in a couple of months. Ofcourse, SEO ain’t simple as math, so results may vary, but its good to have a goal and then chase it. In case your SEO expert asks you to leave the technicalities to him and just enjoy the results, ensure atleast you know what is he going to do. There are a few companies which execute unethical methods to rank your website. Their methods do work, however, a few months later, your website would not be seen on google at all (Search for “sandbox” to understand).

I hope this article was a gist of what you were looking for. Hiring an SEO expert is really a task because the person you hire will decide the fate of the online presence of your product / brand. If you are a businessman and don’t know technical stuffs, involve your friends , relatives. Ask your Son! If he’s good with computers, he would know more about SEO then you do. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions. Not that you can’t comment otherwise!