SEO consultants cover a wide ranging subject area within their role, from finding coding faults within your website that are hindering it from ranking effectively to raising the popularity of your site with search engines by building the required links. Because Search Engine Optimisation is such a new industry, SEO Consultants come from varied backgrounds. Each consultants previous line of work and route into SEO will have an effect on their favoured sort of optimisation method The main function of an SEO Consultant, however, remains the same and that is to establish and implement techniques that will better your rank within Google and other similar search engines.
Google, Yahoo and Bing have become exceedingly adept at sniffing out websites that have been manipulating their search engine rankings through the use of underhand SEO techniques. More often than not, penalties for these bad practices will result in a drop in their ranking pending an alteration in optimisation techniques, however in the worst case scenario a site can be totally de-listed from the search engine. As with all other industries there are good and bad consultants so you can use the following tips to help you to choose the right SEO consultant for you and avoid the chance of getting your website rankings penalised.
Does the SEO consultant respect SEO search engine guidelines and best practices? Search engine companies issue guidelines of how they wish to see websites built and marketed, they also list practices such as purchasing back links, website cloaking and hidden site content that will result in penalties. It is essential that your chosen SEO consultant practices only 'white hat' techniques and follows the set guidelines of the search engine companies as underhand techniques could damage your business and lead to significant problems for your site.
You need a consultant who offers results with a long-lived impact without compromising your brand. It would be severely detrimental for your ranking to begin to fluctuate erratically or suddenly drop following the hiring of an SEO consultant This type of problem could give customers a bad impression and damage your reputation, not to mention hinder business. Talk in depth with your consultant and find out exactly what they plan to do to optimise your site before they begin work, you may not comprehend everything that is said but the fact that you have questioned the consultant will encourage them to adopt a more methodical approach to your website.
Are their chosen strategies going to appeal to web users? A good SEO consultant will optimise a website with web users in mind first and rather than prioritising the search engine ranking. Websites should be designed to give visitors the best potential experience. Major search engine companies state that sites should comprise of well written, relevant content and be straightforward for users to navigate. One part of the role of an SEO professional is to assist you to enhance the content of your site and make it more relevant to specific search terms. Whilst it is important that this job is carried out, it is also vital to remember that your website is primarily for site visitors and not to simply rank as high as possible in searches. The majority of SEO consultants will happily provide examples of their previously optimised sites. It is important for you to visit these sites as it will allow you to gauge the quality of the content and your experience.
Surely quality is more important than quantity? The quality of the site visitor is much more important than the number of visitors. 100 site visitors and 10 sales is more helpful than 1000 visitors and no sales. This is all down to the keywords that you choose to target for your SEO campaign. Imagine that you deal in blue coloured Widgets. Favourable optimisation of your site for 'Widgets' due to your SEO campaign may attract huge amounts of traffic to your site but if your new visitors are only interested in yellow Widgets you are not likely to benefit from an increase in sales. You would be far more likely to benefit from increased sales by optimising the site for 'Blue Widgets' or 'Buy Blue Widgets'.
What services does the SEO consultant offer? It is vital to know exactly what services they are going to carry out. There are many consultants who offer clients an advisory role and having looked at and assessed your site will write a report telling you exactly what you need to do to make your site rank well. If you have your own in-house development team available that service will be adequate. Other consultants undertake all of the strategy work and implement it for you so be sure that you are aware of exactly what you are getting for your money.
What amount does the consultant charge? Whilst this is an obvious question, it is a complicated one too. When comparing quotes, be sure to make comparisons between services that are being offered like for like. Find out what the going rate would be for optimising a website equivalent to yours and question price quotes that appear very high or low. No professional SEO consultant will promise to get you to the number one position, as there are just too many variables to take into account.
Do you think you would get on well with the consultant? There is no need to become best mates but it is always helpful to have a good working relationship with your consultant. Consultants can either do the minimum to fulfil the terms of their contract or do their absolute best to get you the results you are looking for. If you have a great working relationship with your SEO consultant and are friendly with each other it is likely to mean you obtain the best results for your campaign.
Google, Yahoo and Bing have become exceedingly adept at sniffing out websites that have been manipulating their search engine rankings through the use of underhand SEO techniques. More often than not, penalties for these bad practices will result in a drop in their ranking pending an alteration in optimisation techniques, however in the worst case scenario a site can be totally de-listed from the search engine. As with all other industries there are good and bad consultants so you can use the following tips to help you to choose the right SEO consultant for you and avoid the chance of getting your website rankings penalised.
Does the SEO consultant respect SEO search engine guidelines and best practices? Search engine companies issue guidelines of how they wish to see websites built and marketed, they also list practices such as purchasing back links, website cloaking and hidden site content that will result in penalties. It is essential that your chosen SEO consultant practices only 'white hat' techniques and follows the set guidelines of the search engine companies as underhand techniques could damage your business and lead to significant problems for your site.
You need a consultant who offers results with a long-lived impact without compromising your brand. It would be severely detrimental for your ranking to begin to fluctuate erratically or suddenly drop following the hiring of an SEO consultant This type of problem could give customers a bad impression and damage your reputation, not to mention hinder business. Talk in depth with your consultant and find out exactly what they plan to do to optimise your site before they begin work, you may not comprehend everything that is said but the fact that you have questioned the consultant will encourage them to adopt a more methodical approach to your website.
Are their chosen strategies going to appeal to web users? A good SEO consultant will optimise a website with web users in mind first and rather than prioritising the search engine ranking. Websites should be designed to give visitors the best potential experience. Major search engine companies state that sites should comprise of well written, relevant content and be straightforward for users to navigate. One part of the role of an SEO professional is to assist you to enhance the content of your site and make it more relevant to specific search terms. Whilst it is important that this job is carried out, it is also vital to remember that your website is primarily for site visitors and not to simply rank as high as possible in searches. The majority of SEO consultants will happily provide examples of their previously optimised sites. It is important for you to visit these sites as it will allow you to gauge the quality of the content and your experience.
Surely quality is more important than quantity? The quality of the site visitor is much more important than the number of visitors. 100 site visitors and 10 sales is more helpful than 1000 visitors and no sales. This is all down to the keywords that you choose to target for your SEO campaign. Imagine that you deal in blue coloured Widgets. Favourable optimisation of your site for 'Widgets' due to your SEO campaign may attract huge amounts of traffic to your site but if your new visitors are only interested in yellow Widgets you are not likely to benefit from an increase in sales. You would be far more likely to benefit from increased sales by optimising the site for 'Blue Widgets' or 'Buy Blue Widgets'.
What services does the SEO consultant offer? It is vital to know exactly what services they are going to carry out. There are many consultants who offer clients an advisory role and having looked at and assessed your site will write a report telling you exactly what you need to do to make your site rank well. If you have your own in-house development team available that service will be adequate. Other consultants undertake all of the strategy work and implement it for you so be sure that you are aware of exactly what you are getting for your money.
What amount does the consultant charge? Whilst this is an obvious question, it is a complicated one too. When comparing quotes, be sure to make comparisons between services that are being offered like for like. Find out what the going rate would be for optimising a website equivalent to yours and question price quotes that appear very high or low. No professional SEO consultant will promise to get you to the number one position, as there are just too many variables to take into account.
Do you think you would get on well with the consultant? There is no need to become best mates but it is always helpful to have a good working relationship with your consultant. Consultants can either do the minimum to fulfil the terms of their contract or do their absolute best to get you the results you are looking for. If you have a great working relationship with your SEO consultant and are friendly with each other it is likely to mean you obtain the best results for your campaign.
About the Author:
Do you want to Find out more about SEO? My name is Ade Lewis and I am an SEO consultant providing a wide range of SEO services. No matter how large or small your business is, or at what stage of development your online presence is you will benefit from having an SEO expert on-board. I can help you succeed in gaining higher search engine rankings. Find more information on the website.
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