If your business website does not appear on the first page of Bing, Yahoo, or Google, then you are losing a lot of potential business. Your clients are out there and they utilize these search engines to look for the products or services that you are offering. Keep on mind that with the right SEO campaigns, your website can rank better on the search engine results pages (SERPs). With improved visibility, your business will enjoy increased brand awareness and higher sales.
Search Engine Optimization is something that should be done full time and not just when you are free. For lasting results, consistency is key. If you lack the technical knowledge and time to boost your website ranking, then you need to hire the right SEO consultant. However, this does not mean that you just hire the first professional that you come across. There are a few important questions that you should ask when finding an SEO specialist.
Can you provide a list of clients who can vouch for you?
A good SEO specialist will also be eager to share a list of their former and current clients. You should use these references to weigh the reliability of the SEO expert that you are considering. You should determine whether they offered excellent services to their clients. It is best for you to contact about 5 references and talk to them about the services offered by the SEO consultant and whether their website ranking improved.
How do you boost ranking on SERPs?
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, there are no guarantees. Therefore, it is important to avoid SEO consultants who give unrealistic promises on ensuring your website gets the topmost ranking. A good professional will explain how they will boost the ranking of your website and why his/her strategies yield the best results.
A reputable SEO company like Webmetrix Group should take their own time to explain in details the strategies and methodologies that will employ to help improve your ranking on the SERPs. In addition, the SEO consultant should provide an estimate of how long it will take for him/her to achieve these results. The SEO consultant should begin with an initial website review so as to detect and rectify any problems with your site that may be affecting your ranking.
Do you follow the search engine guidelines?
When hiring an SEO professional, you must ensure that he/she adheres to the set search engines webmaster guidelines. These are webmaster best practices that are posted publicly. These practices forbid 12 SEO tricks such as generating spammy content and adding bogus texts and hidden links. When you fail to follow these guidelines you may end up getting a lower ranking or your website may be banned from the SERPs. Bing and Yahoo also have webmaster best practices. You must ensure that you hire a consultant who is conversant with these guidelines.
Are you experienced in enhancing local search results?
Small businesses can benefit immensely from the local search engine results. Therefore, you must ensure that your website is optimized for local searches. You should always hire a specialist who has immense experience improving the local search results. This way, your website will be ranked highly among the local searches for relevant keywords. To achieve this, a great SEO consultant will add your business city and state to the title tags and Meta descriptions of your website. They will also ensure that your website is listed on Bing, Yahoo, and Google’s local listings. This will help to boost your rankings for searches in your geographical area.
How do you gauge success?
Effective SEO professional should gauge the success of their campaigns. This is usually achieved by tracking the number of traffic that is sent to your website and where the leads are coming from. You need a professional who is experienced in using Google Analytics so that he/she can easily track improvements in your SERP rankings.
What are your charges?
When hiring an SEO specialist, you need someone that you can afford. Determine whether the professional is paid per the project, hourly, or by a retainer. When it comes to SEO, most common mode of payment is project based.
By asking all the above-mentioned questions, you will always hire the right consultant for the job. You should ensure that you hire a professional that you feel great working with and have the necessary experience. When you hire the right professional, he/she will take your business to a whole new level.
