No matter what type of business you own, it is important to invest in search engine optimization to get noticed by the potential customers. SEO is a complex task and requires extensive experience for successful execution. Hence, you should hire a seasoned SEO expert for your website optomization campaign. Now, when you search for “seo consultant” in Google, thousands of results may appear, but selection must be done cautiously. If you hire a wrong consultant, it will result in financial loss as well as poor SERP ranking. Here are some mistakes you must not make while hiring a SEO consultant for your thriving business.
Too much attention to keyword ranking:
Keyword is a major part of SEO, but unless you know which keywords truly matter for your business, the SEO professional can dupe you. Some SEO experts will send you a list of keywords and show you that your site is getting number 1 rank for 2-3 keywords. Ironically, ranking only matters if the specific keywords bring traffic to your site. Suppose your business is getting first and tenth position on SERP for 2 specific keywords. Now, if the top ranking keyword is responsible for only $1000 revenue generation and low ranking keyword is responsible for $5000 revenue generation, then is your SEO campaign on the right track? Use your intelligence and always ask about ROI to understand the true nature of a SEO consultant. It is wise to work with a professional who knows what matters the most. Otherwise, you will spend thousands of dollars, he will keep showing you number one rank in SEO reports, but your business will never make any profit.
Promises made that can’t be fulfilled: SEO is a time taking process and if any SEO consultant tells you that he will bring your site on number 1 spot within a month, stay away from him. He is just lying to you so that you sign the contract. A reliable SEO executive will tell you how long it will take to notice improvements in traffic and conversion rate after methodical research on your industry, competition and goals.
Going for the lowest rate: You may like to hire someone who charges $500 a month for your campaign management, but think again, can you get any quality service at very cheap rates these days? Quality service comes with a hefty price tag and this is true for SEO services like any other industry. Don’t hire someone who offers unbelievable rates and rather go for someone who asks for relaistic service charges. In fact, a seasoned SEO expert can charge thousands of dollars per month. If you can’t spend so much money immediately, take care of small SEO tasks such as article submission, guest posting, social media share etc. inhouse and later when you have enough money, hire a reputed professional. As long as high investment results in great revenue, spening money should not be an issue.
Trap of packages: You must have seen some SEO consultants offer “silver”, “gold” and “platinum” packages, with pre-determined SEO strategy. You should not opt for these packages because a professional SEO campaign is 100% custom made after meticulous research on client’s goals. For example, an ecommerce business owner may need to invest 60% of his total budget on PPC ads while a medicine supplier may invest a lot on article marketing. It all depends on the industry and target customers’ behavior.
Organic traffic is enough: It is good to have organic traffic, but if a SEO consultant tells you that only organic traffic is good for your business, then stay away from that man as he lacks knowledge. Your site may fall behind if you rely completely on organic traffic due to a number of reasons. First of all, a competitor with better SEO strategy can take your rank away. Secondly, Google may suddenly release an algorithm update and your site will lose its rank. So, it is wise to hire someone who suggests you a diverse SEO strategy. It can include PPC, content marketing, SEO, and display ads besides organic SEO.
Always remember that you are investing your hard earned money in SEO to get some results and it is intelligent to consider various factors before signing the contract. Don’t make the mistakes mentioned above to ensure the success of your SEO campaign.