10 QUESTIONS You Should Ask Before You Hire Any SEO Service Provider
I can bet the last time you searched for the words Seo Service Provider while searching for a firm you wanted to hire, you got more results than you could filter. You have probably learnt that the key to getting more customers that are looking to get your service through search engines is through search engine optimization.
You learnt well, and maybe you have also decided to outsource your company’s SEO to a firm. I will say that’s a good decision too, only you now have to choose between the long list of firms who are promising to take you to the top of the search engine so your potential customers who are looking for you can find you spot on.
The truth is any group of people who have just finished a course in SEO basics or who just read SEO for dummies can promise you heaven and paradise so you could hire them but just wait. SEO firms who can get the job done will answer these 10 questions to your satisfaction and these questions I think will help you in deciding which firm exactly is the right firm for you to hire.
1. What do you want from SEO Service Provider?
SEO services usually vary with deliverables. What exactly is your goal in the business you are doing? Do you want leads or traffic for your website or sales leads or conversions or emails. SEOs expertise usually vary and this is what would determine the right SEO firm for you.
2. What will the SEO firm do?
Yes, we both know they are supposed to help optimize your search engine chances of getting to the top page so you could get more customers or results (depending on your answer to the first question). What you want to know is how they would make that happen. How would they build the links and generate rankings?
3. Who have they worked for before?
The evidence that an SEO firm can do what they claim they can do is the fact that they have done it before. If an SEO firm cannot refer a company in your niche or related that they have helped achieve the same results you want, you might want to move over to the next person on your list.( Oh! Yes, you should have a list)
4. How long before ROI?
Well, except you are a philanthropist or a charity organisation, and even if you are, you would need to see the returns of your investment in SEO. Asking when you would start to notice results which will depend on what you are focusing on will determine whether they know what your potential SEO is the right one. SEO is relatively a long term tactic and anyone who promises you tomorrow morning will be fooling you. Also, this doesn’t mean it should take half a year.
5. What quick fixes will you use?
If anyone offers you quick fixes like buying links, keyword stuffing or any of those stuffs, you should fire such firms before hiring them. There are no quick fixes to SEO. If you get ranked on the top very fast, you will come down faster.
6. What part of their package focuses on content?
Have you heard the adage ‘Content is King’? Well, every word of that is true. If your SEO has nothing to do with content and just promises every other thing, you should move on. If you are not generating content, You are not building links and if you are not building links, search engines can’t find you. More importantly, not just content, great content is the key.
7. How do they measure success?
One of the ways to identify a good SEO firms is through their metrics of success? So when you run through your list, this question should be put across to every one of them. If anyone measures success through rankings only, then you should run. Anybody can tweak lines of codes to get you ranked in one week. Staying ranked is what matters and not just anybody can do that.
8. How will they report their results?
A good SEO firm will hand you analytics and results. This will not show you how much you are spending and what your money is getting for you, it will also show the worth of the SEO and how well they can convert your money into results.
9. How many long term clients do they have?
This fact is a pointer to how well they can deliver. If they have clients that have stayed for the long term, it means one thing at the least, they can deliver over a long term contract.
10. Do they have an overall strategy?
SEO is a part of online marketing and what enhances SEO is not just an SEO-strategy but an overall strategy that incorporates social media marketing, email marketing, content generation and a host of other marketing strategies to optimize your search engine chances so your customers can locate you.
I am sure there are a host of other questions you can ask your potential SEO Service Provider. What else do you consider important. Please share in the comments section.
