Some companies must choose an SEO consultant as part of a digital project. This professional has the knowledge and expertise to develop a presence on the internet and face the competition.
- But how to choose an SEO consultant to reference your sites on Google?
- What criteria should be taken into account?
- Why is an SEO consultant essential for your project?
The primary mission of a natural referencing consultant is to optimize a website. Technique, structure, and content are concerned.
This analysis aims to improve the visibility of web pages on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, or Bing.
However, this is not the only mission of the SEO expert profession:
- Do a keyword study
- Removing technical obstacles
- Imagine a backlinks strategy
Factors to consider when choosing an SEO consultant
The ethical dimension
SEO professionals have access to 3 optimization philosophies:
White hat SEO: all practices that respect search engine recommendations. They are effective in the long term.
Black hat SEO: approaches not recommended; they identify with spamdexing
The Gray hat approach: the limit between these two techniques
Although the objective and the work of SEO consultants are identical, the methods of natural referencing can diverge.
The SEO expert must be ethical and not apply techniques that are not recommended. Although the result is quick, they are harmful in the long term (blacklisting or Google sanctions).
Know your project to choose the right SEO expert
- Identify needed services
- Analyze your project to understand your business needs.
What are the skills and services required for your project?
• Profitable and competitive keyword research
• Content creation
• Write blog posts
• Do audits
• Create links and establish a backlinks strategy (take into account the theme, shape, and size)
How to Find a Good SEO Consultant?
After identifying the essential elements of your SEO, find the ideal natural referencing consultant:
• Search profiles
• List the candidates who stand out
• Read user reviews and feedback to get an idea of the experience
• Go to social networks to analyze your surroundings or your loved ones.
An SEO consultant can be part of the repertoire of someone you know. Be wary of speech and sales pitches. Some SEO professionals will do anything to get new clients, including making promises they can’t keep:
• No search engine rankings can be predicted
• Analyze prices to identify automated practices
• Claims of quick results: the work can be done in a few days.
However, the robots will take time to consider the results on the SEO of a website.
Ask All Questions
After you have narrowed down your list of SEO consultants and defined the necessary skills, do not hesitate to ask all your questions:
What are the guarantees of results?
A contract with a defined position cannot be realistic in organic SEO. Only creating an Adwords campaign allows you to have a quantified commitment.
But, it is possible to quantify the changes following the implementation of the SEO strategy:
- Traffic evolution
- View-generating keywords
- Landing page analysis
- Presence of backlinks
The media and sources of traffic (social networks, mobile, tablet, etc.)
The media and sources of traffic (social networks, mobile, tablet, etc.)
What is the return on investment?
Define metrics to measure ROI, like conversion rate. Creating a website and its optimization are often tools for gaining new customers and growing a business.
To understand the impact of SEO work, measure changes within leads, customers, and the database.
Is it possible to measure the results?
Beyond setting up natural referencing practices, the SEO consultant must be able to control and measure his work. Several tools are available to access encrypted data. Do not hesitate to ask for those of the chosen professional.
How is the progress of the work communicated?
Companies can see developments and changes directly on their website or the relevant web pages. However, you can request the creation of a virtual folder or file where all the steps are presented. In this way, you can have a precise idea of the actions carried out by the SEO expert.
Where to find the ideal SEO consultant for your project?
SEO professionals can carry out their activity in 4 different frameworks:
• As a freelancer, i.e., an independent worker (total autonomy)
• With the advertiser constantly monitoring and issuing technical recommendations
• Within an SEO agency or in web marketing (here, the work takes place in a team and respects the processes defined within the agency)
• Directly within companies, SEO professionals are part of internal teams.
The differences between these environments: collaborating with an agency SEO consultant
Recruiting internally is the most expensive option. You have to manage, but above all, employ several competent people (the marketing manager, the Google SEO experts, the PPC expert, the social network manager, the content writer, etc.) and pay salaries.
In addition, operating and management costs can be high.
Faced with this reality, outsourcing is an excellent alternative. In agencies, collaborate with trained, qualified, and competent teams.
The organization of a web marketing or SEO agency is divided into several stages:
• Draw up specifications to determine the needs and objectives: This approach is essential in a redesign project or for a new website. It ensures that all the key elements will be considered during the SEO teams’ work. Work orientation is also facilitated. Having several actors on the project, all tasks must be defined.
• Conduct an SEO audit to identify all blocking factors and find appropriate solutions
• Implement the recommendations
• Develop the content, either by optimizing it or by creating new articles
• Establish net linking actions to increase the popularity of the site
To carry out these different steps, he has specific tools. There is, therefore, a saving of time and money.
All the advantages of working with a freelance SEO Collaborating with a freelancer can also have several benefits. Indeed, they are no less attractive than web marketing or SEO agencies:
• You can save time
• Often cheaper than agencies, SEO freelancers can be interesting if you have a smaller budget.
• These freelancers in natural referencing rely on the quality of their work to find new customers and thus activate word-of-mouth. Faced with this reality, experts come up with original and innovative ideas.
• Control the actions carried out; this natural referencing consultant is open and pedagogical, unlike agencies that sometimes lack time.
• Benefit from a freelance SEO consultant’s innovative, unique, and personalized ideas. Agencies often carry out the actions in sequence.
All companies, therefore, end up with the same strategies.
• Access the same results
• Have a single point of contact
Finally, agencies often call on freelancers to complete their teams. Avoid agency fees by contacting these types of SEO consultants directly.
How To Find A Good Seo Consultant For Your Project?
To choosing an SEO consultant, consider your goals and needs. Each business is unique.
Consider:
• Actions already implemented
• The existing marketing system
• Requirements
• Resources
• Budget
• The corporate culture
Plus, interact with different agencies and freelancers. The feeling and the first contact are two essential elements for the success of your strategy. The SEO collaboration generally lasts between 6 months and 1 year. It is, therefore, necessary to be accompanied by collaborators who live up to your expectations.
Several criteria allow you to choose the right SEO consultant for your digital project. The choice must be made according to your objectives and the needs of your business. In natural referencing, the key to success is to have a personalized approach adapted to your sector of activity.
