If you do not have an online presence at all, or if you are online but your website doesn’t show up on the first page of search engines when someone looks up your name or services, then it means that you are loosing a lot of customers. Better visibility on search results can make a great difference to your business by boosting your visibility online.
If you lack the time to do this, or if you lack the expertise, then it is essential that you hire an SEO expert. They have the skills and experience to improve your online visibility. When looking to hire a professional, here are the most important questions that you should ask them.
Can you tell me which companies you have worked for in the past?
By asking for a list of their clients, you can tell whether they have worked for reputable businesses and check whether they were able to deliver results or not. By checking out their references, you can verify whether their claims are true or not. This will help you know whether you are working with a reliable person or not.
Their formers clients can verify whether they were able to see any changes in traffic to their site or conversion rates.
What strategies do you use?
There are so many ways of improving online rankings. Some of these methods are white hat, while there are some black hat strategies that can also get you results. Talk to the individual, so that you can determine whether their strategies are okay or not.
If the individual uses black hat tactics, then it is advisable not to use their services since they can get your website banned by search engines. Only go for service providers who are willing to follow webmaster guidelines and best practices.
How will you measure the success of your SEO campaigns?
It is important that there is a way to measure the results achieved. This way, you can both keep track of any progress that is being made. Without an evaluation, you won’t be able to tell whether the professional is improving things for your business or not.
Therefore, there should be some measurement tactics used to analyze performance. For instance, the person can measure changes in traffic and even be able to tell you where your new traffic is coming from. They should also tell you links from other websites that are driving people to your site.
How will you communicate?
It is important that the professional communicates with you on a regular basis. This way, you can know what is going on with your site. The person can also communicate changes that they want to make on the site. This way, you can either approve or disapprove any changes that they want made.
You can ask them which method they are most comfortable using to communicate. This can be through email, phone calls, text messages or video calling. Having a variety of ways to get in touch with the person is advisable since you can be assured that you can reach them anytime that you need to.
You also need to know how often they will communicate so that you can be available for them. Avoid being unavailable since it might be hard for the professionals to progress with the project unless they have sought clarifications on some issues.
Payment
Discuss the costs and pricing structure to be used. Some individuals can be quite expensive, due to their level of experience, while there are some service providers that are quite affordable. You need to compare costs so that you can find someone whose services you can afford.
You then need to agree on how much you will pay right from the start. You can pay a retainer on a monthly basis or you can pay per project or per hour. Choose what works for you and the service provider.
Just keep in mind that this is not a one-off service. You will need to use the services for a couple of months before you can see any significant changes to your online presence. Project complexity also affects price. More complex projects are much more expensive.
