Hiring out your search engine optimization (SEO) services instead of relying on an in-house worker who “kind of did SEO work once upon a time” is one of the savviest moves any business can make.
Unfortunately, the industry has no widely accepted standards for proving SEO expertise, such as a degree in SEO. This means anyone can call themselves an SEO guru and get away with it. Did your grandson once build a website and now says he can take care of your SEO? Did your sister-in-law work for an SEO agency that mysteriously went bankrupt — yet she claims she has all the expertise necessary to guarantee you a top ranking? These are big red flags.
For starters, nobody can guarantee top ranking for any keyword or key phrase. If they do, it’s a sign that they either don’t know SEO or are happy to exaggerate to get your business. Some companies also attempt to build their own, in-house team. This can technically work, but only if you’re an enterprise with deep pockets. Few businesses need a full-time, permanent SEO crew and even fewer can afford it.
This is one arena where hiring out services almost always works best. Just make sure you know who you’re hiring.
Since nobody can guarantee a top ranking, how can you tell a high-quality SEO company from a subpar one?
They should still be able to give you concrete goals based on analytics. After running an analysis, the professionals will walk you through what’s working and what’s not with your current strategy — and then explain the steps they’ll take in one month, three months, and over longer stretches to improve your SEO. Depending on the current state of your website, you could see clear improvements in just a couple of days, or it may take several weeks.
For example, if you don’t have original content, your website is slow, there’s no mobile readiness and you have zero keyword/key phrase strategies, then as soon as these items are fixed you’ll start seeing improvement in organic traffic. However, if you hired quality SEO strategists to begin with and they’ve just now dropped the ball, your website may not need as much TLC. In this case, your SEO can still be improved, but it may take longer to see concrete results.
However, what if your best friend, nephew, brother-in-law, or someone else in your personal life really is a great SEO professional? Even better, what it they give you a deal? This is still a situation you should be cautious about, because if something goes wrong, your personal relationships can be damaged. If an outside professional is hired, nothing personal can pop up. However, it’s easy for either side of a personal-turned-professional relationship to start asking for favors, putting off tasks assuming the other person will understand, and generally struggling with professionalism. These complications can hurt your business.
It can be hazardous to hire someone you know personally, someone already on your team without SEO expertise, or a full-time, in-house SEO professional taking care of your SEO campaigns. The risks simply aren’t worth the potential benefits. Instead, contact Be Locally SEO today to design a custom, a-la-carte service that perfectly fits your business’ needs and budget.
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