5 Things to Consider Before Hiring Someone to do SEO

After several months, lots of money and tons of work, we needed to reassess our choice to hire an SEO company. 

It seems like everyone is promoting SEO these days. Whether it is a shady, sub-par designer claiming they know how to get your site to #1 on Google, or a white-hat professional who writes excellent content, the message from the web is clear: "You need SEO".

But do you? Here are 5 things to consider before choosing to pay for search engine optimization.

1. SEO takes a long time.

Seeing your website on the top of a Google search results page does not come quick or easy. You will need to develop search-result oriented content that attracts readers, and contains numerous key words. As well, you will need to continually develop your SEO strategy as Google consistently changes the ways in which sites are ranked. Not only will the content need to be created, edited and developed, but you will have to be patient when your content does not get you the results you expected right away. The best analogy I have heard in regards to the success of SEO is that it is like doing push-ups or going to the gym: you have to work every day for an extended period of time to see results; going as hard as you can for just a few times will burn energy without providing tangible, long-term results. Budget at least 6 months.

2. It costs lots of $$$

SEO costs a lot. It just does. You may have seen someone offering SEO services for cheap, but chances are that the SEO company offering the deal will not be able to hold up their end of the bargain. That is because true SEO requires time and attention to detail. When we were moving full-steam with our hired SEO service, we added 3 articles a week to our content, made regular posts on social media platforms, and continually tried to optimize every aspect of our website. This type of attention to detail ran us a bill of $2000/month, for content and social media alone. It was not a lack of service that caused our decision to take our SEO in-house, but because we did not realize  enough sales from SEO marketing to justify the cost of it. This was not due to the performance of our website, but due to our company not being as marketable via SEO. Instead of finding us on a web search, many of our clients come to us through word-of-mouth, referrals, or after receiving our email bulletins. Though an outside SEO service wasn't for us, if hiring an SEO company gets your business more $ than you spend on moving up on Google, it is obviously a good investment.

3.Does an SEO Strategy Fit with your Business?

SEO can work wonders for your company's brand and sales. However, it is up to you to determine if your company will truly benefit from hiring an SEO firm. Keep in mind what you are hoping your customers are searching for, as well as if it is the type of search that results in sales. For instance, if someone is looking to buy running shoes, the first result is quite important, especially if the company sells online. The reason for this is because so long as the online store is reputable and carries the most common brands, they are basically the same as any other online shoe store with an added edge of being the first result. But what if it is a large purchase, or for services? With larger purchases, people often take more time to decide and comparison shop. With services, people may gravitate towards a "word-of-mouth" recommendation from a friend or choose to support a service that can be reached locally.  Of course, it will take time and perhaps a few pitfalls before determining whether or not search results with boost your business.  Ultimately, it will be up to you to determine if SEO is the best option to sell your services, or if there is another marketing avenue.

4. You will need a web presence regardless

Although you may decide that your products/services aren't the greatest fit for an SEO marketing strategy, you must remember that you still need to have a presence online. Over 1 billion people are on Facebook. If you don't think that warrants attention, you have either retired or your business is failing. Although our company has decided on a different strategy than creating tons of new SEO content, we are still very much online. Instead of focusing on the creation of content for our website, we are trying to expand our reach on Twitter and Facebook. Essentially, we have decided to use the web to build relationships with potential clients rather than to try to get attention on Google.

5. SEO is "organic"

No, this is not some new-age hippy description of web marketing. What "organic" means here is that Google (and most other search engines) strive to produce search results that reflect what the searcher is looking for. So naturally, a site that offers the most congruent information to the search term will be a top result. Google does not care that you spend money on your website. Sites that reflect what the searcher is looking for will obviously be "better" search results, and will move..."organically", to the top. So, it doesn't matter if you or your SEO developer thinks that the content on your site is worthwhile of a #1 place on a Google search results page - it is essentially up to everyone who is on the internet. To get to #1 on Google, it is not a matter of money or even the quality of your content necessarily, but if your site is contains what people want to find. Before you begin your SEO, think of what sites offer similar information. For instance, as government grant writers, we were in direct competition with government sites for many search terms. As government sites are generally reputable and contain tons of information on government grants, we had a tremendously difficult time trying to compete for #1.  

5 +1.  You must be aggressive and rank exponentially.

On Google, it is easy to move your site up a few spots initially. However, it has been speculated that the closer your site gets to being #1 on a results page, the harder it is to get there (i.e. every time your site moves up a spot, the next spot is harder to reach). What this means is that the higher your page is ranked, the harder you have to work to maintain your position/move up. It is important to know what you are up against before hiring an SEO company. Look at your competition and determine whether it is feasible or worthwhile to try and compete with them on Google. Moreover, look at their SEO strategies and determine if you will be able to keep up with your budget and number of employees. One of our main competitors has a powerful SEO team/strategy, with a number of employees dedicated wholly to SEO. Although we are a better company, of course, their SEO has been tremendously effective- causing us to look at other marketing avenues.

For information on government programs, and to look at some of our SEO content, please visit www.inacservices.com