How To Hire an SEO Expert

If you’re looking to improve your website’s digital presence, the chances are you’ve looked into SEO services. But perhaps you’re still looking for the best advise on how to hiring an SEO expert that can help drive results to your business?

In this blog, we’re going to be taking a look at how to go about hiring an SEO expert, exploring everything from what search engine optimisation is, to the key questions you should ask potential SEO consultants.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimisation”. It is the process of optimising a website to rank higher in search engine results.

Many search engines, such as Google, use algorithms to determine where a website should rank in SERPs. The factors that go into these algorithms are constantly changing, but some of the things that they look at include the website’s content, backlinks, and keywords relating to their business niche.

Why do you want to hire SEO experts?

If you’re looking to market your business successfully, it’s essential to ensure that your website is optimised for search engines. Otherwise, you could be missing out a vast market for potential customers and sales. Fortunately, various SEO experts can help you with digital marketing campaigns. Here are four reasons why you should consider implementing an SEO strategy.

You often get SEO experts that specialise in specific areas such as WordPress or Ecommerce platforms like Magento or Shopify.

1. They Can Help You Rank Higher in Search Results

One of the main benefits of hiring SEO experts is that they can help your search engine rankings. This is important because it can lead to more organic traffic to your website and, as a result, more sales. The higher you rank, the more visible you’ll be to potential customers. And if you’re not ranking at all, it’s unlikely that anyone will find your website.

2. They Can Help You Optimise Your Website for Mobile Search

Another benefit of hiring SEO experts is that they can help you optimise your website for mobile search. This is important because more and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to search for businesses and products online. If your website isn’t optimised for mobile phones, it will be difficult for potential customers to find it.

3. They Can Help You Increase Your Website’s Traffic

SEO experts can also help you increase your website’s organic traffic. This is important because the more traffic you have, the more opportunities you’ll have to convert visitors into customers. There are several ways to increase traffic, such as backlinking and social media marketing.

4. They Can Help You Save Time

Finally, hiring SEO experts can help you save time. This is important because if you’re trying to do everything yourself, it can be time-consuming and challenging to keep up with the latest trends. When you hire someone to handle your website’s optimisation, you’ll be able to focus on other aspects of your business.

How much does it cost to hire an SEO expert?

Several factors will affect the cost of hiring an SEO expert, including the size and scope of your project, the location of your business, and the experience level of the consultant you hire. Generally, costs will depend on the specific needs of your business. At Ignite SEO company, we offer a range of affordable SEO services starting at just £450 for a comprehensive SEO audit.

Top Questions to ask when hiring an SEO Consultant:

Now we’ve explored what SEO experts do, let’s take a look at the important questions to ask and how to hire an SEO expert:

What sets you apart from other SEO experts?

When hiring an SEO expert, an important question is what sets their SEO strategies apart from the rest. A reputable and experienced SEO agency should be able to answer this question confidently. This also helps give you an idea of what you can expect when hiring them as your SEO specialist.

What tools do you use for search engine optimisation campaigns?

An experienced SEO consultant will use various tools to help with their search engine optimization campaigns. These include keyword research, competitor analysis, link building, and more. Often, experienced SEO professionals will be able to justify why they use specific tools and how they can benefit their clients.

As an experienced SEO agency, can you summarise an SEO strategy and what it entails?

The best search engine optimization agencies should be able to give you a general overview of their SEO strategies and explain how they will benefit your business.

This will include the different stages of SEO campaigns, including niche keyword research, competitor analysis, on-page optimisation and link building. If an SEO strategist is unable or unwilling to provide you with this basic information, likely, they’re not as experienced as they claim to be.

If you looking to understand the basics of link building, check out this video from AHREFS:

How long will it take to see ranking results?

This is a common question that clients ask SEO experts. And while it’s understandable to want to see results as soon as possible, the reality is that SEO takes time. Often, your SEO efforts can take a few weeks to show results. SEO specialists that guarantee immediate results are likely not being truthful with you.

How do you measure digital marketing progress?

Many SEO agencies will measure progress by ranking keywords. However, this is not the only metric that should be looked at. Other important metrics include website traffic, leads/sales, and conversions. These are all critical indicators of whether or not an SEO campaign is successful.

How frequently do you send out reports?

SEO experts will often send out monthly reports to their clients. However, the frequency of these reports can vary. Some may send weekly or bi-weekly reports, while others only send monthly reports. Finding an agency that sends out reports at a frequency you’re comfortable with is essential for good communication.

Do you inform clients about technical site changes?

Technical site changes are a necessary part of any SEO campaign. These changes include site structure, redirects, canonical tags, and more. It’s essential to find an SEO expert that keeps their clients informed of these changes and how they will impact the SEO plan.

Can I see a list of previous client work references?

Any reputable and experienced SEO agency should have a list of previous client work references. This is a great way to see the types of past clients they’ve worked with in the past and the results they achieved for them.

What problems do you notice on our site?

An SEO expert will look at your website before giving you a proposal for an SEO campaign. They should be able to identify any technical problems that may be holding your site back from ranking higher in the search engines.

Do you stay current with SEO trends?

It’s crucial to find an agency that stays current with SEO trends. The SEO landscape is constantly changing; what worked last year may not work in the future. A good agency will always be up-to-date on the latest trends and use Google Analytics and various other tools to adjust campaigns accordingly.

However, if you’d prefer to give SEO a go yourself, you can follow our guide on ‘How to Become an SEO Expert‘.

Evaluating Technical SEO Expertise

When it comes to hiring an SEO expert, their understanding of technical SEO is non-negotiable. But how do you assess this expertise effectively? A true SEO professional will be adept at optimising the foundational elements of your website that significantly impact its performance on search engines.

Understanding Website Structure

One of the first indicators of a professional SEO expert is their ability to assess and improve your website’s structure. This goes beyond simply organising pages; it involves crafting a site that is easy for both users and search engines to navigate.

A well-structured site means that your content is logically arranged, allowing search engine bots to crawl and index your pages efficiently. This is cricital for improving your visibility online in search engine results pages (SERPs).

The expert should ensure that all internal links are relevant and that the site’s hierarchy supports easy access to important content. This structure not only enhances user experience but also signals to search engines that your site is trustworthy and well-organized.

Enhancing Site Speed

Site speed is a critical component of technical SEO that directly impacts your rankings. A slow-loading website frustrates users and can lead to higher bounce rates, which negatively affects your position on SERPs.

An SEO expert should be well-versed in techniques to optimise your site speed. This includes strategies like compressing images, leveraging browser caching, and minifying code. They should also understand the importance of reducing server response times and optimising the delivery of content, particularly for mobile users.

These enhancements not only improve user experience but also boost your site’s ranking potential by aligning with search engine algorithms that prioritise fast, responsive websites.

Ensuring Mobile-Friendliness

With the majority of searches now conducted on mobile devices, ensuring your site is mobile-friendly is non-negotiable. A professional SEO expert should be skilled in creating a mobile-optimised website that delivers a seamless experience across all devices.

This includes making sure that the site is fully responsive, meaning it automatically adjusts to fit different screen sizes. Additionally, they should focus on a well-optimized website for touch navigation, ensuring fast load times on mobile networks, and avoiding common issues like unplayable content or poor usability on smaller screens.

By prioritising mobile-friendliness, you not only enhance the user experience but also improve your chances of ranking higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Integrating Technical SEO with Overall SEO Strategy

In addition to these technical elements, a well-rounded SEO expert will be able to integrate technical SEO with your overall SEO strategy. This includes ensuring that technical optimisations complement content strategies, off-page SEO efforts, and the broader goals of your business.

They should be able to demonstrate how improvements in site structure, speed, and mobile usability contribute to higher rankings, better user engagement, and ultimately, greater online success.

By evaluating an expert’s technical SEO skills, you ensure that your website is not only visible to search engines but also optimised to deliver the best possible user experience, driving your site towards sustained SEO success.

Integrating SEO with Your Marketing Team

Successfully incorporating an SEO expert into your existing marketing team can revolutionise your approach, making your marketing efforts more cohesive and data-driven. When SEO is integrated seamlessly, it can amplify the effectiveness of your overall strategy, driving better results across all channels.

Conducting Keyword Research

This becomes a collaborative effort when an SEO expert works alongside your marketing professionals. Together, they can identify the most relevant terms and phrases that resonate with your target audience.

This collaboration ensures that the content produced is not only engaging but also optimised for search engines, increasing your brand’s visibility and improving your web presence.

Leveraging Marketing Tools

like Google Analytics, SEMrush, or Ahrefs, the SEO expert can provide insights that inform your broader marketing strategy. These tools help in understanding what’s working and what needs adjustment, allowing your team to make data-driven decisions that boost overall online success.

Work with Other Marketing Professionals

This ensures that SEO isn’t operating in a silo. Instead, it becomes an integral part of your content creation, social media, and paid advertising strategies. For instance, an SEO expert can guide the team on how to optimise blog posts, landing pages, and social media content to better engage with your target audience.

This not only improves your search engine results pages (SERPs) rankings but also supports organic social media growth by making your content more relevant and shareable.

Create a solid SEO strategy

Enhancing your marketing team’s ability to track performance and refine campaigns over time. By analysing the impact of SEO efforts, you can adjust your approach to maximise results.

This integration ultimately leads to a more robust and successful marketing strategy, where every aspect—from SEO to content to social media—works together to build a stronger, more visible brand online.

In a Nutshell?

In short, integrating an SEO expert with your marketing team is about creating a unified approach that leverages the strengths of each role to achieve greater online success.

Whether it’s through enhanced keyword targeting, strategic use of marketing tools, or a cohesive content strategy, the collaboration ensures your brand stands out in the crowded digital market.

SEO Consultant FAQ’s:

At Ignite SEO, we often get asked various questions regarding hiring an SEO expert; here are a few of the most common ones and our answers.

Are SEO experts worth it?

If you’re unfamiliar with all the ins and outs of SEO, working with an experienced consultant can be a great way to learn more about the topic and ensure that you take all the necessary steps to improve your website’s visibility and ranking. Ignite SEO offer SEO consulting services.

SEO experts can help improve search engine rankings. An experienced SEO expert can help you tweak your website content and build high-quality inbound links, which can significantly impact your search engine rankings. Additionally, SEO experts assist with keyword research. They can help you identify a list of target keywords and determine which ones are most likely to generate traffic.

Website traffic data analysis is also an excellent tool that an SEO agency offers. Analysing what visitors are doing can provide valuable insights into which parts of your website are performing well and attracting visitors and which parts could use some improvement. Overall, the ROI on investing in digital marketing services and hiring an SEO expert is high, meaning you can be sure that SEO campaigns will make a massive difference to your online marketing.

Where can I get SEO experts?

There are many places where you can find a good SEO specialist. Often, you can find them through online directories or online forums. However, the best way to find SEO experts is to use a SEO companies that you can search for online. If you’re looking to hire SEO experts, this can be a great way to find professionals in their field.

Who is the world’s no. 1 SEO expert?

Whilst no set person can be defined as ‘The World’s No.1 SEO Expert’, there are various key things to look for when finding an SEO specialist. As explored above, these include asking relevant questions about experience, strategy and analysis. These factors will be important in their digital marketing strategy and will help you decide who is the right SEO specialist for you.

Ignite SEO are an experienced SEO company with years of industry experience. With a results-driven approach and numerous previous clients, you can be assured that we have the SEO knowledge to help drive results for your business.

When should I hire an SEO consultant?

If your business is not doing well online, it may be time to for outsourcing SEO services or get a proper consultation. When you hire SEO experts, you are laying the foundations to improve your website’s online visibility and implement a great digital marketing strategy.

There are several factors to consider when deciding whether or not to invest in SEO marketing. Firstly, you must consider your budget. SEO marketing services can range in price, depending on the size of your business and the scope of work required. Next, evaluate your current situation. Hiring an SEO freelancer may be a good option if you’re not happy with your current ranking in search engines or if you’re not getting enough traffic to your website. Finally, consider the future of your business. If you plan to grow your business in the future, investing in SEO marketing can help you build a solid foundation for growth.

If you’re ready to take your business to the next level, contact an experienced SEO consultant today. With their help, you can improve your online presence and attract more customers.