How you know you are Hiring the Right SEO Expert for your Business

With literally hundreds of self-proclaimed SEO experts across Canada, how to know you’ve hired the right digital marketing and search engine optimization expert is challenging. Research is time-consuming and knowing that marketing results will only come in months later, if you’ve hired the wrong person, it will take weeks to figure it out.

If you’ve just gotten involved in small business marketing and/or are seeking to start a new marketing campaign, hiring a qualified, experienced SEO expert is a necessity. They can help build out a strong marketing plan, getting you seen on search engines such as Google and may be able to help spread the word across other engines, including social media.

That said, anyone can claim they are an ‘SEO Expert’. So what anyone would want to go on, initially, are the websites and campaigns they’ve already worked on. Take a look through their portfolio and ask specifically what they were responsible for. Sometimes, someone presenting as an expert on search engine optimization may be more skilled in social media marketing, non-SEO digital marketing, email marketing, or other strategies. Before accepting anyone onto your marketing team, thoroughly evaluate their credentials in their specific category.

When consulting with an SEO expert, identify with them the goals you want to accomplish with a search engine optimization campaign. If their responsibilities are clearly outlined and they are committed to achieving specific goals, it will be easier to measure success. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about their background and get a sense of their marketing philosophy in terms of whether it is to gain exposure, attract customers, increase conversion rates, or another target.

Search engine optimization strategies vary as the search engine algorithms change. What worked a decade ago may not be so successful today. When hiring an SEO expert, it ultimately comes down to if you believe they can get the job done right for you. If they are not communicating confidence and/or are not able to share a solid background in SEO, they may not be worth taking on as a partner. If worse comes to worse and your choice does not produce the kinds of results you want, after a set period, you can simply end the business relationship and find a new partner.

Do keep in mind that building the right SEO marketing team takes time. There are no guarantees and search engines are a highly competitive space. It can take time for strategies to work and if some don’t, it does not necessarily mean you chose wrong or that you invested in the wrong partner. Remember that even with a highly qualified SEO expert, sometimes, failure happens.

In your marketing, you deserve to be with an SEO expert who believes in your business and who is willing to do whatever it takes to get your website to where it needs to be. By investing the time to consider a few search engine optimization marketing agencies or individuals, it can give a better idea into who is worth believing in and who makes you feel at ease.