5 Signs You Need to Hire
a New SEO Consultant
1. Everything’s Old
Any SEO who really knows their stuff will be able to confirm one simple fact: the industry is always changing. Always. Anyone who works within it spends at least 10% of their week reading up on the latest marketing techniques, software, and algorithm changes. If they don’t do so, then their methods can be out of date within a year or so. Fortunately, there’s a good way to avoid those who don’t do their homework. Get on the web and simply search for articles that cover the big changes in the industry during the last six months or so. Then test the hell out of anyone you’re considering paying money to!
2. Nothing’s Specific
One of the benefits of the digital marketing industry is that it’s one of the most definable forms of marketing in the business world. The evidence is right there, available for all to see; here is how many customers you’re getting, here is where they’re coming from and here is where they’re converting, and, most importantly, here is the amount by which your sales have increased as a result of online traffic. You should be seriously concerned if you’re not being shown this information by your SEO firm. Ask for evidence that the work is paying off. If it is, then your agency should be more than capable of proving so.
3. Nothing’s Readable
In 2013, your SEO should be approaching written content the same way that a magazine would. It should be written by English-speaking, professional wordsmiths who actually care about their craft. What’s more, it should actually have something to say. If your SEO firm is still churning out 250-word articles about nothing (articles that no-one’s reading), then it may well be time to say goodbye.
4. There’s an Unfair Balance
Whilst high quality written content is essential to the SEO world, that doesn’t mean that it is the only thing your agency should be doing. The ‘build it and they will come’ approach isn’t yet completely tenable, and there is still solid value in a full, technical audit of any website that isn’t performing as it should. It’s for this reason that the leading agencies in the search world combine both creative brains and technical wizards.
5. They’re Antisocial
Whilst businesses on social media still get some people a bit hot under the collar (‘I want to read my messages, not be sold a sofa!’), it is now considered an essential part of obtaining good search rankings, and any agency worth their salt should be breaking their backs trying to discover the best way for it to be integrated. If they aren’t, and they don’t even suggest the potential for a Twitter or Facebook account, it’s pretty solid evidence that they’re not remaining at the cutting edge of the search market.
Obviously, if you recognize some of these scenarios, we’re not suggesting you get straight on the phone to your SEO and sack him/her straightaway. Have the conversation, however awkward it may be, and ask for more from their services. As previously mentioned, carrying out your own research into the state of the industry will not only help you understand where your money’s going – you’ll also be able to see straight through your consultant if all isn’t as it should be.
Author Bio
RJ Tayaban, managing director of PRimeVisibility.NET, has been doing search engine optimization back when keyword stuffing and link spamming used to work. He’s also met all sort of animals that Google has defamed every time it changes its algorithm. Having said that, RJ now knows better. Over the years of running online campaigns, RJ has figured out what makes Google tick.
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