Really quickly before we get into the questions, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. If you’ve not heard of that, it’s basically the process of getting your website ranked higher in the various search engines (Google, Yahoo! and Bing). Getting found on search engines can be the lifeblood of many businesses, so it is an important component in having a website that pulls in business for you.
When you go shopping for an SEO firm, you will run into everything from one-person-shops to 200 person enterprises, and the pricing is going to be all over the board. That’s why it’s critical to know the questions you should ask and the answers you should receive so you can hire with confidence.
Will I get reporting?
You should get monthly reporting showing your site’s ranking in the search engines for each of your chosen keywords.
What is your process?
This is also going to be widely varied, but here’s what we suggest for best results:
Competitive analysis – How are you doing compared to your competitors? What keywords are they targeting? Can you compete with them with your current site?
Keyword research - Nuances can make a big difference in whether or not you’re found in search engines and how you rank. For instance, it is much easier to be found using geo-specific keywords (like San Diego Wedding Photographer) than it would be to be found for Wedding Photographer (which will include wedding photographers across the globe). But sometimes, geo-specific keywords are not searched enough to warrant their use. So your SEO specialist needs to do some homework before he jumps headlong into optimization that may not get any results.
Describe your “off-page” optimization
On page optimization includes all the stuff done to your website, like adding specific content, links, and tags. Offline is what happens on other sites to point them to your website. The offline part of SEO is really a popularity contest. If the search engines see that you have a lot of sites that link to your site, then they think you’re more popular and therefore probably a good source for information. Offline optimization should include building links to your site using thousands of external websites, blogs, social media portals, and industry-specific directories.
Are they in the United States?
Frequently, SEO firms offshore their work to other countries. While this isn’t a terrible practice, it can have some less than ideal consequences. If your optimization requires content creation, you could be looking grammatical mistakes and misspellings caused by translation errors. Accountability is also weakened. If your contact is merely a broker, they will have little influence on the people doing the work.
Do you have a programming or at least a website development background?
There are certain tricks to creating search engine friendly websites, especially if you have a dynamic site like a shopping cart. If your SEO manager doesn’t know his way around the programming language or at least the platform your site is built on, he will be missing a big chunk of solid optimization. Basic website development is a must! Your SEO manager will be poking around on your website and if they don’t know what they’re doing they’ll be breaking pages, breaking links, or even deleting pages.
How many SEO clients do you have?
In the case of SEO managers, you’ll also want to make sure you’re not the first client. Experience with many industries, analytics software, and search engines comes with time and dedication. While you can ask how many years they’ve been doing SEO, it won’t give you an accurate picture of their experience.
Can I talk to some of your current or previous clients?
The answer should always be yes. References are always a good thing to get from your vendors. You should also find out if they’ve optimized for your particular industry before. It’s to your advantage if they have because they will have a catalog of link sources at the ready.
We’ve Got the Right Answers
If you’re on the search for the right SEO provider, then start your search with us (and you may end it there as well!) We’ve got years of experience getting great rankings for our clients and we can do the same for you.
About the author: Jeune Ortiz is VP of Marketing and Creative Director at future-ink. With more than 20 years of experience in graphic design and marketing, Jeune brings extensive knowledge and creativity to each website and internet marketing solution to grow your business.
Share/Save
Leave a Reply