It’s not going to be easy to hire a SEO expert. There are so many things that need to be considered. In order to help you out, here are the ten things that you should ask them:
- What’s Your Opinion of My Website?You are basically partnering with an SEO expert. It helps when you have a clue on how they think first. You have to gain an indication on how their minds work. It’s important that you know they have some connection with your own thought process. By asking them that question, you can also see their level of expertise in the field. Be wary when they start talking like salesmen. That prevents technical discussions that you really need in this situation.
- Have You Ever Used Our CMS?If you are running an Ecommerce website, you should realize by now that there is a huge difference between Magento and Shopify. Whatever CMS you are using, it is important to know if the SEO agency that you are considering to hire is familiar with it. You have to be sure that the agency that you hire will be able to handle the technical aspects of running a CMS.
- Will You Take Care of Changes to My Site?Development work or website changes to a website are necessary for most SEO campaigns. Now, who would be responsible for making those changes? Will it be handled by the firm or will it be up to you? It would be a problem later on to find out that they would not be handling the development changes. It’s okay if a firm can only provide consultation, but you have to be aware of it beforehand or you could end up spending more than what you have planned.
- Can You Analyze Our Google Analytics?This is a very crucial question. How much time are they willing to spend on looking at your stats on Google Analytics? If they say that they don’t have to look at your Google Analytics, it should be a warning for you already. Of course, it’s important and anyone working on your SEO should look at it. How can they give recommendations on what changes have to be implemented if they don’t see the relevant data?
- What Are the Areas of Improvement That You Would Suggest?After they have looked at your Analytics and they have checked what your competition is up to, the next thing you need to ask them is what kind of changes they would recommend. What are the actionable items that they would want you to take? You should also ask them how long it would take before those changes are fully implemented. Don’t ask them about the results yet because not even the best agency can answer that at this point.
- What Are the Best, Okay and Worst Scenarios That Can Happen If I Hire You?No one can really say what would happen in the future and so asking an agency what the ROI that they bring in for you is not going to be fair. If they tell you that you can expect a certain amount of ROI, then you should be wary. That’s not based on reality but on speculation instead.What you can ask them is the best case, okay case, and the worst case scenarios that you can expect should you hire them. They should be ambitious, but the expectations that they should be setting ought to be within reasonable expectations.
- Who Will Work on My Account?You cannot expect the most senior partners of a firm to work on your account, if it’s a large SEO company. But you should at least expect that a fixed set of people would be working on your site. You should ask if you can get in touch with the people who would actually be working on your account. You should find out if they actually have the knowledge and experience to work on your account. Also, you have to find out if they have the time to work on it properly.Just remember, that the one you’re talking to is usually not the one who will do the work.
- Can I See Some of the Content That You Have Come Up with?Now, this is where you insist that you some of the content that they have published. By reading some of the content that they have come up with is a good way of seeing what they have in store for you. If they published low quality content, there is a good chance they would do the same thing when working with your account. The content that they should be publishing should be genuinely helpful to others.
- Do You Have Recommendations from Other Clients?If they can give you several recommendations of past clients who are very satisfied with their service, then that means you are on the right track. You have probably chosen the right firm. If an agency does not have recommendations from other clients, that should sound off some alarms in your head right away.Once you get in touch with other clients, start asking more about the firm. How do they work with clients? Do they go the extra mile?
- What Do I Need to Do?When you hire a SEO agency that does not mean that you would not have to do anything else and that they would do all of the work. You have to work with them so you still have some kind of role to play. You have to ask them what your role will be. If they tell you that you do not have to do anything, then that’s a lie. You have to know about the part that you should play in the whole effort.These questions are meant to reveal if a firm is right for you or not. It can also tell you what to expect from them when you do decide to get their services.
