SEO is the number one term for anyone with a website. The better your SEO the higher you’ll rank in Google. The higher you rank in Google the more traffic you’ll get.

It’s still important to have the right person at the helm. If that person isn’t you, it’s time to hire an SEO firm. It might be costly, but it can repay your original investment many times over.

In this article, we give you some awesome tips for hiring an SEO firm that’s going to give you a massive return on your investment.

Design Work

An essential part of SEO is the way you design your website. If your site has been poorly coded, this will hinder any SEO efforts. Does the SEO firm you’re speaking to offer design services?

If it doesn’t, have your site independently audited. It’s pointless employing a consultant if you’ve already been hamstrung from the beginning.

What are You Talking About?

You always have to remain wary when dealing with any SEO firm. It’s perhaps the most overrated form of business on the Internet. Scammers have made millions from taking advantage of confused website owners.

The best method of defence is to know what you’re getting into. Learn the basics of SEO. We recommend knowing:

  • The realities of SEO. How much can the firm realistically do for your website?
  • What influences SEO?
  • How does Google rank websites in its search engine?
  • What SEO techniques are most commonly used?
  • What are the latest updates made to the algorithms?

You can find lots of great literature offered from Google. They have a number of PDF files that gives you an insight into how it all works. Keep yourself informed by checking back on a regular basis.

PR and SEO

Does your SEO company understand the value of PR?

They should do. Gone are the days where all that mattered was how many guest posts you managed to throw up. SEO is primarily about engagement and how you interact with customers.

For example, Google Hummingbird meant a transition towards social media as a viable metric. The more exposure you get through social media the higher your ranking. Google wants its results to reflect true popularity.

What Sort of Answers?

Ask an SEO expert any question and you can glean everything from their answer. Look at the way they answer these questions. If they dance around the question and don’t seem to be able to give you a straight answer, walk away.

You should be searching for someone who’s confident in what they’re doing.

Let’s use ClickIntelligence as an example. If we visit the website, we can see they provide straight answers to many common questions. There are no disclaimers and no asterisks.

Sites like this always offer the best services. Companies that can’t be sure in their own service quality probably can’t deliver on their promises.

Cost Concerns

Sooner or later, you’re going to start wondering about the cost. This is a controversial issue. There are many schools of thought on how much you should pay.

In general, it isn’t important. Obviously, if the price is clearly too high or too low, you want to approach with caution. Get some quotes and opt for a company within the average price range.

SEO is a field where you get exactly what you pay for. It’s a waste of time paying for a low-quality service.

Prioritise the level of service and the ability to deliver results. After all, a website that brings in lots of traffic is going to be able to bring in more revenue than you initially invested. Think long-term.