How to Hire a Skilled SEO Expert for Your Needs?

The right SEO professional can significantly enhance your online presence. They will help you reach the top spots in Google, attract organic traffic, and convert visitors into paying customers. But choose the wrong one, and you could waste your time and budget or jeopardize your website’s reputation. Let’s make sure you hire an SEO specialist who can actually deliver results!

Why You Need an SEO Consultant and What They Do

So, you’re considering search engine optimization for your website. That’s a wise decision, as according to the top SEO statistics, over 50% of customers turn to Google when looking for new brands. However, 96.55% of web pages receive no traffic from Google. Thus, simply having a website isn’t enough; you should have a well-optimized website.

When it comes to hiring an SEO expert, you have two paths: manage it in-house or hire professionals. The main reason to opt for support from experts is SEO complexity.

You need someone to handle the technical foundation, someone who can create engaging content that resonates with readers and is optimized for search engines, and someone with strong analytical skills who knows how to translate SEO wins into real results for your business. And the list doesn’t end here.

It is also challenging because you have to please two audiences at once. On the one hand, you should satisfy search engines that crawl websites and determine rankings (and sometimes penalize). On the other, you need to create a great experience for real people.

Ultimately, SEO is a full-time job, and trying to do it “in between” other tasks definitely won’t bring the same results as having dedicated expertise. This is why you need specialists.

Now, to shed light on what SEO experts actually do, some of their main tasks include:

• Technical SEO audit
• Keyword research
• Content strategy development
• Link building
• Google Business Profile optimization (for local businesses)
• Analytics and reporting
• Competitor analysis

10 Steps to Hire the Right SEO Expert

Naturally, when you begin a new business cooperation, you put your budget on the line. But that’s only half the story. Mistakes made by your SEO specialists can harm your entire online presence. Google can penalize websites for various violations whether they’re intentional or not, from keyword stuffing to low-quality backlinks. Recovering from a penalty takes time.

Moreover, even if you invest in keyword research and produce great content, visitors may bounce slow-loading web pages and won’t go further than your home page. This means your investment in content could be wasted due to technical issues.

Most importantly, SEO isn’t just about higher rankings; it’s about boosting sales and revenue. While reaching the top spots in Google and increasing website traffic is great, if that traffic doesn’t convert to sales, your efforts will be ineffective. Customers need to find your website trustworthy, engaging, and easy to navigate. A competent SEO professional should prioritize conversion optimization as much as rankings.

But how to hire an SEO expert who knows how to increase rankings, bring traffic, and then translate it into actual business growth? Here are 10 essential steps.

1. Understand SEO Components

First, let’s assess the scope of work. Here are the main areas your SEO specialists should be working on:

• Technical SEO: This is the backbone of your SEO campaign. Your team should ensure that search engines can easily read and interpret your site. Plus, all the issues found during an audit must be addressed. These can be slow loading time, broken links, mobile incompatibility, and much more.
• On-page optimization: On-page SEO involves the optimization of titles, descriptions, headings, and images with keywords. Each page must clearly communicate its purpose to Google while still being interesting to real people.
• Link building: This practice is a must-have for any website that strives to rank high. Your team should identify trustworthy sites willing to link to yours. They can also write guest posts for other platforms that include links back to you.
• Local SEO: If you have a physical location, your team should optimize your local presence, too. They need to set up a Google Business Profile, help you with reputation management, conduct local keyword research, produce localized content, and more.
• Content marketing: The team should investigate what your audience is searching for and develop content that matches their inquiries. They should detect relevant keywords but, above all, focus on crafting genuinely helpful content rather than simply filling pages with text and keywords.
• Competitor analysis: You will compete with websites that aim to rank for the same keywords as you. That’s why you need to keep an eye on what they’re doing right and wrong. This is how you get the chance to stay one step ahead in search engine results.
• Analytics and tracking: Once the tasks above are done, you should ensure that you actually get results from these efforts. Your SEO team needs to monitor rankings, traffic, and, of course, conversions. You must receive regular reports so you’re aware of the progress made or any unexpected issues that need to be fixed promptly.
• Maintenance and support: SEO is a continuous process, and many variables, including those you can’t control (like your rivals’ activities or sudden shifts in customer behavior), may impact your rankings over time. That’s why it’s also necessary to check for any new technical issues, adapt to search algorithm updates, and make sure your site stays healthy.

2. Define Clear SEO Goals

Of course, a seasoned SEO expert will guide you through developing a solid SEO strategy with specific milestones and KPIs. But first, clarify your goals yourself to find the right fit for your needs.

To hire the right SEO expert, consider your website’s development stage. Your goals should align with your current status — maybe you want to get noticed first, or perhaps you’re already ready to dominate your market.

Next, as we said, getting higher rankings and more website traffic isn’t a final destination. Increasing revenue is. Still, all of these goals may sound too vague, so it’s essential to specify how exactly you could achieve them.

For example, you could start with lead generation. For this, you’ll require quality content to attract prospects and a user-friendly contact form to make it easy for them to leave their emails. If you’re a local business, your mini-goals might involve creating a Google Business Profile and securing mentions on the best local sources in your niche. These milestones will eventually lead you to broader objectives, like improved foot traffic or increased online sales. Overall, good SEO goals should be:

• Specific and measurable
• Time-bound
• Aligned with your business objectives
• Realistic for your market and budget
• Adaptable as your business grows

But always be ready to adjust your goal or its deadline. You may face potential market obstacles and budget constraints on your way.

3. Set a Realistic Budget

Small businesses usually spend from $1,500 to $3,500 monthly, while mid-sized companies invest about $4,000 a month. Enterprise SEO costs around $10,000 or more. Here’s what can impact the cost of hiring an SEO expert:

• Website size: Larger sites require more effort. Optimization of a ten-page website is less costly than a 1,000-page eCommerce website.
• Current site condition: A website with many technical issues needs more time, money, and effort to rank high.
• Competition level: If you operate in a saturated market, this will cost more, as you’ll have to compete for keywords many other websites aim to rank high for.
• Location focus: Local SEO is generally cheaper than national or international. But if you target several areas, the expenses will go up.
• Desired speed of results: If you want faster results, you’ll also need to invest more. SEO takes time in any case, and you won’t appear on the first page tomorrow. But a bigger budget can help accelerate outcomes.
• Content needs: If you need many new service pages or blog posts, your budget must reflect this.
• Expert level: Hiring an SEO consultant with an extensive skillset and experience certainly costs more. But they often bring better results and faster growth.

Visit our SEO pricing guide for more detailed information. While the cost may seem high initially, an effective SEO strategy can pay off through increased leads and sales.

Take Your Business to the Top 

SeoProfy is an experienced SEO company that serves various niches and business sizes. We’ll be your reliable partner in achieving your ambitious goals. Partner with us for:

• Custom SEO strategy development
• Content creation and keyword optimization
• Technical SEO and backlink profile building

Get a free website audit

4. Choose the Type of SEO Partner (In-House, Freelance, Agency)

Now comes an important choice: in-house SEO vs outsourcing. Plus, there’s a third alternative — freelance. Here’s a brief overview of these options:

• In-house experts: When you hire an SEO professional as part of your internal team, you get full attention and control over your campaign. But this option is costly. You’ll have to cover salaries, benefits, training, and subscriptions for various SEO tools.
• SEO agencies: An agency brings you a whole team of experts who take on everything, including project management. Each person specializes in different aspects, so they can also strengthen your internal experts. Hiring an SEO company is more expensive than the freelance but can be less pricey than building an in-house team from scratch. And with our SEO agency, you’ll also get access to innovative tools built for internal use only.
• Freelancers: They’re perfect for specific tasks, like conducting keyword research for a new landing page or smaller businesses with limited budgets. However, your SEO freelancer may serve multiple clients simultaneously, so they may not always be available for you right away.

The final decision depends on your budget and the specific SEO tasks you plan to delegate. In addition, when you hire an SEO specialist, consider whether you require support after the project. If so, then it’s better to focus on building an in-house team or outsourcing SEO.

5. Develop a List of Selection Criteria

Once you know your goals, budget, and a preferable cooperation model, let’s get down to business — the actual search. You’ll need a precise method to compare your options. Here’s what to look for:

• Work experience: When you hire an SEO expert, pay attention to someone who has weathered several Google algorithm updates so they know how to adapt to changes in the field.
• Hard skills: As SEO is a multi-faceted field, your experts should be proficient in both the technical and creative aspects of your campaign.
• Industry experience: Familiarity with your field will be a huge plus. Your SEO professionals should understand your target audience and what content resonates in your niche.
• Client reviews: Find detailed online reviews about your candidates and be aware of generic testimonials.
• Success stories: When hiring an SEO provider, you can also request SEO case studies from past clients and see what tactics they used to bring real results.
• Certifications: It’s another factor that reflects the professionalism of your candidates and may bring you extra peace of mind.
• Pricing strategy: If we speak about SEO outsourcing, some charge monthly retainers, while others follow the pay-for-performance model. Make sure you clearly understand what you’re going to pay for.

Warning: Pay-for-performance companies might seem appealing to many businesses, but here’s the catch: To quickly meet pre-established goals and reach payment conditions, these providers may focus on vanity metrics that look good in reports but aren’t really good for your bottom line. They might also resort to unethical tactics to help you rank fast. But once Google identifies you tried to manipulate rankings, you may face serious penalties and spend more afterward to fix these issues.

6. Use Different Channels to Find Your Candidates

Google is a great starting point to start your search. Simply type “SEO consultant for [your industry],” and you’ll see numerous service pages dedicated to your niche, as in the screenshot below:

However, finding talent takes thorough research. Here are some additional places to connect with top service providers:

• LinkedIn: This is an excellent platform for finding specialists for your team or freelancers. Many SEO agencies are also present here.
• Freelance platforms: This is your go-to channel to hire an SEO expert on a freelance basis. Upwork, TopTal, and Fiverr are the leading work marketplaces.
• B2B review platforms: If you want to collaborate with agencies, consider platforms like Clutch and GoodFirms. They feature detailed client reviews and verify each testimonial so you can be sure they’re authentic.

7. Ask for a Preliminary Site Audit

Before you hire an SEO expert, ask them for an initial audit of your website. This first audit doesn’t need to be extensive — that comes after hiring. It should give you an idea of what the expert sees as your main challenges and opportunities. They might identify key issues and suggest basic steps for improvement.

8. Prepare the List of Questions

Also, pay attention to how your candidates communicate. They should clearly explain technical jargon if needed and not speak SEO language all the time. After all, your potential SEO service providers must recognize what benefit their work will bring to your business, not only your website’s technical health.

And make sure to hire an SEO professional who doesn’t follow black-hat SEO practices. If they indeed don’t, they will say so directly.

Here are some more questions you could ask when hiring an SEO professional:

• Can you guarantee the first position in Google search results?
• Can you share success stories from clients in my industry?
• What SEO tools do you use?
• What metrics do you use to measure SEO performance?
• How often do you report progress?
• Do you stay updated with Google’s changes?
• What’s your emergency plan if rankings drop?
• What’s your pricing structure?
• What’s exactly included in your services?

In fact, if your candidate answers “yes” to the first question on the list, this is the first warning sign. This demonstrates they either don’t understand how Google works or aren’t being honest with you. Google’s algorithm is too complex and dynamic for anyone to guarantee specific positions. For interviews, we’ve compiled a list of essential questions to ask SEO agency.

Lastly, pay attention if your candidate asks about your business. An expert who lacks this curiosity may not be invested in your long-term success — they’re likely selling a cookie-cutter solution.

Asking questions is what we do at SeoProfy during initial meetings. While we don’t promise overnight success, our SEO agency won’t take on a project we don’t believe we can deliver on. But if we’re ready to commit, you can be confident our cooperation will be fruitful.

9. Define Clear Terms for Effective Cooperation

Even if your gut feeling tells you that your candidates are reliable enough to hire them, it’s better to discuss every detail of your future work at the beginning and document everything.

For in-house employees, create an SEO expert job description outlining daily tasks and establish key performance indicators and review periods. And provide access to all the tools they’re going to use.

If you’re hiring an SEO expert on a freelance basis or an agency, make sure your contract covers the project scope, payment terms, expected and deliverables. Also, clarify ownership of the completed work.

10. Evaluate SEO Proposals (In Case You Work with an Agency)

One of the advantages of hiring an SEO agency is that, along with project management, they also handle all the documentation groundwork. Your job is to review their proposal, request any changes, and give approval. But what exactly should you pay attention to?

First, watch out for generic proposals that could fit any business. The proposal should prove that SEO specialists have actually listened to you and understand your goals and challenges. In addition, look for a step-by-step strategy (what they do first and what comes next) and realistic timelines.

All costs must be transparent so you understand what’s included in the basic price and what costs extra. This will help you avoid any hidden fees. Finally, the proposal must clarify which metrics will be tracked and how progress will be reported.

If anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to ask questions. A good partner will gladly provide detailed explanations.

Conclusion

SEO deserves to be part of your marketing strategy and, thus, calls for dedicated expertise. Before hiring an SEO specialist, take some time to learn the basics. When you know what’s possible and what isn’t, you can avoid candidates who give false promises and use harmful SEO methods.

While technical skills and best practices matter, assess the soft skills of your potential hires, too. They should be willing to answer all your questions, demonstrate an interest in your business goals, be attentive to detail, creative, and, of course, deliver tasks on time. These qualities will also contribute to your success.

Now you’re armed with the tips for hiring an SEO expert so you can start your search with confidence! And, in fact, you don’t need to look far — you can find an excellent service provider without even having to leave this browser tab.

SeoProfy is always ready to become your trusted SEO partner. Book a free call with us! Our skilled team will discuss your business goals and provide a detailed proposal.

Author

Andrew Shum

Andrew is the Head of SEO at SeoProfy, leading a team of more than 20 experienced SEO specialists. He has been involved in search engine optimization and digital marketing since 2016, gaining hands-on experience across various niches and regions. Andrew possesses strong analytical and strategic skills, particularly in planning SEO strategies for highly competitive projects.