Not too long ago, your customers and clients probably didn’t feel as though they were swimming in a sea of options. They depended on a handful of local companies to serve their daily needs, and they easily remained loyal to their favorite companies and brands.
But times have changed: now, customers — yours as well as everybody else’s — are being barraged with a plethora of choices on everything from where to grab a cup of coffee to where to hire a reputable lawyer; and that leaves them even more indecisive than ever. Not to mention that the contemporary consumer doesn’t want to be heavily advertised and marketed to, but rather wants to feel in full control of the entire buying process.
To do that, and streamline the decision-making process overall, consumers are turning to the one and only place so many of us deem the most credible and trustworthy source in the world: Google.
If you are a local entrepreneur who depends heavily on local inbound traffic, ranking high in search engines is more cutthroat than ever today. According to Google’s Consumer Insights, there has been a 900 percent increase in Google “near me” searches. This just goes to show how important local SEO is for the growth of brick and mortar businesses.
Go for the less competitive markets.
Although most business owners understand the impact good or bad SEO can bring to their sales, SEO is still often highly misconstrued. That said, a lot of local businesses are experiencing the negative side effects of not being on page 1 of Google searches nowadays, and it is not rare to see a company or brand that’s been at the top of search engines in the past suddenly drop off that spot. If that instance has happened to your business, chances are you have started shopping around for a reputable SEO expert to hire.
Whether you want to grow and expand your business by showing up on Google in every area for your services, or you want to be shown as the “top choice” in your city, here are five things to know before you hire the services of an SEO expert:
Have a basic understanding of what an SEO expert does before you hire one
Unfortunately, since SEO is a developing set of practices and one of the most challenging skills to master, it leaves most business owners confused as to what they are paying for when they hire an SEO expert. Signing up for this type of digital service simply means you are offering compensation to someone to have them increase your website’s visibility and drive a lot more organic traffic to it.
An SEO expert should be seen as a long-term business investment and a relationship since the job of an SEO expert is to make sure your website continues to rank high in the search engines for many years to come.
Recognize that the speed of your website is a critical factor in SEO
Ideally, your company’s website should already be optimized for the fastest loading time possible before you hire an SEO expert, if you want to see the best results and increase your rankings as fast as possible.
Google’s internal studies have shown that when a page loads slowly, visitors spend less time there. If you want to maximize your SEO, consider spending a generous amount of time to check and improve your page speed.
Choose an SEO expert with successful client results
Chances are you have been burned before and are sceptical about hiring another digital marketing firm or SEO expert, but rest assured: There are still reputable and legitimate agencies that get their clients’ real results, fast. Since SEO is a long-term investment, you would want to see progress being made and your rankings rising each month; so be sure to choose an expert with clear values and client results that help you rest assured knowing that an effective ROI is likely.
Find out whether the SEO expert you’re eyeing offers a “done-for-you SEO” content strategy.
Crafting and publishing content regularly that is valuable to your customer base will help you generate more leads, traffic, and revenue especially if you have already produced a generous amount of content even before you hired an SEO expert.