In this quick guide you're going to discover:
- How to pick a great SEO consultant.
- 5 characteristics that make an SEO consultant great.
- Ensure the consultant gets results!
SEO is a tricky game and there are essential characteristics & skills that will determine if your investment will be positive.
And that's exactly what this guide will help you do - navigate the consultancy minefield.
First off, what does an SEO consultant do?
A search engine optimisation consultant (or, SEO guy), is responsible for helping businesses to improve their website's rankings in the search engine results. In short, they get you to the top of Google! (or, they should.)
An SEO consultant's goal should be to make it easier for your dream customer to find you and convert into a real-life sale while helping you to remain ahead of your competitors. They do this through a range of efforts, such as improving the content of your site, making it easier for users to navigate your pages, bringing attention to your site through backlinks, and techy stuff that only Google's crawler bots see.
We've been consulting & helping clients with their SEO since 2007. During this time we've learned that having the best SEO knowledge doesn't mean jack if the consultant doesn't possess 5 core characteristics, essential to succeed.
Keep reading to discover the 5 core characteristics a good SEO consultant must posses to be worth your time (and money). Use this as:
- a checklist when choosing your consultant
- a performance benchmark for your current consultant
- a guide to getting the most from your consultant
See you in the next bit!
The Top Characteristics of a Good SEO Consultant
With no further adieu -
# 1: They have to be legit
Did you think we would start with the consultant must be a "ninja" at SEO? Or top the rankings for their own biz?
That kind of thinking outlines the big problem the SEO industry faces right now.
Let me explain.
There are loads of quality SEOs flooding the SERPs in Australia. However being able to rank their own site is one thing - being able to rank yours is another.
The trend we've observed over the years is companies posing as consultants when they don't know the first thing about SEO. Often, their flash sales team conjures clueless business owners into smoke and mirror campaigns - leaving them none the wiser.
We're not trying to turn this guide into a rant… all we're saying is "buyers beware" - the SEO industry is full of cowboys (more on this down below), and this stuff happens every day.
Ensuring your consultant is a person of the highest character & willing to put the best interests of the client first is essential. Make sure you can have a real life conversation with them & find out what they stand for.
For example, we often get calls from business owners wanting to do SEO. After analysing their business, however, we find SEO isn't actually their best step forward (now or sometimes ever) because paid ads, traditional advertising or focusing on other areas of their business will get better immediate results.
Yes, we could make a quick buck closing the SEO sale - but that's not what an honest SEO consultant would do. The consultant is there to give honest advice in the best interest of the client, not to line their own pockets.
#2 They've got to have experience
Even though we didn't lead with this one, it is of the utmost importance that the consultant lives & breathes SEO and understands how it works to a finite level.
When choosing your consultant, ask for plenty of case studies, past successes and test their understanding of SEO and how it will relate to your business.
This is what you're paying the consultant for.
Years of experience, hours of testing and a deep understanding of how to face & combat the issues you may be facing is what separates the good from the great.
It's how you beat your competitors fast.
Check of your potential SEO's knowledge of the SEO landscape (algorithm updates, on-page techniques and link building strategies that work), industry experience and understanding of the actual geographical area that your business operates in.
Choosing an SEO Consultant with this kind of experience will be a very profitable investment for you.
#3 Creative problem-solving skills
We've been operating and consulting in every major city of Australia for well over a decade and one thing we continue to come across is that there's plenty of technical SEOs, but the majority of them lack problem-solving skills.
A technical person follows a system. If that system doesn't fit your situation… well… more than likely it will fail.
So when choosing your SEO Consultant, make sure that person also understands marketing and they aren't just locked in on specific SEO technicalities. Ensure they can think outside the box when what has 'always worked', just, doesn't.
The bigger picture is to grow your business - not just get rankings.
Here's an example of how we've solved problems for clients in the past.
We were consulting for a company that manufactures and sells diet products online.
If you know anything about the weight loss niche you know that this is one of the most competitive industries world-wide.
Big companies usually have these markets locked up.
So how does a start up compete and succeed?
Brute force SEO as per the playbook?
No!
It took understanding the market and narrowing down on a niche within the market. We took a narrow front a mile deep on a trending topic.
After we compiled the strategy, it was game set and match for the client.
The client went from a few local sales to 7K in weekly sales all across Australia.
And that is just one example of how out of the box thinking can make or break an SEO campaign.
#4 Outstanding communication skills (not just SEO tech jargon)
This is one of those "tricks" employed by slick sales people in the SEO industry (see: cowboys from point #1).
Talking tech jargon and instilling fear in the prospect until they buy.
This is the complete opposite of what a professional SEO consultant should do.
The consultant's job is to listen to the client, work out what challenges they face and then break the solution down into easy to understand terms.
The majority of business owners in Australia still don't understand what SEO actually is.
If the consultant can't break down what SEO is and how it can help you, in easy to understand terms, they are going to have a hard time helping you build out a strategy to take over Google, and your working relationship will be difficult to navigate. How can you know if you're getting bang for buck if you don't know what you're paying for?
We regularly do free audits for potential clients and the feedback we continually receive is as follows:
"Thanks for finally breaking this down in easy to understand terms"
"It's like the fog lifted"
"I can see you know what you're talking about, just by helping me understand the basics"
Here's what it comes down to. It doesn't matter how smart the SEO consultant is if they don't listen and fully understand the challenges you or your business faces. If they don't live in the real world.
So when choosing your consultant, before you make any hiring decisions, make sure they demonstrate listening skills and the ability to relay information that solves the problems you voiced in an easy to understand manner.
#5 They must be trustworthy
If you've been in business for any amount of time you'd know trust is essential.
Trust with your employees, team, suppliers, customers, clients - the list goes on.
Business is built on relationships & trust.
The relationship that will form with your SEO consultant is no different. Here's why:
- You need to be willing and confident to reveal commercially sensitive information to your consultant.
- You will need to have the trust that this information will only be used to benefit your business.
- You will need to trust that revealing sensitive information can actually lead to a breakthrough.
Leaving things hidden will only hinder your consultant.
That's why trust is of utmost importance in a successful client consultant relationship, more than just trusting them with your hard-earned marketing budget.
A good step forward to build trust is to ask the prospective consultant to provide some free information & strategies of how they would help you.
You can request this information from us by applying for a free quote & strategy session here.
Where To From Here?
Now that you have your comprehensive SEO consultant check list, it's time to go shopping for one!
At Websites That Sell we offer SEO consulting as well as full SEO campaign options.
While our headquarters are on the Sunshine Coast, we help clients all over Australia and have satellite offices for SEO clients in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Give us a call on 1300 974 367 to get more information on our SEO services and how a local consultant can help you, or for a free audit to get some clarity on the next steps for your site - we're here to help!