As a small business operator, you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed by all things SEO. Search engine optimization isn’t something that should be taken lightly, so getting the right help to market and improve your website is essential. Here’s how to get SEO help for your small business.
Look within the company. What are your SEO needs? Do you need to advance a more public face on the Internet, especially via social media? Once you identify your needs, you should gauge the experience and habits of your own team. You may learn that one member is a Facebook guru. Another individual may have Twitter and Instagram down pat. Others may feel comfortable helping you with writing, editing or publishing. Consider how your team may handle various assignments and assign a point person to keep everything together.
Consider yourself. Perhaps you have the skills to handle SEO and the time to do it. You may be the best person to get this campaign launched. Once it has been established, then you might hand it off to someone internally or externally. Either way, you can establish the framework for your campaign and work closely with the person or parties that will handle the job explains LocalSEOCompanies.com.
Look outside the company. Perhaps what is really true about you and your company is that neither your nor your team have the time or the talents (maybe both) to perform SEO. At least not to the level that will have solid results. Indeed, your website may have a number of problems that is best left to an expert. And not just where it appears on the search engine results pages (SERPs), but how it looks, is navigated and a whole host of other challenges that you don’t want to manage yourself. Another advantage of tapping an outsider’s expertise is that they can present objectivity, namely look at your site with clear and dispassionate eyes.
Making a Plan
If your option is to hire an SEO professional, be careful here. Not everyone who claims expertise in this area has it. Further, you need someone with a track record, not simply an individual who tinkers with SEO and claims to have knowledge, but lacks experience. You cannot afford to work with a novice here, so keep in mind the following:
SEO Expertise. Expertise in all things SEO means this person has what it takes to evaluate your website, develop constructive tips on how to move it forward, and offer choices of plans. You may find that the SEO expert has short- and long-term plans to help you with various steps that can be taken in order for you to reach them.seo-help1
In-Person or Skype Quote. If you are working with a local SEO expert, then you will want to meet with this individual face to face. Barring that, a Skype connection is ideal especially if you find someone clear across the country. The personal connection will help you gauge if this person is right for you. The professional can also answer your questions in real time.
Obtain references. Clearly, the candidates who interest you the most should be able to provide references. And not just any references, but current ones that can be contacted. Obtain these, contact the references and attempt to gauge their satisfaction. Heed whatever warning flags are presented.
Review your costs. How much will SEO cost you? You need to have a good budget idea understood for this with all details presented to you. You should also know the differences between your fixed and variable costs. And, importantly, if either party can end the contract with notice. You might think a one-year contract offers cost savings, but if you’re unhappy after three months will you be stuck with the SEO professional for nine more months? Don’t lock yourself in any longer than necessary.
Go For It
Undertaking a new SEO endeavor can be exciting. It can also be scary. Are you up to the task? If so, put the plan in motion and expect big things. Certainly not all at once, but definitely as the months and years pass by.
