When it comes to hiring an SEO expert, many business owners feel overwhelmed.
There are so many choices and so much conflicting information that it can be challenging to know where to start. In this guide, we will provide you with everything you need to know to make the best decision for your business.
The first step is to understand what SEO is and how it can benefit your business.
SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and it is the process of optimizing your website and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
This strategy is important because it can help you get more traffic from people searching for your products or services online. Several different factors can affect your ranking, including the quality of your website, the relevance of your keywords, and the strength of your backlink profile.
If you want to improve your ranking, you need to invest in SEO. You can do this by hiring an agency or consultant or by doing it yourself.
When making this decision, consider many things, including your budget, level of technical expertise, and time frame. However, it is also imperative for you as a business owner to study SEO basics to understand your chosen agency’s strategy.
So, what should you look out for in hiring SEO?
SEO training
SEO training is learning how to optimize your website for the search engine.
This type of training aims to teach you how to get your website to rank higher in the search results. There are a variety of ways to get SEO training. You can find many resources online, such as blogs, forums, and courses.
If you want to get the most out of your agency, they should be updated with the latest SEO training and provide you with the necessary resources to keep up with the primary language of SEO.
SEO consulting
SEO consulting provides advice and guidance to businesses on how to improve their website for the search engine. The goal of SEO consulting is to help companies get their website to rank higher in the search results.
SEO consultants typically have a lot of experience in the industry and can offer businesses customized advice on how to improve their websites. SEO consultants can also provide businesses with the proper SEO training needed.
Expertise in specific markets and geographies
It is crucial to have someone on your team who has expertise in specific markets and geographies when it comes to SEO. This way, they can help you tailor your SEO strategy to the needs of your business.
For example, if you are a business that sells products in the US, you will need to make sure that your website is optimized for the US market. If you are a business that sells products in Europe, you will need to make sure that your website is optimized for the European market.
By having someone on your team who has expertise in specific markets, you can be confident that your business and website are ranking where it is supposed to rank.
Review of your site content or structure
The first step in hiring an SEO is to have them review your site content or structure. This will help them identify any areas that need improvement and make recommendations for improving them.
Site Audit
After reviewing your site and researching your keywords, they will conduct a site audit. This audit will identify any technical issues that could be holding you back from ranking higher in the search engines.
Recommendations and action plan
Once the audit is complete, they will provide you with a list of recommendations and an action plan. This plan will detail what needs to be done to improve your ranking.
Ongoing optimization
After the initial work is complete, you will need to continue to optimize your site on an ongoing basis. This includes making sure that your content is fresh and relevant and using the most effective keywords.
Monitoring and reporting
The final step is to monitor your progress and report on your results. This step will help you see how your efforts are paying off and make adjustments as needed.
Content Audit
One of the most essential aspects of SEO is content. Your content needs to be relevant, keyword-rich, and informative. A content audit will help assess areas that need improvement to further your efforts in ranking with the algorithm.
Hosting
Site speed is a key ranking factor. If your site is slow, it will likely hurt your rankings. An excellent hosting company will help ensure that your site is fast and reliable.
SSL Certificate
If you want to rank higher in the search engines, you need to have an SSL certificate. An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate ensures that the website’s identity is authentic and enables users to have a private connection between them and the website.
Error Pages
An error page is a page that appears when a user tries to access a page that doesn’t exist. This problem can happen for various reasons, such as a typo in the URL, a broken link, or a deleted page.
If you have an error page on your website, setting up a redirect is critical. This process will help to ensure that users are directed to the correct page and that your website’s ranking will not get hurt.
Redirects
If you have ever changed your website’s URL or a page from your website, you need to set up redirects. Redirects tell the search engines where to find your new pages and ensure that users are directed to the correct page.
In a nutshell, redirects are the process of directing the user from the past URL to the new URL on the website, or the page is housed.
Types of redirects
A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect that tells the search engines that a page has been moved to a new location. This redirect will help pass on 90-99% of the link equity to the new page. This is an excellent way to help your website’s ranking power.
302 redirects are a way to tell search engines that a page has been moved to a new location. They’re temporary, which means that the search engine will eventually find the new page.
Canonicalization
Canonicalization is the process of choosing the best URL when there are multiple choices. This is important because it helps avoid duplicate content, hurting your website’s ranking.
When you have two pages with the same content, the search engine will choose one of those pages to rank. The other page will be seen as duplicate content and will be penalized.
To canonicalize a page, you need to add a rel=”canonical” tag to the page. This tag tells the search engine which page is the original and should be ranked.
JavaScript
Javascript is a programming language that enables interactive web pages used by most websites. It is also increasingly important for SEO.
While internet users do not need to know how Javascript works in order to use the internet, search engines do. Google, Bing, and other major search engines use bots, also known as web crawlers, to “crawl” the internet and index webpages. When these crawlers encounter a webpage with Javascript, they need to be able to execute the code to see what content is on the page and how it is organized.
If a webpage has no Javascript, the crawler will only see the HTML code. This can cause problems if the HTML code is not well organized or if it includes content that should not be indexed (such as duplicate content). In some cases, it may even cause the crawler to get “stuck” on a page and not index any of the content that comes after it.
To avoid these issues, the SEO person needs to ensure that your website’s Javascript is well-organized and free of any errors. This will help ensure that search engines can properly index your content.
Site Migration
If you’re moving your website to a new domain, you need to do a site migration. This is the process of moving your website from one domain to another.
A site migration can be complicated, so hiring a professional to do it for you is essential. This will ensure that your website’s ranking is not hurt in the process.
Also, when you’re doing a site migration, you need to set up redirects. This will help to ensure that your website’s ranking is not hurt and that users are directed to the correct page. You also need to update your sitemaps and robots.txt file. This will help the search engine find your new pages and index them correctly.
Content development
Did you know that content is the most critical part of your website?
It tells the search engine what your website is about and helps rank your pages, which is honestly the whole point of this SEO strategy, right?
To develop content, you need to research keywords. Researching will help you find the right keywords to use on your website. Once you have your keywords, you need to create keyword-rich content. This means that your content should use keywords throughout the text.
But then again, your content should also be exciting and informative. Having exciting content will help keep users on your website longer, which is an ideal signal to the search engine that your website is of high quality and a resource worthy of rank.
Management of online business development campaigns
An online business development campaign is a process of managing and executing online marketing activities to develop the business. The ultimate goal of an online business development campaign is to attract more visitors to the website and convert them into customers or clients.
Some of the activities that are commonly done in an online business development campaign include search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing (SMM), and email marketing.
Setting some objectives and goals is essential when planning an online business development campaign. Goal-setting will help you measure the campaign’s success and make necessary adjustments along the way.
The most crucial thing in an online business development campaign is to track the results. By monitoring the results, you will be able to make the necessary changes to improve the campaign. You can also use this to figure out what’s working and what isn’t.
Keyword research
Keyword research is the process of finding the right keywords to target for your website. The right keywords are the ones people use to search for the products or services you offer.
You can use various tools and applications in doing keyword research. These tools include the Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, and Semrush. You should apply them in your title, content, and metatags. Once you have your keywords, you need to use them throughout your website.
By using keywords, you can the search engine find your website and rank it higher in the search results.
Final Thoughts
SEO is the process of optimizing your website for the search engine. The goal of SEO is to help you get your website to rank higher in the search results.
There are a variety of ways to get SEO training. You can find many resources online, such as blogs, forums, and courses. If you want to get the most out of your SEO training, you should consider hiring an SEO consultant.
An SEO consultant can help you learn the ins and outs of the industry and provide you with customized training specific to your needs. SEO consulting provides advice and guidance on how businesses can improve their website to rank better on Google’s search engine results pages (SERP).
Expertise in specific markets and geographies is vital for businesses to have when it comes to SEO. This way, they can help you tailor your SEO strategy to the needs of your business by taking into account things like location, language, and culture.
By following these tips, you can be sure that your business is on the right track for SEO.
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