With the development of search engines, the strategies of search engine optimization experts are changing. If earlier to get into Google enough to write as many keywords, but now it needs to understand what you’re doing. At the same time, the number of people and companies involved in SEO is constantly growing. The head of the SEO department, gave some practical tips to help you choose a good contractor if you want to raise your site in search results.
Your customers are looking for information every day, and the goal of any entrepreneur is for users to find this information as quickly and conveniently on his site as possible. This result can be achieved by hitting the first page of the search.
Now, with increasing competition in each segment, with an increase in knowledge about the behavior and preferences of users, with the development of search engines, to successfully promote a site, a whole range of diverse work needs to be done. You can also implement the latest inbound marketing strategies with SEO to promote your business website.
Here is a list of the basic steps necessary for search engine optimization of a site today:
- Site audit to identify all growth points, including technical analysis, content analysis, and Usability.
- Analysis of topics and competitors.
- Elimination of technical errors.
- Compilation of the semantic core – all requests that a potential client can enter in the search bar.
- Work with the site structure.
- Working with texts, links, and optimizing pages directly for keywords.
- Work with commercial ranking factors.
Improving the user experience and usability of the site.
In 2019, it is also in trend: transferring the site to the secure https protocol, optimizing content for user intentions and focusing on behavioral factors. I emphasize: This is a basic list. In reality, there are more than a thousand factors affecting search results.
Self-promotion has a number of advantages: you do not need to spend time explaining the specifics of your industry or product and money for third-party services.
However, it should be borne in mind that basic SEO-promotion training will take about three months, plus the same amount for the implementation and correction of errors that will happen – search engine algorithms are often unpredictable even for professionals. And it’s not always possible to correct these errors due to the lack of experience or the use of outdated recommendations and tools.
Hiring a freelancer looks like the most attractive option: paying not very much to one person, but not to the whole agency, communications are fast, it’s easier to control. But, unfortunately, due to the abundance of dubious training courses, intensives, and programs, the number of “SEO specialists” is growing exponentially, and the quality is falling. Moreover, in addition to the standard risks of working with freelancers: I received an advance and disappeared, approvals “on the run” by phone – in this area there is a risk of completely removing your site from issuance due to chaotic actions or a new search engine algorithm that neither the client nor the freelancer they knew. Returning positions in the issuance will then be more difficult and more expensive.
If you still want to save money and take a chance, here are a few points that you should pay attention to when working with freelancers:
- Work plan. Request a work plan and check it against the necessary steps. Often, in terms of pseudo-SEOs, it all comes down to working with Meta tags and page texts.
- Warranty. Since there is always a third party in the process of SEO promotion – search engines, it is impossible to give exact guarantees: there are too many influential factors. You can predict, based on the results of similar projects, to guarantee – it is impossible.
- Dates. If scammers work with you, you can get an offer to bring your site to the TOP in 2 weeks, a maximum of a month. This is a reason to beware: search engine optimization is a quick process, the results of which can be seen after 3 and 6 months, depending on the subject, competitors, the initial state of the site and other parameters.
- Price. At the request “SEO promotion price,” Google gives out about 11 million options – to any wallet. With this cost of work, it is worth taking a closer look at the experience of the person with whom you are going to work.
Agencies look the most reliable option: a well-developed system of actions, several experienced specialists work on the task. And even in the event of an unforeseen situation, it will be corrected not randomly at random, but according to a clear plan. Implement marketing plans for your business you can consult inbound marketing book.
However, when working with agencies, you run the risk of falling into the “customer conveyor” and getting a standard solution instead of an in-depth study of your business and individual plan. Therefore, before agreeing with the agency, study his experience, customer reviews and the competence of the team that will work on the project.
And two main tips (which will be useful, in principle, in any field):
- Learn the equipment. Regardless of the contractor, you need to have a basic understanding of what SEO is, how it works, and by what laws. So you will understand what and how well the performer does.
- Do not work with gouging. Communication should be comfortable and professional.
