1. You say you’re an SEO Specialist. How much experience do you have?

Most companies advertising SEO services will have some experience, which is obviously critical for them to provide you with the service. Make sure they have enough experience to satisfy your requirements.

Also, if you’re concerned that your industry is different from most find out if they have experience in search engine optimisation in your particular area or industry. The more knowledge and experience the SEO Provider has in your industry, the more confident you can be that they will be able to deliver high-quality results for you.

Experience also means that they will be able to handle the project efficiently to help you identify what needs to be accomplished within your budget and time frame to achieve your SEO goals and rank with or above your main competitors

Listen to how your SEO Specialist handles this question to help you assess their skills for your expectations.

2. Can you provide examples of successful SEO campaigns you’ve worked on in the past?

Any SEO company worth their salt should be able to provide samples and case studies to you.

Asking for examples allows you to assess the specialist’s track record and see if they have experience in achieving tangible results.

3. What kind of results should I expect and within what time frame?

Avoid the supposed SEO Specialist who promises you overnight results. Any decent SEO strategy will take time. A true SEO Specialist will know this and will provide you with realistic time limits to produce results for you.

Unfortunately human beings are impatient so many will go with the SEO ‘get rich quick’ adverts. However, just like in real-life, in the world of SEO there is also no such thing as fast results.

Move rapidly on from those SEO companies that promise fast results (and by this we means with days, weeks or even a month). A long-lasting SEO strategy will take time, but it will also ensure that your ranking remains at the top of the pile for a long time.

SEO Specialist A quick case study: In 2006 a small telecoms company (offering overseas calls), wanted to undertake SEO for their 2 most important keyword phrases (as it was all they could afford given a very limited budget).
They were competing against not only the big players in their industry in their country, but also international competitors. Due to their limited budget, it took us 6 months to get them onto the first page of Google matches and a further 6 months to get them into the number 1 position for those 2 phrases.

However, here is the clincher:
They remained in the number 1 position for those 2 phrases for the next 10 years!

Yes…that initial 1 year SEO spend (which they were going to spend on Google Ads PPC), resulted in them not having to pay for all the click-through’s they got to their website using those 2 phrases (which were their most important) for 10 years! That is what you call an excellent ROI!

4. How long do you typically work with a client?

In most cases, SEO relationships are long ones. Firstly it takes at least 6 months for Local SEO strategies to start yielding results. We have also found that most companies, once they have experienced the benefits of the new leads generated by SEO for the first batch of keywords we work on for them, look at expanding their targeted keywords. Secondly, because of the the fact that SEO is a dynamic process with lots of moving parts that are constantly changing, once you’re at the top of the rankings getting in those regular new sales leads and enquiries, you don’t want to take the chance of dropping your position and losing them, so most clients go onto an SEO maintenance plan.

That is why most website owners should be very careful about who they chose to manage this element of their website (and business).

The job of an SEO specialist is to get your website up into the top rankings for your chosen keywords and then maintain those positions for you on an ongoing basis. Ask them how long they generally work with their customers, and if there are clients who have terminated their contracts, and if so, why? (You may not get a direct answer to the second question!). Most of the time an SEO relationship will last for at least six months. If progress is being made and goals are being achieved, this can go on for years (sometimes even for the lifetime of the business).

5. Can you guarantee me a top position in Google?

If a supposed SEO Specialist promises you the highest ranking in any search engine, walk away immediately.

No SEO specialist can ever guarantee *organic results because the facts are:-

a) Google (and the other search engines) are third parties and no SEO company can pay the search engines to display favourable organic* results.

b) SEO results depend on a host of factors including your website itself, the links to your website and your competition. Your SEO specialist cannot account for what
your competition are doing. All your SEO specialist can do is analyse the competition strategy and ensure that their own strategy betters it.

However, what we can guarantee is that we are obsessive in our pursuit of getting our Local SEO clients onto the first page of Google matches organically.

* Organic results are the ones that are not paying Google to be there i.e. they do not have the small “Ad” sign next to them as per the image below:

6. Can you provide a detailed outline of the SEO strategy you would implement for our website and Google Business Profile?

A comprehensive strategy is essential for success in SEO. Asking for an outline helps you understand the specialist’s approach and ensures they have a well-thought-out plan.

When you choose us as your SEO specialist, we will provide you with a strategy that targets specific keywords. We undertake a full SEO audit (that’s easy for you to understand, not the loads of unintelligible jargon most SEO companies use to overwhelm you).

Our quarterly reports will tell you exactly what work we have undertaken for you as well as show you the impact this work has had on the rankings of the keywords we are targeting for you.

7. How do you determine the right keywords to target for my business?

Keywords are the foundation of SEO. Asking this question allows you to gauge the specialist’s keyword research methods. Their response should demonstrate an understanding of your industry, target audience, and the ability to identify relevant keywords that can drive targeted organic traffic to your website.

If an SEO company says that they have a blanket approach and wont be targeting any specific keywords, run for the hills. This is a common tactic used by SEO charlatains who will ultimately end up taking your money and not delivering any measurable results.

IN particular, if the SEO company approached you (and you didn’t find them through a local search of your own) be very careful. There are a lot of SEO scams about – read our article on this.