This article is for anyone looking to climb up the rankings in organic search and looking to hire an SEO specialist, whether that be an SEO freelancer or SEO agency.

Are they paying for ads in search?

You can check if their search listing says promoted next to it. If it does they are paying to show up in the search results. This is a huge red flag. If they can get you to the top of search, why can’t they get themselves there? Any SEO freelancer or agency worth its salt should be able to rank for the SEO services they provide without having to resort to paying for ads. 

Did they approach you with SEO services? 

Avoid companies that reach out to you through email with the generic subject lines of ‘Improvement & suggestion for your website – www.yourwebsite.com’. This is just automated cold outreach that preys on people who can be fooled in to thinking their website has serious issues that need to be addressed urgently. My honest advice is to just mark these as spam and to never respond to them. A free SEO audit sounds like a great deal but this will just be an automated report with no human input. Then they will make you feel like you have to use their SEO service and pressure you to sign up. No capable SEO specialist is going to audit websites for free.   

Do they have examples of websites where they are ranking at the top?

If they are using ads for their own business then you have to dig further and look for some case studies and examples of work where they have actually made a positive impact on organic search results. They should be able to provide you with this information and if they can’t due to NDAs or client confidentiality then you have no idea if they are capable of taking on the work. 

How are they going to let you track your website progress?

You have to make sure you are getting crystal clear data here. Ultimately you are paying an SEO specialist for a goal, it could be more traffic, more leads, more sales, whatever it is you need to track it. Make sure whoever does the job sets up clear tracking tools so you can monitor progress. It’s great to get loads of impressions through Google, but if they don’t translate into clicks, leads or sales then they are a loss-maker.  

What is your SEO goal?

SEO is different for different types of businesses. Some just want to sell products or services locally and can utilise Local SEO techniques. Others are looking for more of a global reach and will need a strong SEO strategy to compete for keywords that fit with their market. I have some clients that come to me for SEO services and depending on the requirement I may recommend running social or PPC ads instead because I believe that will have a better return. 

What area of SEO do they specialise in?

SEO is a very broad field and there are a lot of different areas of it. Some will focus specifically on On-Page SEO, some in Technical SEO, others may specialise in Backlink Building. Realistically you will need to work with someone who can offer a mixture of all three unless you plan on working with multiple freelancers or agencies to reach your goals. This is a case of whether you should look for a specialist or a generalist approach. 

Can you meet them in person? 

Some SEO freelancers and agencies will want you to sign a retainer for a minimum term of work. This is a big commitment and I would highly recommend talking to them in person before signing up for anything. At the bare minimum, you would want to have an online call with them where you can discuss the terms in detail. SEO isn’t an instant thing but my attitude has always been that if something isn’t working after a few months you need to be able to shift the budget into other areas like paid advertising that will yield a result.