SEO specialist hiring can be a game-changer for your business’s online visibility, but it can feel overwhelming if you’re not tech-savvy. This guide simplifies the process, breaking down everything from understanding SEO basics to tracking and evaluating outcomes.
Learn how to set SMART goals, differentiate between technical and content SEO, assess website platforms, budget for SEO support, decide between in-house vs. outsourced SEO, and find the right freelance talent.
SEO Defined
SEO, short for Search Engine Optimization, is about making your website easier to find on search engines like Google. Think of it as making your site friendly to search engines so they know it’s a good match for people’s searches.
You need to make sure the content on your website, like text, pictures, and videos, is something search engines can easily understand and show to people. Keep in mind focusing on getting other reputable websites to link to yours, tells search engines your site is trustworthy and should be shown to more people.
Focusing on these things helps your website show up more often in search results when people are looking for something you offer.
Importance of SEO
SEO is useful because it’s how most people find new websites, 90% of the time we start online by using a search engine. Being on the first page of Google for the right search words can bring a lot of interested people to your website.
In simple terms, if your business isn’t showing up in search engines, you’re missing out on a lot of potential attention and customers. Being easy to find in search engines can lead to more people visiting your site, which can turn into more leads and sales.
Setting SMART SEO Specialist Hiring Goals
Before you go looking for SEO specialist hiring, it’s smart to have clear goals that match what your business is trying to achieve. Just saying you want ‘more website visitors’ is too broad and might not get you the results you’re hoping for. Instead, you should set S.M.A.R.T. goals that are specific to your business and what you want to accomplish.
Generic vs Tailored Goals
Broad goals like ‘get better website rankings’ or ‘bring in more traffic’ don’t give an SEO specialist much to work with. Without knowing exactly what your business needs, they can’t focus their efforts effectively.
For instance, if you’re selling products online, you might think you want to ‘increase organic traffic by 30%’. But if that traffic doesn’t lead to more sales, it’s not helping. A more specific goal would be to ‘bring 30% more visitors to our product pages to increase sales by 15%’.
If you’re looking to generate leads, just getting more visitors isn’t enough. You need those visitors to do something, like fill out a form. Instead of a vague goal, aim for something like ‘improve our rankings for 10 specific keywords to get 30% more leads’.
SEO Specialist Hiring: Types of Workers
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is all about making your website easy for search engines to read and understand. It’s like tidying up your house so guests can easily find their way around. They also make your website faster by shrinking pictures and making other changes so your page loads quickly. Everyone hates waiting for a slow site to load, including search engines.
They also get other websites to link to yours so it tells search engines your site is trustworthy and worth showing to more people. Technical SEO is for people who like digging into the technical side of websites.
Content SEO
Content SEO is all about making your website’s content appealing to both people and search engines. It’s like cooking a delicious meal that also looks great on the plate. These specialists focus on figuring out what words people use when searching and include those words in your content. This helps more people find your pages.
They work by regularly adding new posts on topics people are searching attracting more visitors over time. Content SEO is perfect for those who love writing and understanding what people are looking for online.
Comparing In-House vs Outsourced SEO
In-House SEO Pros and Cons
Pros
You have more control and can make changes faster, it’s also easier to make sure SEO matches what your business is aiming for. Your team can get better at SEO over time and you can avoid misunderstandings that could happen with outside teams.
Cons
It can be expensive to pay salaries, benefits, and office space. Finding and hiring the right people takes a lot of effort and your SEO knowledge is limited to what your team knows.
Outsourced SEO Pros and Cons
Pros
It’s way cheaper than having an in-house team, you get access to experts with a wide range of skills, it’s easy to adjust your SEO efforts if your needs change and your team can focus on other tasks.
Cons
There might be communication issues with an outside team, you have less control over the day-to-day work, and finding the right partner can take some trial and error.
Choosing between in-house and outsourced SEO depends on what your business needs, how much you can spend, and other factors. A mix of both might give you the best results.
Collaborating With Your SEO Resource
Set Expectations
When you start working with someone for your website’s SEO, make sure you both know what you’re aiming for, so tell them about your goals by explaining what you want from SEO, like more people visiting your site or more leads. This helps them create a plan that fits what you need.
Provide Access
Your SEO partner will need to get into certain tools to do their job well. Share CMS logins since they’ll need to get into your site to make updates or add things like keywords. Be careful with who you give full access to. They will also need analytics, so give them a way to look at your site’s data so they can see how well things are going. Make sure to limit what they can change.
Sharing these tools with clear rules helps your SEO work go smoothly without any mix-ups.
Tracking and Evaluating Outcomes
Key Metrics To Track
Once you have done SEO specialist hiring, it’s important to keep an eye on a few key things to see how well your web performance is doing. Watch for search rankings, organic traffic, and goal completions.
Check these things once a week and then look at the bigger picture every month to see trends. Tools like Google Analytics and Search Console can help you track how many people visit your site and what they do there. Linking this data to your customer management system helps you see how website visits turn into sales or leads.
Conclusion
Getting your website to show up on the first page of search results is key to getting noticed and drawing in potential customers. But, diving into SEO work can feel like a lot, especially if tech stuff isn’t your thing. The good news? You don’t have to go it alone. By teaming up with skilled SEO pros and agencies, you can get the expert help you need to improve your search rankings.
While SEO specialist hiring seems complex, even if you’re not a tech expert, you can still make it work by finding the right SEO pros to help. Being clear about what you need and working closely together can lead to a successful partnership. This way, you can improve your search rankings and stand out from the competition.
