Hiring an SEO Consultant: You Get What You Pay For

For many companies, search engine optimization is one of those things that’s perpetually on the “to do” list – but always gets bumped off in favor of higher priority projects.  And really, this is totally understandable!  After all, as a business owner or professional, you’ve got tons of competing demands on your time – all of which play a vital role in your organization’s success.

However, this mindset turns into trouble if you fail to seek out other opportunities to have this important SEO work completed on your website.  Failing to implement the latest SEO best practices could have a serious impact on your website’s overall performance, resulting in traffic decreases, potential penalties and lost revenue.

So what’s the solution?  Most companies that find themselves in this situation will benefit from outsourcing their SEO needs to qualified consultants or agencies.  Outsourcing the process entirely frees up internal resources to work on other priorities, while still ensuring that the SEO techniques needed for a website to thrive are carried out correctly.

Be aware, though, that hiring an SEO consultant isn’t as simple as plucking one out of the Google search results and signing a contract.  There are plenty of different options out there, from simple services that carry out only a single SEO element to established agencies that can revolutionize your company’s digital marketing campaigns.

One great way to think about the different types of SEO consultants that are out there is with the analogy of buying a car, which offers several different options at several different price points:

Low-End Clunkers = Fly-by-Night SEO Services

I’ll be the first to admit that the “4 Sale 4 Cheap” clunker parked outside your local auto shop has its place.  Sometimes you just need a car that’ll get you from point A to point B until you can afford something more reliable.

Of course, if you’re buying these types of cars, you know that they come with limitations.  You aren’t buying a cheap car because you want to put another 100,000 miles on it – and you certainly wouldn’t expect this type of car to drive perfectly without future mechanical issues popping up when you least expect them.

The same goes for what I like to call “fly-by-night” SEO services.  You’ll see these types of programs advertised all around the web, but they typically involve tons of links for a low price (for example, “10,000 links for $10) or set prices paid for a guaranteed number of page views or social profile followers.  Generally, they’re pitched as being cheap alternatives that provide the same results as more expensive SEO services – though you should recognize this as the same type of hype that used car salesmen use to get you into a cheap, unreliable car.

The problem with low-end SEO services is that, while they might provide a short-term boost to your website’s performance, their results either won’t last or will get you in trouble with the search engines later on.  That is, if they do anything at all in the first place!  Most of the low-end SEO services I’ve seen are automated programs that do nothing for your website but spit out BS reports and charge you on a monthly basis.

For nearly all reputable websites, I’d recommend steering clear of these SEO “solutions,” as there are far better uses of your company’s limited budget.

Mid-Range Models = New or Unproven Consultants

In the car buying world, most of the automobiles on the market fall into this middle-of-the-road category.  Say, for example, you head to a dealership in search of a new ride.  You want something that’s a little more reliable than the bottom-of-the-barrel rust-bucket described above, but you don’t have quite enough money to buy something new.

At this price point, your options are nearly endless – from roomy sedans with 75,000 miles to SUVs that are just a few model years away from being new themselves.  You still won’t be expecting to get something new for the cost of these cars, but you assume that you’ll wind up with something that’s reasonably reliable and will last for years to come.

The same “mid-range” exists in the world of SEO consultants and services.  In this field, you’ve got everything from your next-door neighbor’s kid who picked up a few SEO tricks by browsing industry blogs online to established agencies whose limited successes haven’t quite set them apart from better-known brands.  You’ll pay more than you would for one-off SEO services to work with providers, but still less than you will to work with a bigger name in the field.

But are these services worth it?  That depends.  If you absolutely can’t afford to work with top-tier SEO consultants or agencies, hiring these alternatives is a far more sustainable option than purchasing backlink packages and other cheap SEO products.  And if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to find an up-and-coming consultant or agency that hasn’t been discovered yet whose skills are still good enough to qualify for the upper echelons of the SEO industry.

You will, however, need to keep a close eye on your company’s SEO ROI when hiring new or unproven SEO consultants.  Many of the players in this field aren’t top-tier because their skills aren’t good enough – picking up a few wins isn’t the same as carrying out effective campaigns over the long run for high-level clients.  Experience is a vital factor in SEO success, which makes hitching your wagon to an unproven consultant a big risk for your marketing budget.

As a result, it’s important to make sure your consultants are producing measurable results – not just hot air!

Top-of-the-Line Sports Cars = Established SEO Agencies

Finally, if you’ve got the cash to burn, you can have it all – whether you’re looking to purchase a shiny new sports car, looking for penny stocks to buy or to work with the brightest minds working as SEO consultants (or all!).

It’s impossible for me to understate what a difference these top SEO strategists can have on your business’s overall performance.  I’ve seen good SEO consultants take a website from dull and underperforming to completely revitalized and raking in the dollars.

Obviously, though, you pay for this privilege.  Just like you won’t come flying off the lot in a new BMW M3 without the cash to back it up, working with the best SEO consultants and agencies isn’t a cheap proposition.  However, what you have to keep in mind is the ROI of this investment.  When you work with top-tier SEOs, it’s totally possible to turn an investment of $10k into a $25k return for your company’s bottom line – a rate of return that’s pretty hard for most companies to argue with!

Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you which option is right for your company.  Only you know what resources your business has access to and whether or not it makes more sense to carry out SEO techniques internally or to outsource the process entirely.

What I will tell you, though, is that – as with the car buying process – when something seems too good to be true, it usually is.  Realistically, you’re never going to achieve great SEO results using cheap fly-by-night services, just as you can’t expect an inexperienced consultant to perform work of the same caliber as an established agency.

What you can do, though, is to take the time to clearly determine what you hope to get out of your SEO campaigns, as well as how these specific results can be managed.  If, for example, your goal is to simply get more visitors on your website, you can use your desired benchmark to measure whether or not the consultant you work with is meeting your expectations – no matter what price point you’ve decided to work in.

By carefully tracking changes in your key metrics, you’ll be better able to judge whether your SEO investments have been successful – or whether you need to pull the plug and reassess your SEO outsourcing process.

Entrepreneur & Digital Marketing Strategist

I build and grow SaaS companies.

“When it comes to marketing, Sujan is the best. I’ve never met someone with such creative tactics and deep domain knowledge not just in one channel, but in every flavor of marketing. From content, to scrappy guerrilla tactics, to PR, Sujan always blows my mind with what he comes up with.”

RYAN FARLEY Co-Founder of Lawn Starter

Comment (19) - Cancel Reply

SOONDIREN NAGAPA CHETTY 147 months ago

A very commendable article.

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shiran 147 months ago

Great article Sujan, loved the analogy to buying a car.
How about hiring and training someone to be an in-house expert?
SEO is an ongoing work that needs to be done on monthly basis, right? so, if you are going to spend the money month after month isn’t better to hire someone and train him?

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SEO 24/7 365 147 months ago

Great article Sujan. I completely agree with you on some of these low fly by night operations. Funny thing is – this is exactly what we tell our clients when we speak to them.

Do you want a toyota camry or a fully loaded bmw?

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SEO & Poker - Ziemlich das Gleiche » Pascal's Blog 147 months ago

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Brayan 147 months ago

Having a website that is not esaliy found is like constructing an elaborate billboard on a deserted island. It may look great, but it’s certainly not going to help you very much.So by now you have determined you need help and need to hire someone to help. The question is how do you determine which search engine optimization (SEO) company is better then another. They all say the same things but when you try and compare them their approach and skill levels are very different. To help you with this, we have written this article explaining some of the aspects of SEO, including what services are important and what is just sales hype.Let’s start by defining what search engine optimization is; search engine optimization is the improvement of your websites construction and content in order to improve your visibility within online search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing (MSN). Visibility is often referred to as rankings can be measured in several ways; the problem is that many of these measurements may not be measuring the most important factor in determining your success.It is an established fact that to be successful on the Internet your business requires a strong visibility (presence) in the ‘results’ returned by search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.Professional SEO companies utilize techniques to make a website more search engine friendly. The easier it is for a search engine to read your website the easier it is to improve your visibility it is very difficult to have one without the other. Accomplishing this task is not easy and that’s why you should carefully research any website promotion and SEO consulting company that you are considering working with; in the long run, it really pays to work with ethical SEO experts who know what they are doing.

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Local Internet Marketing in Canada 147 months ago

Hiring a SEO professional is as simple as adding something to your business but choosing the one from where you are wishing to get the services will be somehow difficult.

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Akhira 147 months ago

Good Article.Really informative. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Wud love to know more info .

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Hire SEO Expert Consultant 147 months ago

Hello, I appreciate you for producing this awesome post. I’m really impressed with your way of writing and how you communicate your message. Nice Article with Great Information

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Ravi Kant 146 months ago

Nice, Please update some more.

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Samya 146 months ago

Well of course what you pay is what you get is just not for seo but all services including cars. However a seo strategy for a new,possibly struggling to establish itself, local small business that can not pay out as much would nice!

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Local Internet Marketing Services 145 months ago

Web design is more about strategy than it is about having flashy graphics or catchy phrases. The most important aspect of web design is understanding what the website needs to accomplish and how to get it there. It is easy to find artists and writers to create content for a website. It is more critical to know what to get out of those individuals.

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wordpress websites 142 months ago

finally i found someone who knows how to provide relevant information on the topic i have been searching for? thanks, at last i can study with pleasure..

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Rahul Chawla 141 months ago

Pay peanuts and hire monkeys 🙂

Another good read, Good answer to lot of the questions which were developing in my mind.

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