Every business needs help getting off the ground. When it comes to improving search visibility and increasing website traffic, that help comes in the form of an SEO expert.
Why Hire an SEO Expert for Your Business?
There are more than a billion web pages on the Internet today. While not all of them are active, it doesn’t diminish the fact that you have tons of competition in any given industry. If you want your website to perform well, it needs a little push. And the best way to do that is to use search engine optimization (SEO).
What is an SEO expert? As the name suggests, an SEO expert, known alternatively as an SEO specialist, is someone who is well-versed in SEO strategies. SEO experts know how to optimize your website so that it climbs search rankings.
Here are just some of the ways SEO experts can help your business:
1. In-Depth Knowledge and Experience
SEO marketing experts have the necessary expertise and experience to help any business accomplish their SEO goals. After all, they’re called experts for a reason.
Even though you might be familiar with the theory of SEO, applying it is a totally different ball game. And it’s not like you have the time and resources to spare on experimentation. In fact, employing SEO through trial and error can do more harm to your website’s ranking than good. You may very well end up suffering the penalties of an incorrectly applied tactic.
In contrast, an SEO expert already knows which strategies to use given a set of data and objectives. And, because they’ve worked with companies in various industries, they have a more diverse outlook and experience.
2. Improve Your Ranking and Increase Visibility
When it comes to search engines, it’s all about getting on that first page. In fact, 75 percent of searchers never go beyond the first page of search results. Therefore, it’s important for your website to land on the first page and rank high enough to get people to notice you.
Online visibility is a key factor to success in business. You can’t expect people to know who you are right from the get-go. It takes time — and SEO — to move up the search rankings and build brand awareness. The higher you rank, the more exposure you get. And it doesn’t take a genius to know that exposure directly correlates with consumer trust. People are more likely to deem a brand credible if it takes the top spots on a search engine results page (SERP).
This is where an SEO expert comes in. A specialist in the field of SEO knows exactly how to make you climb the rankings and boost your online visibility. This will ultimately lead to more website traffic, better lead generation, and increased conversions.
3. Grow Locally or Globally
Whether you’re a small business looking to expand your local reach or a growing business wanting to go global, you should hire SEO experts. As discussed in the previous point, SEO directly contributes to better visibility. But, local SEO and traditional SEO requires different strategies.
For instance, if you’re gunning to gain more traction in the local scene, the schema markup you use on your web pages should reflect that. With SEO, you can’t just wing it.
4. The Whole Shebang
Search engine optimization consists of several aspects that all require equal attention. You also need to have sufficient knowledge of how each aspect works.
The beauty of hiring an SEO expert is that you get the complete package. Specialists know everything there is to know about SEO — from content creation and keyword research to building backlinks and testing. They can also help you with page speed optimization as well as making sure your website has an intuitive design.
5. Focus on Your Operations
You can spend hours on end trying to figure out how SEO works, or you can outsource the task to an SEO expert and have enough time to manage other parts of your business. If you ask any business owner, they’ll choose the latter.
SEO takes time, especially if you want to master it and apply it correctly. But, you probably already have tons of responsibilities on your plate. Adding SEO to the mix might lead you to spread yourself too thin. With the best SEO expert, you have someone dedicated to monitoring your campaign and making any necessary adjustments. This will leave you with more time and energy to focus on business operations.
Plus, Google, in particular, likes to change its algorithm every once in a while. Instead of allocating a chunk of your time familiarizing yourself with these changes and having to learn to adapt all over again, it’s better to outsource the job to a Google SEO expert.
6. Cheaper Than Doing It Yourself
Hiring an SEO expert will turn out to be more cost-effective for you in the long run. How? Well, consider the amount of time you’ll spend trying to figure out how SEO works. Now, add the time you’ll spend experimenting with different strategies just to see what gives you the best results. To top it all off, you’ll also need to spend money on those optimization trials, which will probably fail most of the time because of your lack of experience.
Now, compare that with just hiring an SEO expert from the start. You’re going to end up saving a lot of time and money. An expert already knows how to navigate through the confusing world of SEO. That means they’ll commit far fewer mistakes and get the job done right the first time around.
7. More Than Just SEO
Many digital marketing companies offer SEO services as part of a complete package. From web design and digital direct marketing to advertising and social media management, you’ll end up gaining a lot from a full-service agency. You can also observe how they do things and learn from them. Additionally, if you work with them long enough, they might offer you special promos or packages at discounted rates.
SEO Company vs Freelance SEO Consultant
With a high demand for SEO services, it doesn’t come as a surprise that many choose to pursue a career in this field. While some enter SEO agencies, others prefer to go freelance. But, which SEO expert should you hire?
Hiring an SEO Company
The first thing that comes to mind when considering an SEO company is cost, and that’s completely normal. After all, fledgling businesses don’t really have a huge budget to allocate to an SEO agency. On average, SEO agencies charge roughly $2,800 a month.
A good thing about an SEO company or agency, though, is their diverse portfolio. These companies take on several clients from various industries, so they know which strategies work for any type of business. It also means they’re open to trying more unorthodox approaches, though this isn’t always a good thing.
Hiring an SEO Freelancer
Many people think that freelancers are freelancers because they’re not good enough to gain employment from a big company. But, this is a common misconception. In fact, a lot of freelancers choose to become freelancers out of their own will. This is because a lot of them make more money freelancing than working for a salary. Plus, they get to decide how much work they want to take on.
SEO freelancers are great because they’re not as expensive as companies or agencies. On average, SEO freelancers charge about $1,300 a month. Hiring a freelancer is also a good option if you can’t afford to hire a full-time SEO employee. Freelancers also deal with different types of clients, so you don’t have to worry about diversified experience.
If you want to take this route, it’s important to first identify your needs and goals. That way, you can communicate exactly what you’re looking for in a freelancer. You might wonder, “How do I find my SEO expert?” You can usually find SEO freelancers on online job sites like Indeed or AngelList, too.
Alternative Options
If you don’t want to hire an SEO company or an SEO freelancer, there are a couple of other routes you can take.
1. Learn SEO yourself
You might ask, “Can I do SEO on my own?” The idea of learning SEO might seem far-fetched, but it’s definitely something you can do. You can take a digital marketing course or even just read up on the subject.
There are plenty of resources online. When learning SEO, make sure to start with the basics. After you’ve mastered that, you can then move on to more advanced concepts.
The only downside to this option, though, is that it’s very time-consuming. And, if you’re already running a business, you likely won’t have time to juggle learning SEO as well.
2. Hire a Full-Time SEO Employee
Given how many clients they have, SEO agencies likely won’t give you a personalized experience, but a full-time employee will. You can hire someone to take care of all your SEO needs in-house. With this option, you’ll have an SEO expert who knows what they’re doing and has your undivided attention.
Of course, like the previous option, this one also has a drawback. Your employee is only exposed to your data, which means they don’t have a very diverse viewpoint, whereas companies and freelancers deal with a sundry of industries.
Hiring an in-house SEO expert can also be expensive. What is the salary for SEO? The average salary for an SEO employee in the United States is around $60,000. That amount can also change depending on your location. For instance, San Francisco has a significantly higher average SEO salary — at about $100,000. But, if you have the budget for it, this is definitely a good alternative.
Hire an SEO Expert Today
It’s clear that success in business demands well-executed SEO. An SEO expert has in-depth knowledge and experience, can improve your ranking and increase website visibility, grow your brand locally or globally, and knows everything there is to know about SEO. When you hire an SEO expert, you can focus on your operations and even save money in the process.
If you need excellent yet budget-friendly SEO services, Tanner Grey is the one to call. Reach out to us today at 844.500.1339 or fill out our online form to learn more about our services.
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