No matter how talented your digital marketing team is, getting outside support can be invaluable. Hiring an SEO expert can provide several benefits, such as improving the performance of a website and saving time that can be spent on other endeavors. However, when considering hiring an SEO consultant for law firms, it is essential to work with a highly qualified and credible resource. Google actually released a video detailing recommendations for hiring SEO professionals, and we’ve detailed them here.
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A Three-Step Process for Hiring an SEO Consultant for Law Firms
Google has suggested a few steps to check out an SEO resource before choosing one. Here’s a little more about each step.
1. An In-depth Interview
It is essential not to skip or shorten the interview process. Take the time to conduct real face-to-face interviews (via Zoom or in person). When you do, make sure the company or individual is focusing on the right areas. Google says it’s a red flag for SEO experts to be too focused on particular rankings or where a site appears in search rankings. Instead, they should talk about general ways they’ll help your business improve search results. Look for “how to” descriptions instead of just ranking promises. To properly discuss this information, they should ask you questions such as:
If during the interview, the SEO resource doesn’t seem interested in your business from a holistic perspective, that’s a red flag. You also want to watch for specific promises about rankings or unrealistic guarantees. Search is constantly evolving and only Google developers know the algorithm. It is therefore impossible to make such statements.
2. Checking References
The second most important step is to get referrals from potential organizations or individuals. Don’t be afraid to ask specific performance questions. Try to find out how the resource’s advice affected their SEO efforts. You are also looking for information on whether the results are long lasting or not. If the client worked with the SEO expert some time ago, is he still benefiting from the strategies put in place? Are the improvements maintained? Google shares that a truly valuable SEO partner will help make SEO an integral part of your company’s overall marketing efforts. Look for testimonials that indicate long-term results, not just quick fixes.
3. A Technical Audit
Once you’ve conducted interviews and called references, you should be able to narrow down your list to a few possibilities. At this stage, you should ask potential partners for a technical audit. This means that they will review your site and come back to you with a list of priority actions to make your website more search friendly. Suggestions should not be general best practices, but based on specific data and insights gathered during the audit. They should also include tactics to make your website more effective for visitors (human users, not just search engines). At that time, they should be able to provide an estimate for doing the work noted in the audit, along with the results that might be expected.
Once You’ve Hired an SEO Partner
In their video, Google also provides some tips on what to do after hiring an SEO expert. Before starting any work, it is important to sit down and agree on specific goals and metrics, as well as monitoring methods. It is essential to know from the beginning what you will get from the arrangement and to be on the same page about how those results will be determined.
Since this tip comes from Google, it’s probably worth a heed. An SEO consultant can prove invaluable to businesses new to SEO, hoping to improve their search strategy, or with overstretched digital marketing teams.
