The field of search engine optimization consulting contains people with varying skill levels and capabilities. When looking for an SEO consultant, you want an experienced individual or company who can give you advice that is useful and timely. Here are a few things to ask when selecting a search engine optimization consultant:

1. How many sites have you worked on? A good consultant should have worked a few dozen sites at minimum. Every site has its own nuances, and a well rounded SEO consultant will have come across different challenges with each site. Experience in problem solving and proactive prevention are two keys to making sure your site isn’t the victim of any “rookie mistakes.”
2. Can I call your references? It is not uncommon for optimization customers to demand non-disclosure agreements. However, there are generally a few people who are willing to be called as a reference, especially if the consultant delivered substantially good results.
3. What do you think of my site? Some consultants won’t look at your site without getting paid first. If someone is proposing an SEO job without at least looking through your site structure, you can put them at the bottom of the list of potential agencies. Several agencies, including Web.com Search Agency, will check out your site in order to craft a proposal that best meets your needs. Almost any good agency or consultant would point out glaring SEO obstacles before submitting a proposal. You shouldn’t expect to get in-depth optimization advice for free, but if your consultant did not mention a major obstacle, it is always possible that he/she did not notice it, which is a red flag in itself.
4. How much SEO do I need? Many consultants have fixed fees or a minimum hourly rate. The scope of your optimization project is going to be determined by factors like keyword competition, the number of pages to optimize, your current link popularity, and difficulties peculiar to your website. Some sites need extra coding, restructured URLs, or upgrades before SEO can be properly implemented. Even so, custom SEO consulting generally takes this into account before a proposal is generated.
5. Is implementation included? Most of the time your webmaster will be the one to add metatags, upload content, or make back end changes to the site. SEO professionals can often add this information in a pinch, but it doesn’t always make sense to have too many hands touching your website code. Moreover, webmasters may not be willing to share passwords, and should ideally be part of the process so search engine optimization work does not get blown out by the next update.
6. Have you worked on sites in my field? Despite the fact that SEO follows pretty much the same rules whether you’re selling baseball bats or music boxes, there is a certain advantage to having someone who already knows the keywords associated with your products and services. Admittedly, the structure of your site has to be search engine friendly no matter what you are selling, so SEO experience in your field is not a requirement, but it is a big plus.
7. What kind of techniques do you use? Even today, some advisors use tricks that are a few years out of date, and may harm your site’s search engine rankings. By learning about the type and kind of SEO processes being used, you can do some homework and make your own decisions.
8. What are the risks of your advice? Most of the time, bad SEO advice does nothing. In this case, “nothing” is expensive, but you aren’t directly being harmed. Search engines usually devalue bad links to your site, and ignore duplicate content, so you are paying for no progress. In extreme cases, bad SEO consulting will get you filtered, penalized, or banned in the search engines. Remember that you are responsible for your website, and search engine robots can penalize you automatically if you meet a certain threshold of “black hat” practices on your site.
9. How long do you expect it to take? The stock answer is that it should take months, unless you have a great site and link profile with a clear stumbling block. This is not common. New sites take longer to rank than old sites. New links to your site need time to “age” to get the best results. If someone tells you that it only takes 2 weeks to get top 10 results, then you should be wary.
10. How much will it cost? Keep in mind that this answer will be wildly different depending on who you ask. If someone is claiming great results for a few hundred dollars, this is unlikely. If the cost is in the tens of thousands of dollars, then you should get more bids and also get plenty of up-front information about what is required to get the job done. If you’re selling airline tickets or online dating, the price will be quite high, but if you’re selling a local service, the price should be lower. Search Engine Optimization should not be a high-pressure field, so if someone is too pushy about getting you on board, you should at least shop around.
11. How do you measure results? In most cases, results can be measured by search engine ranking reports and Google Analytics, which is a free tool available from Google which measures all traffic to your site. Your SEO consultant should set you up as the “owner” of the analytics, but have access in order to see how things are going, and generate custom reports to show progress. Counting backlinks and the number of pages optimized only works when results are achieved, so if you’re getting work with no progress, then it may be time to ask more questions.

Transparency is the key to any good SEO consulting relationship. Given that almost every known optimization technique is discussed online at length in blogs and forums, the consultant’s technique and experience are what you are buying. A good SEO advisor is worth several times the money you pay him or her, but the key to getting the best ones involves asking enough questions up front to ensure that you have made the best choice. Don’t be afraid to ask around, or even compare one person’s claims against another’s. In almost every case, a consultant should be able to talk about techniques that another vendor is selling, and discuss the pros and cons of any particular course of action.

Search engine optimization agencies usually pool the consulting job among several specialists, which allows for more vibrant and dynamic approaches to your particular website’s attributes. This also allows each specialist to determine the most relevant links, best content, and the ideal structure on your site for search engine robots. In turn, your site has become easier for the search engine to classify, so your rankings will noticeably improve over the course of your project.