Five Questions to Ask Your SEO Consulting Firm

Hiring a SEO consulting firm can be tricky, especially if you don't understand the business. A lot of firms will promise certain things that may be impossible to achieve. Do some homework and ask around to ensure you are getting the best services, not just the cheapest. You want to make sure that your price matches your results and your desires match the value the SEO consulting firm promises.

Here are five questions to ask a potential SEO consulting firm before you hire them.

1) What has your success rate been with other clients? Reputation is one of the most reliable factors in regards to service. If an SEO consulting firm has done a great job for 10 clients, they will usually do well for 20, 50, or 100. It is better to trust results from previous clients and their successes. If an SEO consulting firm is willing to offer testimonials from previous clients, they are confident in their abilities.

2) Where does your own website rank? When looking for the answer to this question beware of their tactics. If an SEO consulting firm cannot rank high with their own site, how can they raise your rankings? That is not to say they do not know their own business, but you have to wonder why "the shoe maker's children don't have their own shoes."

3) What guarantees can you make? This will be a large factor in your decision. We all love guarantees, especially when we are spending hard earned money. However, there are no guarantees in this particular business. There are too many variables that can guarantee a top ranking for your company. So a good SEO consulting firm should answer with "none," a bad one will tell you whatever you want to hear.

That's because organic rankings take time to achieve, because they are constantly changing. Not only are there other companies and competitors who are trying to achieve a top ranking, but Google is constantly changing its search algorithm. So even if you did everything right this week, it could all change next week, through no fault of the SEO consulting firm. So make sure your firm doesn't promise a top page ranking, or you'll be left with broken promises and no money.

4) How will you measure our success? Success is the driving force, right? So we must know how to measure it. How will you even define success? Is it sales? Visits to the page? Time on the page? For a business site, the answer should always be sales and ROI. But even that has to be decided on. How much is not enough versus just right? It is important that your SEO consulting firm measures success the same way you do. You don’t want to be left disappointed, so make sure this is something you discuss early in conversation. It is also important that your goals and expectations are even achievable for your SEO consulting firm. Remember that these things take time — months, usually — and you're not going to see a positive ROI after a few weeks.

5) Do I need to make changes to my website? The answer is yes, yes, yes. How do you expect results if you keep trying the same tactics that never work? If your search engine optimization was perfect, you would have top page rankings and big sales already, and you wouldn't be talking to an SEO consulting firm. But since you're reading this article, I'm guessing that's not the case. Remember, Google even changes things from week to week, so what worked last year won't work this year. So, be prepared to change your website. If your SEO consulting firm says no, you don't, you might want to reconsider your choice.