The biggest draw to hiring an SEO consultant over an agency is that a consultant is a single person, and that means you know exactly who you’ll be dealing with. Not only that, but an SEO consultant typically will have a great deal of experience with various methods and marketing platforms, as well as vast amounts of knowledge to draw from. An SEO consultant can create their own hours, meaning that you benefit, too, since your work won’t be restricted to typical business hours. While an agency may be able to take on more clients and do more work because there are more people to delegate to, with an SEO consultant, you’ll know that the work being done is being done by an expert – not someone that just started.

Deciding that you need an SEO consultant shows that you’re truly invested in the success of your business. Businesses of all sizes and stages of life utilize SEO expert – so don’t hesitate to reach out. Marketing is hard, and it becomes even harder when trying to navigate through data and results, which is why SEO consultants like me exist. Since I know what to look for, and know how to use this information to help you, it takes some of the pressure off of you, allowing you to focus on the rest of your business.  

The language of an SEO consultant might seem foreign to you, but here are a few terms that can help you understand what your SEO consultant means when they speak.

• Rank Types: A search term (or keyword) is ‘ranked’ based on the position that it holds in search results. There are different types of ranking that you will need to consider for your campaign and your pages. Here’s a breakdown. 
  • Local Rank: Also called ‘maps rankings’ these are the listing that show in organic search that contain the business information such as address and phone number being shown on a map.  
  • National Rank: This would be traditional placement in search engines.  These results tend to come below local (maps listings) for local based search terms.
  • Mobile Rank: Your current rank on mobile devices
• Impressions: The number of times your site is shown in search based on your content match to a searcher’s perceived intent. 
• Click Through Rate: Exactly as it sounds, the percentage of people that see your site (impression) and decide to click on your listing.
• Time on Site: The time on site is a calculation of how long each unique visitor spends on the site each time they visit. This time is calculated by adding up the amount of time each visitor spends on different pages. 
• Conversion Rate: The number of visitors that visit your site and take some type of call to action (call, form, or chat).  This is shown as a percentage.  

Lifetime Value: The toal value of a new customer over the average amount of time you keep a customer.  Someone that spend $100 per year with you and tends to work with you would have a LTV (lifetime value) of $300 ($100 x 3).

All businesses will have different needs, but there are a few things to keep in mind when seeking out the services of an SEO consultant.

1. A history of SEO experience is imperative.Not only will they know the practices themselves, they’ll know the market, too.
2. Proven track records help SEO consultants like me make a name for myself. I can tell you all about what you need to do, or what the services I can provide for you may include, but showing you that these suggestions and ideas can result in success? Even better. References are important.
3. Understanding “the big picture” is necessary. While rank is important, it’s not always about having the highest ranking page as long as site visitor numbers go up and conversion rates increase.
4. Communication skills may not seem that important, but they really are. An SEO consultant needs to know how to do their job – but also how to explain this job to someone that is less experienced. This trickles down through every level, because a skilled SEO consultant doesn’t only need to know how to talk to you about what should be done, they need to be able to thoroughly communicate their needs and plans to other employees, too.
5. A curious SEO consultant is likely to be a successful, thorough one. Simply knowing something isn’t always enough to get the job done, continuously wanting to learn is the best way to build skills.

The basic answer? When you want to get and see results with your data, and don’t have time or manpower to dedicate to the task internally. The more extensive answer? An SEO consultant can bring a new perspective to your business, so if you’ve got great ideas or great content plans and don’t quite know how to implement them, bringing in an SEO specialist is the right call. It’s possible to be a great business owner and still not have any idea how to go about SEO or utilizing good marketing strategies. It may seem like asking for help, but in truth, it’s all about increasing the likelihood for success

By looking through an SEO consultant’s website, you’ll get all the information you need at once. You can see who they are, what they believe and how they operate. You’ll get to see some reviews and information about past (or even current) clients, and you can see what they are like in their own words. A site like this one offers an opportunity for us to present ourselves to potential clients – and to make a great first impression.

The answer to this varies depending on how much effort you want to put into your search, but when it involves the success of your business, not shying away from being thorough is recommended. Places to look for an SEO consultant include:

• Professional or peer network recommendations can go a long way
• Search for lists of top-ranking and rated SEO consultants compiled by reliable and relevant sources
• Utilize reviews that have been provided via 3rd party sites. Sometimes people on these sites will be more honest and thorough in their reviews than other sources.
• Attend trade shows and conferences as well as local networking events and meet candidates face to face.
• Search for SEO blogs and find someone to connect with. Reviews and recommendations can only tell you so much, but when you find content that you identify with? These are the types of consultant relationships that last.

Everyone’s path will be a little different, but there are a few steps (and ideas) to keep in mind when trying to become an SEO consultant. I followed many of these, and it’s gotten me to a great spot, career wise.

1. Keeping up to date with the latest trends in SEO is one of my primary responsibilities.  This includes knowing what works today while also paying attention to changes coming from the search engines. 
2. I need to have a great deal of patience. Success may come quickly, but it won’t always happen overnight. Being successful with SEO is about proving your value – both to yourself and to clients.
3. I focus on a data driven SEO process.  SEO is a science not an art. When you manage the data your campaigns succeed.  When you don’t.. Well I’m sure you get the picture. 

Put simply, an SEO consultant like me needs to focus on many things, but they all always return to one thing: getting clients like you the results they’re looking for when it comes to generating and converting leads. This is done by cultivating and implementing content and strategies that will help to increase visibility online through search engine ranking. To do this well, an SEO consultant needs to be able to think critically about each campaign and deliver something that meets specification.