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Do you need to hire an SEO professional? Not necessarily, but if any of these five things are happening, you need to call for help as soon as possible. Here are 5 Times When You Must Hire An SEO Pro.
1. Your Website or Pages are not being Indexed.
Troubleshooting why Google is not showing your website is best handled by a professional. An experienced Search Engine Optimiser will quickly home into the problem as they know the tell-tale signs.
It could be that Google thinks your content is not original or has complex issues regarding your website structure and URLs.
There are multiple possible reasons for not being indexed. An SEO professional can solve the issues and get you indexed.
2. During A Site Migration Or Redesign
An SEO can produce a plan for the redesign or migration of your site, and work with the web developers to ensure minimum disruption to your organic traffic. Any changes to a website structure, content, navigation or domain could cause significant effects on the rankings.
There are risks involved in significant changes like these. Still, the risks can be mitigated with good planning and monitoring post-migration.
3. When Organic Traffic Drops
Organic site traffic fluctuations are a natural part of website ownership. But if you notice that your traffic is on a downward path, it is time to call in the professionals.
Most of the reasons for traffic loss can be fixed. The fix may not be straightforward, so it is prudent to call in an SEO Professional with plenty of experience. Your SEO will check your traffic trends for changes and provide a path for rectifying the problem.
4. To Reverse A Manual Action
A manual action is when Google deems you to have broken the Webmaster rules by trying, deliberately or accidentally, to manipulate your rankings.
The actual quote from Google is below:
“Google issues a manual action against a site when a human reviewer at Google has determined that pages on the site are not compliant with Google’s webmaster quality guidelines. Most manual actions address attempts to manipulate our search index.”
Suppose your organic traffic has tailed off due to manual action. In that case, the first step is to detect the manual activity and the affected pages. All issues need to be fixed and only then submit a reconsideration review. Your review needs to highlight all the steps taken to find the issue, repair it and ensure that it will not happen in the future.
The review is best carried out by an SEO professional who will be familiar with the type of data Google requires to have faith that the incident will not occur in the future.
5. Not Getting Results From Your SEO Strategy
It is not uncommon for initial SEO efforts to be very fruitful, but the issue is that SEO is an ongoing process. Maybe there are no longer sufficient resources, be it time, money or knowledge, to strengthen the initial efforts.
If you are no longer getting results, it is time to bring in an experienced SEO. Concentrate on other aspects of your business and let a professional take charge.
Choosing An SEO Expert
Use these six tips will help you choose a specialist SEO professional that best aligns with your business goals.
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Clear Communication
Communication is always the primary requirement. You need to understand the recommended strategy, how your SEO will implement it, and what SEO tracking metrics will be used.
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Strategy Aligns With Your Business Goals
You will need an SEO audit to tailor a strategy to fit your business. If you want better-converting leads, just sending more traffic is not aligning with your business needs. There are no guarantees with SEO, but a good strategy with clearly defined goals can bring a win.
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Knowledge Of SEO
SEO is a blanket term for many specialised subsets. An SEO professional will typically have experience in all areas but ensure you align yourself with someone who understands your goals. Whether your site requires organic growth, content strategy, PR or backlinks, the SEO you hire should know the speciality needed for your individual needs.
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Cost Of Service
Determine a budget, but you will really not expect results for six to twelve months. Costs of SEO vary massively; find a provider who is budget-conscious.
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Expectations
A survey found that only 6.6% of Google users were willing to go to the second page for results. Given how many websites and pages there will be in your chosen industry, keeping expectations in check is wise. SEO is a long term game, and quick results rarely happen or for the wrong reasons.
Your SEO professional will be aware of the work involved and the time frames needed to generate long term results. Be the tortoise, not the Hare, to win this game.
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Ask For References
Even if your SEO was referred to you, you already know them, or they have been posting their results on social media, ask for references. This process is no different to hiring an employee. Check that they align with your business principles and focus on long-term results, not quick fixes.
Final Thoughts
It is possible to handle your SEO in-house once you have acquired essential skills and all the systems in place. The hiring of an SEO, though, makes more sense. Do you handle your own legal or tax work? Chances are that you answered no, and there is a reason for that; experience and knowledge improve results.
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