Does your business have a website, but you don’t see reasons why you should hire an SEO expert? Or do you want reasons to hire an SEO expert? We’re going to reveal a couple of reasons to you shortly.
A solid online presence is no longer sufficient in today’s highly competitive business environment. Businesses have to stand out from the crowd. You need to convince search engines and prospects that you’re worth their attention.
SEO is highly tricky and time-consuming. And Google’s occasional algorithm updates and changing trends make it even more complicated. You’ll require sound SEO knowledge to understand how algorithm changes affect your site and what you can do to restore your search ranking.
Hiring an SEO expert will cost you some money upfront, but you’ll get a good return on your investment over time.
Who Is An SEO Expert?
Like we have engineers who design and invent things to solve problems, SEO experts specialize in making websites appear in search engine result pages.
SEO experts have the training and years of experience optimizing websites for diverse businesses.
If a person is sick, where do they go? They go to the hospital, right? Similarly, you must hire an SEO expert if your website isn’t performing well.
An SEO expert can audit your website, discover challenges preventing it from ranking high on SERPs, and deploy the right strategies to help you get more visitors online.
If a Google algorithm update affects your website’s search ranking and traffic, you’ll need a search engine optimization expert to fix your site.
Because Google constantly updates its algorithm, SEO experts must keep up-to-date. In other words, they must continually study the changes Google makes and develop effective strategies to help their client’s websites rank
high on search engine result pages.
So many search engine optimization experts claim to be the best. Some even make mouthwatering promises to lure clients but deliver excuses instead of results.
Hiring the ideal SEO expert for your business is highly important. The success of your SEO campaign rests on the expertise of the search engine optimization expert you hire.
Consider the services the search engine optimization professional renders. Is the agency a one-stop shop for all your SEO needs?
For instance, BitChip Digital is a full-service digital marketing agency that renders SEO services tailored to help small and medium businesses grow online. In addition to SEO, the agency has expert web designers and graphic designers and uses innovative online marketing tools.
The reason you need an SEO agency that offers a wide range of services is simple. They can tackle any issue. If the SEO project demands a re-adjustment of the website, SEO audit, graphic design, and even content writing, an agency offering a full suite of search engine optimization services can handle it.
What Does An SEO Expert Do?
The primary goal of an SEO expert is to help their clients’ businesses grow online. The growth involves increasing ranking, organic traffic, online credibility, brand awareness, conversion rate, and sales.
Research shows that 68% of all online experiences start with a search engine. So, people are searching for products, services, information, and more online daily. The question is, are you appearing in those search results?
As of February 2024, the report shows Google has the largest search engine market share (91.62%). It is the standard for online search.
Every day, Google caters to 8.5 billion searches, which equates to 99,000 searches per second. So, people are searching online for your products or services. They probably haven’t found you yet because you haven’t optimized your website.
You need an SEO expert if you have a website and you’re not getting visitors or your visitors, including search ranking, aren’t improving.
Here are steps an SEO expert can take to help unleash your website’s growth potential:
Comprehensive SEO audit:
A search engine optimization expert will evaluate your website to determine how well it is optimized for search engines.
The audit helps identify errors preventing your website from ranking high and explains the steps one can take to improve the website’s fortune.
Build a healthy backlink profile:
An SEO expert knows the importance of backlinks, how to identify linking opportunities, evaluate link quality, and build a healthy backlink profile. Most website owners consider link building as getting backlinks to help improve a site’s search ranking, traffic, and authority, but link building is more than that.
You require high-quality and niche-relevant backlinks. Your links must also be from a non-spammy website.
Google pays more attention to the quality of a website’s backlinks than the quantity. That’s why ten high-quality backlinks will have higher value and far more impact on your website than one hundred poor-quality, irrelevant ones.
Your SEO expert should guide you on this. Or, on your own, ask questions about the quality of the backlink you’re getting. Check the sites the backlinks are coming from. That way, you can quickly evaluate the quality of the backlinks.
Conduct keyword research:
Keyword research is a crucial aspect of any search engine optimization strategy. Google and other search engines operate with keywords.
Prospects searching for products or services online will use keywords or search terms to locate them quickly. For example, a prospect looking for the best shoes to wear in winter might search online with a keyword like “best shoes for winter.”
Some may even streamline their searches to a specific geographical location. For example, they may use search terms like “best shoes for winter in Miami.”
If you look at the screenshot, you’ll discover the website ranks for the keyword “best shoes for every runner.” It’s the keyword the content was built around.
SEO experts will help you conduct comprehensive keyword research using premium tools to get valuable details about each keyword.
You’ll get critical details about each keyword, such as the search volume, keyword difficulty, CPC, etc. With the information, an expert can suggest the best keywords to target.
A Handy Tip: You can target longtail keywords to have a greater chance of ranking high and appearing in SERPs. Don’t focus on short-tail keywords. They have high search volume, high competition, and keyword difficulty. Additionally, ranking a website for short-tail keywords is time-consuming and more expensive.
You can watch the video to learn how to conduct keyword research.
Populate your website with great content:
Are your visitors proud to screenshot or even share your website posts on their social media handles for others to consume? Are they spending more time consuming your content and navigating from page to page?
People like to share enjoyable and helpful content so that others can benefit. That’s why you need SEO experts who can populate your website with content that search engines and your visitors would love.
Good quality content should be well-optimized, information-packed, unique, and readable. It mustn’t be extremely long to please search engines and potential visitors.
Keyword placement in your content is another area where a search engine optimization professional excels. An SEO professional will strategically place the keywords in your content, meta description, and meta title to boost ranking, avoiding keyword cannibalism, a move that can affect your site’s SEO.
Improve your website speed:
Google appreciates websites that load fast. It even prefers sites that load in under half a second. But then, 1-2 seconds is a reasonable load time. But remember that the longer a site takes to load, the more potential visitors lose and consider moving elsewhere.
An SEO expert can help to speed up your website. And as you know, page speed impacts SEO. Google has declared that “page speed” is a direct ranking factor.
Optimize your website for mobile search:
Another thing SEO professionals can help you with is optimizing your website for mobile and desktop search. Besides, mobile-friendliness is a direct Google ranking factor.
There are currently more mobile phone users than there are people in the world. More searches are conducted via mobile phones (64%) than desktops (35%).
Renders ongoing support and analytics:
Reliable SEO experts will not optimize your website, get you to the top half of search engine result pages, and abandon you. They’ll stick around and keep an eye on your SEO campaign.
You’ll get ongoing support when the site needs one. The analytics you can get from an expert will give you a better understanding of how your website is performing and areas you can improve to boost the results you’re getting.
What Are The Reasons Why You Should Hire An SEO Expert?
Let’s discuss some of the reasons you should consider hiring a search engine optimization expert for your business.
1: Your competitors are investing in SEO:
If you’re seeking reasons to invest in SEO, consider your competitors. Some of their websites rank high because they invest in SEO.
They have hired an SEO expert to handle their SEO campaigns while focusing on other aspects of the business. That way, they can put their time into productive use.
SEO is dynamic. It requires time to learn and master. Most business owners may not have time to learn and master SEO. Besides, running a business is demanding on its own.
By investing in SEO, you’re handing over your online marketing campaigns to experts who understand how to analyze your competitors and create plans to outrank them.
Furthermore, SEO isn’t a one-off. It requires constant effort. You can’t take your foot off the gas even when your website appears at the top in SERPs (search engine result pages). Why? Your competitors are eyeing your position on search engines and working hard to dislodge you.
A Handy Tip: We aren’t saying you should hire an SEO expert because your competitors are doing the same. SEO requires 100% attention, which you might be unable to give based on your business commitments.
Any business owner with sound SEO knowledge and experience who can run their business while doing SEO together should give it a shot. But if you can’t give 100% to your SEO and business simultaneously, let an SEO expert come in.
A search engine optimization expert can give 100% to your SEO campaign while you focus on other aspects of your business that require your attention.
2: Hiring an SEO expert is cost-effective:
Hiring an in-house SEO expert is an excellent step for any business. Unfortunately, most small businesses cannot afford it.
Besides the salary, the hidden overhead cost of hiring an in-house SEO expert is high, making it unsustainable for a small business. An in-house SEO team member would require benefits like 401K matches, health insurance, and PTO time, which equates to approximately 35% of their base salary.
Overhead costs may be unnecessary if your business doesn’t have a physical office, but if it does, the overhead costs are inevitable. In addition to the overhead expenses mentioned above, others include snacks, furniture, software, and the administrative implications of adding someone to your team.
There are accounting, legal fees, corporate tax, liability insurance, and others.
You’ll not be responsible for any overhead cost when you hire an SEO agency. In addition, the agency would come with a team of experts, such as SEO specialists, content writers, web designers, graphic designers, and others. You don’t have to pay overhead costs; you can opt out of the contract anytime.
You’ll save money when you hire an SEO expert, compared to having an in-house SEO team.
Every business has three options for managing its SEO campaigns; one is to get an SEO expert (agency), and the second is to employ an in-house team. The third option is to manage your SEO campaign yourself.
If you don’t have the time and expertise to manage your SEO projects and consider hiring an in-house team to be unsustainable for your small business, the ideal option would be to get an SEO expert.
3: An SEO expert can keep up with the Google Algorithm changes and latest SEO trends:
Search engine optimization is an essential but demanding marketing strategy. The constant Google algorithm updates and changing trends make it even more challenging.
For example, Google changes its algorithm approximately 500 to 600 times yearly. The number appears significant, but that’s what it requires to maintain your website’s relevance to queries.
By simple calculation, Google updates or changes its algorithm 2 to 3 times daily. Now, you can see why you need an SEO expert. You’ll require someone to constantly monitor and evaluate your website to take action whenever it gets hit by algorithm changes.
An SEO expert will audit your website and identify growth potentials you have gone unnoticed. With experience and knowledge of SEO, an expert will help ensure you’re getting organic traffic and adhering to SEO best practices.
In 2022, we witnessed new trends in SEO. For instance, there were voice and video searches, podcast notes, increased importance of local websites, and the need for high-quality content.
A Handy Tip: Reliable SEO experts don’t just sit around waiting for the next gig. They attend SEO conferences and workshops, research the latest SEO software and news, and exchange ideas with other professionals in the industry.
So, keeping up with SEO trends and changes will be time-consuming unless you run a digital marketing agency or a related niche. You can invest your time in other aspects of your business and outsource your SEO projects to competent professionals.
4: Identify high-value search terms to generate more leads and ranking:
SEO specialists are experts in identifying keywords with great potential. They will use the latest keyword research tools to identify keywords relevant to your niche and manually evaluate them to choose the best for your SEO campaign.
Besides identifying high-value keywords or search terms, SEO specialists will build high-quality, linkable, and shareable content around the keywords. They’ll populate your website with content that Google and users would cherish.
An SEO expert can create content in your niche and brand voice. That’s the beauty of hiring a search engine optimization agency. They’ll assign content writers with expertise in your niche to write your content.
SEO specialists can produce high-quality content that other blogs will link to naturally, giving you a quality backlink. So, the benefits of hiring an expert for your SEO campaign are huge.
5: Impressive local SEO expertise:
If you’re running a local business, hiring an SEO expert could be the best thing you can do for your business. A search engine optimization expert will optimize your small business for local search queries, making it easier for prospects in your location to find you online.
Implementing an effective local SEO strategy will improve your online and foot traffic. Your business will also become popular in your locality.
An SEO specialist will also help to optimize your Google Business Profile, improving the chances of local customers locating and patronizing your business.
Google Business Profile is free to create. It allows you
Adding your name, address, phone number, and other information to your Google Business Profile will make it a breeze for prospects to contact you. GB profile also allows customers to give reviews to businesses they patronize.
A Handy Tip: An SEO expert can help you create and optimize your Google Business profile. But you must also play your part by delivering quality products and services.
A happy and satisfied customer will give you a positive review that can influence how others perceive your business.
Positive reviews will help your business build solid social proof, a psychological phenomenon where people take action because they see others doing it.
Prospects can decide to patronize you because of the positive online reviews from others who have patronized you. That’s how social proof works.
6: Avoid crucial errors:
Because SEO is so dynamic, comprehensive, and tricky, there are opportunities to make mistakes that may hurt your site.
In most cases, mistakes don’t arise from what you do but what you didn’t do.
By allowing an SEO expert to manage your online marketing campaign, you can identify, fix, and avoid mistakes that hamper your website’s growth.
7: Improve your sales and revenue:
Search engine optimization experts are skilled in analyzing websites and providing reports about website performance. Access to this analytics is crucial to making informed decisions leading to business growth.
So, they provide SEO support and information you can capitalize on to grow your business.
8: Improve your online visibility:
Search engine optimization involves a combination of strategies tailored to help a business succeed online. It is an essential online marketing strategy every growth-minded business must take seriously.
Improving online visibility is possible with SEO. However, you must implement the right strategies to achieve your goal.
Some business niches are highly competitive. Thus, your SEO strategy must be exceptional to outrank your competitors. , which is why you hire a vast professional in SEO.
An SEO professional will help you rank high on Google. You’ll appear in search engine results pages for your targeted keywords.
Ranking high on Google and other search engines means you’ll get more traffic, and prospects will establish more touchpoints with your brand.
When prospects occasionally encounter your website in their search results, they’ll become familiar with your brand. In turn, they’ll consider you a trustworthy and credible brand and be more comfortable doing business with you.
Reasons You Don’t Need To Hire An SEO Expert
There are certain occasions when you don’t need to hire a search engine optimization expert for your business. Check them out below:
1: You have sound SEO knowledge and time to manage your online marketing campaigns:
SEO is tricky, time-consuming, and comprehensive, yet some business owners still find the time to manage their search engine optimization campaigns. If you’re in this category, keep doing what you’re doing.
As long as you’re getting results and no aspect of your business is suffering or needs your attention, keep managing your SEO.
Business owners with sound SEO knowledge who can manage their online marketing campaigns don’t need to hire an SEO expert.
But if your business will suffer because you’re focusing on SEO or you can’t keep up with the pace of the SEO trends, hiring an SEO expert may be the best decision for your business.
2: You prefer traditional marketing strategies:
Whether we agree or not, some businesses might not fancy SEO. By the way, some companies don’t even have a website and don’t feel like they need one (your business does, regardless of size).
A business that prefers a traditional marketing strategy will not take advantage of an opportunity to hire an SEO professional. That’s the point we’re trying to make.
A Handy Tip: Even if you prefer traditional marketing, you must also consider SEO. People now search online to find products, services, and information. They usually prefer it to driving their vehicles around town, looking for you.
With SEO, you can make it easier for prospects to find and contact you. They’ll even learn more about your business and inform others about you by sharing your content online.
3: You think hiring an SEO expert is too expensive:
Some businesses may have been ditching SEO because they consider hiring an expert too expensive. If you’re in that category, you have to re-evaluate your stand.
There are affordable SEO experts out there. They aren’t cheap, but affordable. They consciously reduced their prices to help businesses get premium search engine optimization services without breaking the bank.
4: Bad experiences with previous SEO experts you hired:
A business that has had a terrible experience with an SEO professional in the past might be lacking the desire to outsource their projects to another professional.
Unfortunately, refusing to hire an SEO expert or neglecting your online marketing campaign won’t help your business. Instead, you’re losing money and potential customers to your competitors.
If your SEO campaign isn’t yielding results, it’s time to contact another professional for help. But before you engage the SEO expert, ask pertinent questions. These include questions about how the expert wishes to tackle your problems, strategies, proposed project timeframe, results, etc.
When you find the right online marketing agency, you have struck gold.
Conclusion
We have shared several reasons why you should hire an SEO expert. You don’t need an SEO expert if you have SEO knowledge and can manage your website’s optimization campaign.
If you cannot manage your SEO or hire an in-house SEO professional, outsourcing your SEO is the best option.
An SEO professional will improve your website ranking, organic traffic, brand awareness, and sales.
