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Locate the Perfect SEO Expert

Having a fantastic web site available on the web will do nothing for one’s business if no one can find it.  Once built, an essential part of having a web site is optimizing it so that search engines can easily locate it.  This requires a bit of expertise with regard to keywords and phrases, good content copy that reflects the chosen keywords and even knowing which page URLs will work or not with search engine spidering.

Don’t do it yourself

Instead of attempting to do this on one’s own, it is prudent and recommended to seek out and hire an SEO consultant.  A professional SEO consultant will be able to determine which services are needed to make one’s business web site optimized for search engines and how to incorporate SEO marketing.

There are dozens of specific tasks and elements that go into good SEO and going the “do-it-yourself” route may end with one’s web site not showing at all in the major search engines.

Check their previous work

The first thing to ask for when looking for the perfect SEO expert is previous examples of SEO content as well as web sites they have helped optimize in the past.  Check the rankings of these web sites with the major search engines – Google and Yahoo are perfect examples – and use the Alexa web site to view overall rankings.  Alexa is a free web traffic metric analyzer that will give one a good overview of how well a web site or company is doing over time.

A good showing with increased rankings over time is an indication of how effective an SEO consultant can be.  Rankings that are dropping or maintaining an unchanged level would indicate locating another SEO expert would be in order.

Look at rates

Check the rates of the SEO consultants one is considering.  Very low rates can mean the person in question is just starting out and is trying to build up their portfolio.  Very high rates but with a less than stellar portfolio can also indicate a novice in the SEO field or one that isn’t terribly good at what they do.

Alternatively, as the world economy has taken a beating lately, many professionals have dropped their rates accordingly.  This is an important factor to keep in mind when researching rates.  Check to see if the SEO professional in question has recently dropped their hourly or project rates – one may get a bargain out of this.

Cheaper isn’t better

Don’t attempt to take the cheapest route.  While initially it may seem like a good idea and cost effective, a low rate SEO consultant can mean poor work produced for one’s business web site.  This, in turn, will mean ineffective search engine optimization, low rankings (if at all) within the major search engines and pretty much a loss of money overall.

Careful research should be done when looking to hire an SEO consultant.  Look at their previous results, experience and rates.  Remember that great search engine optimization can mean more customers and hiring a professional to do it correctly can only bring about a return on one’s investment.

How Specialities Can Hinder the Overall Effective of an SEM Campaign

Several marketing companies are internally divided by specialties.  In today’s web-based world, many are segmented by fields such as web development, design, research and copy writing for example.  This holds true in both agency and in-house environments.  Due to such great diversities, these disciplines don’t always mix perfectly, but are often a necessity to get the job done.  When it comes to SEM however, the talents and skills needed to effectively perform certain processes may not be as unique as one assumes.  The professional who excels at search engine marketing can often handle SEO and PPC simultaneously without passing one of these tasks off to another party and disrupting the team.

When Specialties Get in the Way

Many larger enterprises establish specialized roles for their SEM team with the belief that it creates advantages and efficiencies for the organization.  While such methods have been effective in numerous industries and more traditional marketing schemes, applying them to the world of internet marketing is an entirely different story.  Today’s economy has seen the specialized teams of both interactive and traditional full service agencies fighting over budgets and seemingly trying to justify their sole existence.  It is very uncommon for such an environment to be able lead these teams towards one common goal.  This is especially truly in an ailing economic climate where layoffs have essentially become a regular occurrence.  Even with specialties teams that are focused with the company’s best interest in mind, the extra layer of communication that is required could actually get in the way and render management ineffective.

The Pride of Experts

There is an old saying that states when you have too many cooks in the kitchen, somebody just might get burned.  In regard to an SEM campaign, this could be the case with a company’s SEO or PPC specialists.  Although both offer exceptional value, SEO experts tend to look down on PPC professionals and vice versa.  When someone learns and becomes comfortable with a particular method of SEM, they generally become set in there ways and close minded to the suggestion of others.  Unfortunately, that lack of understanding with such vital  components could drastically hinder the performance of company’s marketing campaign.  For instance, a team member who specializes in SEO might conclude that a certain keyword is too competitive to obtain quality rankings, but lacks the knowledge or support to get around the problem.  Likewise, a PPC expert might determine that a specific keyword is to costly to target, but refuses to get the insight he or she needs from the SEO specialist.  When it comes to SEM in the specialized setting, the overall success of a campaign largely depends on upper management’s ability to facilitate proper strategy, communication and collaboration.

In order to integrate the elements of SEO and PPC in seamless fashion, a company must have a clear understanding of how all SEM tactics and strategies fit into the overall marketing mix.  If your SEM team is not thoroughly cross-trained and willingly to communicate with each, the efforts of your campaign just might come up short and result in nothing but utter frustration.