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Should You Hire a Search Engine Specialist?
That really depends on you and your situation.
Do you want to achieve faster results or do you have time to experiment?
Is your budget tight?
Have you reached a plateau and want to move beyond it?
Basically, if you find the right specialist they can achieve spectacular results in a short span of time, largely because they've already done all the experimentation, are constantly on top of the ever-changing conditions, and have paid for the often-expensive tools required to do a good job.
On the other hand you need to be on guard for the many so-called experts who've hung out a shingle advertising themselves as search engine experts. The vast majority of these "experts" have little or no clue about what they're doing.
Here are some things to check into before hiring a specialist:
- Do they have a track record? Can they show you successes?
- Can they give you references? (more than one)
- Can they provide examples of what people actually search for and how many on each of the top search engines?
- Will they sit down and go over every detail of the process before you start?
- Do they let you choose the phrases to optimize after they've done the research?
- Do they let you determine the subject of the pages to be optimized?
- Do they let you approve/disapprove the pages before they're listed?
- Do they subscribe to a code of ethics?
- How long have they been in business?
- How many years has their longest optimization client been with them?
- Is the business incorporated? Look for signs that they're here to stay.
- Can they give you specific examples of their work?
- Do they appear knowledgeable? Are they willing to share information?
- Do they tell you all the costs up front?
- Do they have a good record with the Better Business Bureau?
Remember that many companies can get you "top rank" but is it with phrases that do you any good?
Most strategies that you can do yourself can be easily surpassed by an expert, so it makes sense to consider retaining a pro, but if you have the time or don't have the budget it makes sense to try it yourself for a while first. Who knows, if you have a strong niche product or service, or if your industry is underdeveloped on the Internet, you may have spectacular success.
The time when many businesses choose to engage a professional is once they've gone through the first steps, have seen the potential benefits, and want to move forward. Even in this case it's often a good idea to do a little research, maybe purchase a list of search phrases that people are using and see what the actual possibilities are. If you couple that with a rank report on the key phrases for your business you'll quickly get a good idea of how much further you can take it.
Another factor that comes into play is the size of your profit on a given client. If your product sells for $5.00 then it will take a lot of sales to be able to afford a specialist. If on the other hand your average sale nets your $10,000.00, then it makes a lot more sense to step up to the plate and stop messing around. In this case you may be losing more every day you procrastinate than you might spend retaining an Internet marketing guru.
One final thing to consider if you have a high-ticket item or a fairly unique offering is the possibility of working out a deal with the specialist that may cut down on your initial investment or defer it over time. Many companies offer financing options or may even be willing to trade part or all of the fees in return for other considerations, so don't give up if the price seems high.
In any case, the final decision is up to you and the situation that you're in, but the results can be spectacular whether you're doing it yourself or hiring someone.
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