Comments on: 9 Signs You May Be Ready To Hire An SEO

By: Sam Vuokra

Sam Vuokra — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:52:49 +0000

Even if you know a little seo yourself it’s always good to have a second opinion about these things. Or if you know that the seo company can help you in a completely different way say SEM or split testing then it’s added value to your business when you do other tasks that are more common to you. seo should always be a bigger project that you plan carefully and you must be working with the project and not leave it alone.

By: Chris Leone

Chris Leone — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:13:27 +0000

Well done post, Lisa.

Another way to articulate the points you mentioned is “creating a culture of SEO.” This applies to analytics services and social media consulting as well. Create a culture through education and advising and get them excited about the space and the potential. To use Jack’s analogy, this is not like buying a toaster. We’re here to educate, to advice and to work. You’re never going to stop hearing, “get me more hits.” It’s our job at that point to say, “yes, we can do that, but I think you’d benefit a lot more if we take this approach because of a, b, c.

No website is the same so canned packages or programs are likely to fail (or at least fall way short of a site’s potential). I think it’s the responsibility of every SEO to make this point clear and push towards creating the culture you described.

By: David Temple

David Temple — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:28:26 +0000

Very constructive indeed. It’s all about setting client expectations and if they are not willing to address those 9 signs then they’re not ready. My favorite is “You obsess over results, not rankings”. Amen sister and hallelujah! You ain’t no seo but you sure do talk the talk.

By: Nick Gowdy

Nick Gowdy — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:26:02 +0000

Not just new business – the site visits alone can tank a company if their site hosting isn’t prepared. I’ve seen countless sites go under from load while they scramble to upgrade from their dime-store webhost.

By: Zach Wyrick

Zach Wyrick — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:47:52 +0000

Amen! Great post Lisa.

A possible 10th might be: You are ready for the results.

Most small businesses don’t scale quickly. They THINK they want the increased traffic, sales, leads, etc. SEO brings over time, but often find themselves woefully unprepared when those things arrive at their doorstep (webstep?).

It seems almost salesy to ask a business if they’re fundamentally ready to be #1 (or even 2-10) in their market, but it’s a very important question. How many small businesses crash and burn because they can’t handle success?

By: Zachary

Zachary — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 22:09:20 +0000

Great analogy.

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:22:51 +0000

Thanks, Matthew. Definitely agree. I think the stuff listed above is really the core of what has to be there for any good relationship. Otherwise, you’re in for a road of resentment

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:22:06 +0000

That’s a good point. We actually work a lot with a company’s inhouse SEO team. The company trust them to protect the company and the inhouse SEO trusts us not to get him fired. It’s often a good situation. :)

And I totally agree on 9 Lists. I mean, I COULD have thrown in a 10th but…it would have been fluff. ;)

By: Nick Gowdy

Nick Gowdy — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:04:41 +0000

I’d only add that, should you find yourself with all of these pre-reqs met, you’re a fairly web-savvy company and might consider actually hiring an experienced inhouse SEO. I don’t want to dredge up the inhouse vs. agency debate here, but there can be significant advantages in terms of accountability, trust, communication, dedication, and cost savings in having your SEO on staff.

On a completely unrelated note, I’ve always found something extra appealing about 9-lists. It’s like, “I could have given you a 10th thing, but these 9 are necessary and sufficient. Anything more would have been a waste of your time.”

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:57:06 +0000

In a perfect world, they’d probably all be squared away, however, I’m not sure that they are. We’re definitely with you that just ‘latching on’ to anyone is not smart and we interview our clients as much as they interview us. But sometimes its hard to judge people’s comfortableness until you’re in the situation. They may think they’re okay with handing over information or putting in the leg work and writing content…but suddenly when there’s a deadline looming they realize they’re not so comfortable. I think it’s important for businesses to realize what really is expected of them BEFORE we get to those stages.

Thanks for the comment. Definitely stuff to think about!