A search engine optimisation (SEO) consultant is a specialist in the techniques of improving a website’s visibility on search engines.
An SEO consultant can improve your online visibility to target, attract and convert new customers. Using creative planning, intelligent SEO strategies and bold execution, an SEO specialist can boost your search engine rankings and build your business.
Why would you need an SEO consultant?
SEO consultants can help you understand why your site is or isn’t ranking well on search engines. They can identify why these issues are arising – whether they be technical, keyword targeting, backlinks or a myriad of other factors.
By discovering these issues they can create a strategy to put your site on the right path to success, with typical tasks to achieve this being:
- Auditing and fixing of technical website issues
- Research and implementation of target keywords
- Creation of an on-site content strategy
- Building backlinks to your site
- And much more….
Skills to look for in a top SEO Expert
Critical Thinking
No two websites are the same. So the same SEO strategies won’t work for everyone.
An SEO consultant can pinpoint the issues that are stopping your website from outranking top-performing sites. They can highlight what your competitors are doing wrong and avoid those mistakes. And they can use critical thinking skills to find the best solutions to optimise your site.
Problem-Solving
SEO is an ever-changing environment, so your consultant needs to solve problems on the fly. As Google consistently changes its algorithm, you need a specialist who can identify the impact on SEO and take steps to mitigate it.
An SEO consultant with problem-solving skills can make changes immediately when SEO changes. In addition, they’re flexible enough to switch strategies midstream without disrupting your business.
Basic Coding
Your SEO consultant doesn’t have to be a professional coder to get the best out of your SEO strategy. Your CMS (such as Shopify or WordPress) will have SEO functionality so that a specialist can make changes quickly following guides and tutorials.
That said, look for an SEO specialist with some coding experience. The ability to understand the source code of a website gives your consultant the edge when it comes to targeting relevant features for your SEO campaign. And they’ll be able to make changes without breaking the site.
Trend Forecasting
SEO can be challenging because it’s constantly evolving. First, Google is continually working to improve its understanding of how people use the internet. And then, it changes the algorithm to provide users with better and more relevant information.
An SEO consultant needs to be constantly up to speed with any changes, which can be time-consuming. Better yet, they need to keep an eye on future trends to stay one step ahead on SEO best practices and optimise your website for the best SEO performance.
What does an SEO Consultant Do?
SEO audits
An SEO audit is critical if you need to improve your search engine ranking. Your SEO specialist looks at content, backlinks, technical SEO, and more. As a result, they can recommend improvements and develop a bespoke SEO strategy for your website.
Keyword Research
Your SEO specialist will find the relevant keywords you need to rank highly for. Whether you’re an established business that’s previously worked with an SEO agency or a start-up, you need to know you’re targeting the best keywords for success.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is all about optimising your site in line with Google’s best practices.
Your SEO specialist looks at the technical aspects of your website, including content, site speed and security, and optimising metadata and tags.
Link Building
Google ranks your site for authority on the quality of your links. So the better your link building, the more likely you are to rank for high-competition keywords.
An SEO consultant can help you build the high-quality, trustworthy links required to improve your backlink profile.
Confused by SEO? Speak to Search Hog
As SEO consultants ourselves, we understand exactly what is needed to rank a site well on Google.
We’ll use the latest SEO techniques to help you improve your keyword rankings and drive more traffic to your site.
