The business that most small business owners approach to find a search engine marketing specialist is their website design firm. This is generally a mistake. Although some website developers are very good at search engine optimization, most are not. Their area of expertise tends to fall into either graphic design or technical know-how.
So how does a small business owner find an affordable search engine marketing specialist? The best place it to check with other small business owners for a referral to a reputable firm or to call the firms that advertise search engine optimization services and check their references. This is one area where due diligence is an absolute necessity.
Regardless of whether or not the short list of SEO firms came through referrals or throw good references, it's important to set up a face to face meeting with the firm's representative. Good working relationships require good communication. If the representative does not appear knowledgeable or just "rubs you the wrong way", the business relationship will not work.
Failure to perform due diligence in finding the right search engine optimization specialist can cost you a great deal of wasted time and money. An SEO specialist will become a close working partner with you and your business. Hiring a firm that does not have the qualifications to do the work can be a catastrophe in the making.
Working with a search engine specialist is an on-going relationship. That person will be involved with your business on a weekly basis to stay current with any promotional activities your business is currently doing as well as obtain information that can be used for online press releases.
Perhaps it would be appropriate to discuss what a search engine optimization specialist will do for your business. An SEO specialist should be improving your rank in search engines but more importantly all their attention should be focused on building traffic to your website. Getting rank in search engines is about being in position to generate more traffic. There are many activities that the specialist should be performing – all of which designed to increase visitors to your website outside of just improving your rank. If the focus is on rank and not immediate traffic your business is again wasting valuable time and money. It is quite possible for a good search engine specialist to do both – making it a win / win proposition for both of you.
