What Does an SEO Consultant Do?
You may have noticed that in today's digital age, a strong online presence isn't just desirable for business – it's essential for most businesses. “Digital marketing” is not an afterthought - it is the thought. And one thing many businesses clamor for is that coveted spot atop crucial Google searches. So naturally, the question arises: how do you get there?
Enter: the SEO Consultant. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a dynamic and ever-evolving field that's become a linchpin of effective marketing. But while many have heard the term or know SEO is important for their business, the intricate workings behind successful SEO strategies remain a mystery to most. So, who holds the key to unraveling this enigma? The answer is your SEO consultant.
In this post, we'll delve deep into the multifaceted role of the SEO consultant and explore how they craft strategies to make your business rise to the top of search. Join us as we demystify the art and science of strategic SEO consulting.
What Is Seo and How Can It Impact Your Business?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing a website or online content to increase its visibility in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo (but honestly, mostly Google). This optimization primarily aims to achieve higher rankings in the organic (non-paid) search results, leading to increased traffic to your website, leads, and sales.
SEO involves a combination of various strategies, techniques, and tactics. These can range from:
optimizing the content on a page for specific keywords
improving site structure
ensuring mobile-friendliness
enhancing website speed
acquiring high-quality inbound links.
By optimizing web pages on your site for specific keywords and phrases relevant to your business, you increase the chances of appearing high in the search results. When potential customers look for products or services you offer, this heightened visibility translates to more eyes on your brand.
With better search visibility comes more organic traffic to your website. This often results in a significant increase in potential and soon-to-be paying customers visiting your site. Through targeted SEO strategies, you can reach an audience actively seeking the types of products or services you offer. This often means that the traffic you receive is more qualified and likely to convert. Which is the traffic you actually care about.
Unlike paid advertising channels which require ongoing investment to maintain visibility, SEO can offer sustainable results over a long period of time. While there's an initial investment in setting up an effective SEO strategy, the long-term return on investment (ROI) can be extremely profitable for your business.
What is an SEO Consultant?
If you see these guys run.
An SEO consultant is an independent marketing professional who specializes in understanding search engine algorithms, user behavior, and online trends to optimize websites for better organic search visibility.
They offer strategic guidance, recommendations, and solutions tailored to the unique needs of a business. They aim to enhance the business’s organic search rankings—especially Google—drive relevant traffic, and increase conversions to leads or sales.
In other words, when it comes to search, they’re pretty great.
SEO Consultants vs. SEO Agencies
SEO consultants are different from SEO agencies. An SEO agency is usually a larger organization, whereas an SEO consultant is generally an independent individual or a small group of individuals working together. Whereas agencies often provide a wide breadth of marketing services, SEO consultants tend to niche down and specialize in SEO or even a sub-field of SEO. This enables them to often have a deeper knowledge of their subject matter, and more independence in their ability to implement optimizations.
Further, an SEO consultant can generally provide a more personalized and direct line of communication. The client typically works directly with the consultant rather than an account executive, ensuring consistent feedback and tailored strategies. While consultants might offer more flexible pricing based on the specific services or guidance needed, agencies often have package deals encompassing a range of services.
SEO Consultants vs. In-House SEO Specialist
SEO consultants can also be contrasted with in-house SEO specialists. An in-house SEO expert is an employee of the company they're optimizing for while a consultant is usually hired on a contract or project basis. In addition, the SEO consultant generally works for multiple different companies or clients. In-house SEO experts have an intimate understanding of their own company's ethos, objectives, and challenges. They focus solely on their own brand's growth.
There are two main disadvantages to hiring an in-house SEO expert. For one, an in-house SEO’s thinking may eventually become insular to their own brand. And their thinking may therefore become more susceptible to rigidity and groupthink within that organization. But consultants, working with a diverse array of clients and industries, can often bring a broader perspective and can offer fresh, outside-the-box solutions.
Another potential disadvantage of in-house SEOs is cost. Hiring an in-house expert involves a long-term commitment, including salaries, benefits, and training costs. On the other hand, consultants are generally hired for specific projects, durations, or objectives, with adjustable and flexible scopes, which can be more cost-effective for businesses not requiring full-time SEO attention.
SEO Consultants vs Freelancers
There is not always a distinction between SEO consultants and SEO freelancers. In fact, many SEO consultants are essentially part or full-time freelancers. However, depending on how the terms are used, they may mean slightly different things.
While both consultants and freelancers work on a contract basis, consultants often engage more deeply with a particular project. They can better understand a business's overall strategy and provide a more strategic and comprehensive SEO endeavor. Freelancers might be hired for small, specific tasks, such as content creation or technical audits.
However, there is no reason a freelancer can’t become enmeshed in a client’s project. Nor, for that matter, is there any reason an SEO consultant can’t take smaller or one-off, task-oriented projects.
Moreover, an SEO consultant often offers a more holistic and strategic approach to SEO, from technical to on-page and off-page strategies. A freelance SEO specialist might focus on one or few aspects of SEO or specific localized tasks. But again, these two terms and types of SEOs are often interchangeable and will depend on the particular consultant or freelancer in question.
How SEO Consultants Communicate and Collaborate
Collaboration and communication is a pivotal part of an SEO consultant's role. Their success often depends on how effectively they work with various stakeholders, including the main client themselves.
At the outset, consultants engage clients in discussions to understand their business objectives, target audience, and past SEO efforts. Generating a successful SEO strategy requires consistent communication. Throughout the engagement, consultants often schedule periodic meetings to update clients on progress and get feedback.
Education is also a crucial part of a consultant’s work. Clients often do not understand the intricacies of SEO—after all, SEO is not a manager, executive, or business owner’s main job. So, great consultants must take the time to explain strategies, tools, and expected outcomes in understandable terms. This ensures clients are well-informed and comfortable with the proposed approaches and manages their expectations realistically.
Finally, reporting is also an essential component of a consulting engagement. Presenting clear, understandable, and actionable reports is crucial. Through analytics and other tools, consultants track KPIs and share results, helping clients see the value and real impacts of SEO efforts on their business. If progress is not being made, the consultant can use these analytics to explain what isn’t working and develop new and better strategies for success.
To best do their jobs, SEOs need to collaborate with other marketing practitioners and business stakeholders. These often include:
Graphic designers
Web developers
Content marketers
Paid media specialists
Social media experts
Email marketers
and more. Working collaboratively, SEO consultants can put together teams of people, both internal and external to a client, as powerful as any full-service SEO agency. While remaining, nimble, agile, and able to quickly pivot to meet a client’s changing needs.
Other Benefits of Working with an SEO Consultant
Stakeholders usually come from various backgrounds and knowledge levels concerning SEO. Consultants bridge this gap through education, clear communication, and the use of non-jargony explanations.
Often with multiple stakeholders, there might be differing opinions on priorities. Consultants can often play a mediator role, ensuring that all strategies align with the company’s core SEO objective: enhancing search visibility to achieve business goals like increased leads, sales, and ROI.
In essence, the role of an SEO consultant is as much about people management as it is about search engine algorithms. Their ability to foster collaboration, manage relationships, and ensure all stakeholders are aligned and informed determines the success of their SEO initiatives—and your business’s SEO success!
How Brian M. Reiser | Strategic SEO Consultant Can Help You
Brian M. Reiser | Strategic SEO Consultant offers organic search marketing consulting tailored to your business's unique needs. This ensures that you don’t need to be an expert in SEO yourself to excel at it.
With a deep understanding of how Google works and how users search, I can help you navigate the ever-changing complexities of Google algorithms and get you to rank well for your crucial keywords.
Check out my SEO Consulting Services page today to discover how a tailored SEO strategy can elevate your business and help you generate success through search today.