How to Properly Ask for an SEO Quote
At some point during the hunt for a white hat SEO provider, chances are you’ll need to get an SEO quote from several firms. Obviously budget is a big factor in your decision (although it shouldn’t be the only factor!) and it’s important that you know what kind of work you can expect from each firm at what price point. If you suspect the firm you are trying to hire isn’t being upfront about certain things, this could be a red flag!
All the information that you gather will help you make the final decision as to whether or not you should hire them. Here are 4 things site owners need to include in their request for an SEO quote to ensure it’s accurate:
Ask relevant questions.
You need to ask all the questions you need during the sales process to make sure that you know what to expect from the SEO program and from the firm itself. Here’s a look at some of the questions you should ask:
- Will your budget allow for full service SEO services? Can you afford to hire your SEO partner as a writer or will you need to produce content on your own?
- Would you be better off having your provider create the strategy and then implementing it in-house?
- What are the methods they use to execute your SEO program?
Brief history of your company.
In order to a do a good job with your SEO, your partner needs to understand your company almost as well as you do. How long have you been in business? What products/services do you sell? Who is your target audience? Believe it or not all of those things do have an impact on your SEO program!
Current offline marketing efforts.
Your offline marketing efforts do impact your SEO. For instance, brands that spend a lot of money on offline advertising are probably going to do a good job of driving branded traffic to their site. Someone sees your print ad or TV commercial and looks for your website directly using branded keywords. Well-known brands (thanks to offline advertising) might also have a leg up for non-branded searches as well; if searchers recognize your website in the SERPs they might be more likely to click over. The firm needs to know your current efforts so that they can get a better idea of how they can help you.
Other online marketing efforts.
Are you active in social media? Do you currently publish a company blog or contribute to industry sites? Do you have a PPC campaign underway (or invested in PPC in the past?) How much money do you spend on online banner advertising? Everything you do online can be leveraged for SEO and knowing what kind of online marketing efforts you’re currently investing in may impact your SEO quote.
State of your current SEO program.
Have you worked with an SEO partner before? Where they white hat and well-known or the cheapest firm from India? Have you done any link building on your own? Has your site been optimized before now? Where your current SEO program is will impact the work that your new SEO provider can do. If they are starting at square one and need to put in the hours required to conduct keyword research and properly optimize your website your SEO quote might be higher than if your site is already optimized well and you just need help with link building. It’s also important to mention if you suffered from a search engine penalty as this has a major impact in the kind of SEO work that needs to be done to help your site.
Keep in mind that some SEO providers might ask for more information to ensure that you are a good client for them (it works both ways!) A white hat SEO provider wants to provide the best possible service for their clients and in order to do so they need to know what kind of shape your site and online marketing is in.
Categorized in: SEO
LIKE AND SHARE THIS ARTICLE:
