With the rise of ChatGPT, automated SEO reports, and free courses and training, it’s never been easier to throw a roof over your head and advertise as an “SEO consultant.”
And why wouldn’t you want to do that?
The average salary of an SEO specialist by Glassdoor.com is projected to be just over $56,000 by June 2023. And, with the global SEO market valued at $77.6 billion by the end of 2023there seems to be a lot of money and opportunity to go around.
Unfortunately, this increased opportunity, along with the minimal barrier to advertising as an “SEO consultant,” comes with inherent risks. This is especially true for those looking to hire qualified SEO help for their blogs, websites and campaigns.
Unlike most professional fields, search engine optimization (SEO) does not:
A governing body. An accepted set of industry standards. A built-in mechanism to monitor the practices of good consultants from bad ones.
So how do you know if the SEO consultant you’re hiring is competent, ethical, and has your interests in your approach?
It helps to see the warning signs.
As a successful SEO consultant who has run his company for over 20 years, trained SEO teams on five continents, and helped clients hire their SEOs, here are my nine warning signs to help – you to make the most qualified decision for your business.
Warning sign 1: Lack of transparency in methods
SEO is not a black box. A competent SEO should be able to explain their strategies and approach to the client without hesitating or misleading them.
Do you plan to provide me with a content strategy? What does this imply?
Do you mention the need to make design changes? Why and what is the end result of these changes?
Want to increase my authority profile and backlink? What strategies does this involve?
If the consultant is secretive about any or all of the above or shows a clear lack of transparency, these methods should be questioned.
Tip: A competent SEO consultant should be able to establish a clear and conscious approach to your site and your goals. I call it the “little kids and drunk adults” method.
Warning sign 2: Unrealistic promises or expectations
My wife and I like to joke that we’ve been married for 23 years, and “at least” 13 of them have been happy. We disagree on which ones, though.
The point is that we are realistic that marriage is not always easy or expected. And it’s the same with SEO consulting.
Any consultant that promises “front page rankings in a short period of time or extremely fast results in a short or finite period of time” raises a red flag.
SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Unrealistic timelines fly in the face of the learned belief that SEO requires patience, trial and error, and constant long-term optimization.
Tip: It is common to have clear deadlines and deliverables during any SEO engagement. Make sure whoever you’re working with has a clear plan and it’s worked out to your satisfaction.
Red flag 3: Can’t provide references or references or has outdated case studies
I have been very fortunate to accumulate hundreds of reviews on Linkedin, Facebook and my own website.
This type of “social proof” is mandatory for external manifestations of competence and reliability.
An SEO consultant soliciting your business should be able to provide multiple references to current and existing clients when asked and/or show case studies from past clients that confirm the legitimacy of their experience.
Tip: Search Google for the consultant’s name and company. Do other SEOs cite them? Do they show a long list of interviews contributed by experience and news mentions? Do they even date?
Warning Sign 4: Does not ask for access to the site or analytics or provide detailed onboarding
Competent SEO consultants will always need the help of their clients!
The easiest way to ensure cooperation is to ask for and receive access to all the right accounts that provide the data needed to run a competent SEO campaign. At the very least, this includes
Google Search Console. Google analytics. Admin access to your site or blog.
A detailed onboarding should also be done to determine a simple SWOT analysis, a competitor profile, and a quick overview of the customers’ products and services.
If none of the above is done, this is a huge red flag that the SEO consultant may be out of their depth.
Tip: It is accepted good practice for an SEO to request and receive any previous audits or work product you have done with another professional. This is especially important to ensure that the current SEO can see what was missed.
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Warning Sign 5: Not keeping up with SEO best practices, trends, or news
One of the many things I love about SEO is its dynamic and changing nature. But this also requires a large commitment of time to continuous training.
Personally, I have subscriptions to over a dozen industry newsletters, I have a curated reading list that I review every morning, and I stay up to date on best practices that require dozens of hours of study each month.
Your SEO should clearly be up to date with Google’s recent announced (and unannounced) updates, be intimately familiar with Google Search Essentials, Google Quality Assessor Guidelinesand fully understand how to comply with SEO best practices.
Tip: Check your SEO on recent “big news events” like GA4 adoption and the status of Search Generative Experience (SGE). Ask them questions about the Google Quality Rater guidelines.
Warning Sign 6: You are not taking a holistic approach to SEO
SEO is never about a problem or an approach. SEO is honestly “everything”.
It involves an intimate understanding of content, backlinks, technical SEO, UX, page speed, outline, and dozens of other issues.
An SEO consultant who focuses their energy on one area (i.e. backlinks) to the complete exclusion of other areas (like on-page optimization) is not taking a “holistic approach ” to your site or needs.
Unless you hire an SEO for a specific finite task, that SEO should have one full up i complete look at your site. This means content, site design, UX, technical issues, etc.
Tip: Ask your SEO what page experience, content, UX and ads have to do with useful content update and what they plan to do to improve your site, in Google’s eyes, around that specific algorithm.
Warning Sign 7: Claims they have information “inside” Google’s algorithms
I’ve been doing SEO since 1998, and I probably have less knowledge of how Google works now than I did then.
Google’s Paul Haahr, one of Google’s top engineers, stated as early as 2016 that they know how RankBrain works but not what it does. This is important because RankBrain, along with BERT, is still a working AI in Google search results as of today.
The point is that SEOs can experiment and make correlations based on specific data, but no one has insider information at Google. Don’t believe them.
Warning Sign 8: Poor communication or failure to provide regular updates and detailed reports
Nothing screams incompetence faster or louder than a consultant’s inability to maintain regular contact with clients.
If you find that you’re chasing your SEO consultant for campaign updates or status reports, or that it takes more than one email to get a response, that’s a problem.
A competent SEO should provide regular updates on the effectiveness of all campaigns and suggestions for continued improvement. Regular updates to show that milestones have been met or reports to show what’s working and what’s not should be the norm, not the exception.
Tip: Ask your SEO consultant to explain three main differences in Google Analytics reports from UA (GA3) to GA4 and how they are bridging the gap with the new post-change reports.
Warning sign 9: Treat yourself like a seller, not a partner
In all the audits I have with clients, one thing is clear to me: this is a partnership. Your success is my success, and I want you to succeed.
If your current SEO consultant doesn’t take a similar approach, that’s a problem.
Your SEO consultant should be invested in your success. The relationship should never be just transactional. They celebrate your wins and also accept shared responsibility for losses.
My goal with all of my clients is to provide them with the best options for their needs. Sometimes, it’s not me. I have a vetted list of referrals and professionals to call.
Tip: Regularly ask your SEO consultant about your business, goals and concerns. The result should always be a great conversation that benefits your business. If not, make a change.
Hiring the right SEO consultant can make your business better
SEO consulting can be a lucrative career with few barriers to entry, no required experience or educational certifications, and common gaps in competition among professionals.
In other words, not every SEO consultant will be a winner.
Make sure you invest resources in the right partner by reviewing the warning signs detailed above and adjusting course when necessary.
The business you save can be yours. Good luck here!
The views expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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