Hire the 'SEO Freelancer of the Year 2020'

An SEO Freelancer helps clients to design and implement search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies.

SEO consultants give businesses advice that helps them increase their visibility online and  in the search engines. This is achieved by increasing rankings and securing more relevant traffic to increase the conversion rate generated by a website.

SEO Experts conduct data-backed research such as competitor analysis, keyword research, website architecture mapping and on-page and off-page optimisation. Surge SEO will also aim to increase backlinks and provide coaching, guidance and recommendations for best practices.

Firstly, an SEO Expert needs to be clear on the company's business goals and understand who the target audience is.

Next, the consultant needs to research and implement strategies that will increase traffic and improve rankings in the search engines.

There are three core areas involved in SEO that a specialist should incorporate into their strategies:

Technical SEO: The architecture of a website defines how easy it is for a search engine (or user) to crawl and index a website’s content.

On-Page SEO: Ensures that the keywords, metadata and title tags are optimised perfectly and that original and targeted content is published.

Off-Page SEO: Generating good quality, relevant backlinks to the website.

As every website is different, the services required will vary, but SEO consulting can include the following services, depending on your business goals:

SEO audit: How well is your website optimised?

Keyword research: To create a system for improving search engine rankings and generating more traffic, SEO consultants conduct detailed keyword and competitor research.

Competitor analysis: By knowing what your online rivals are doing, what’s working for them and what isn't, SEO Expert can reverse engineer your website to rank better.

Backlink audit: SEO consultants examine your backlink profile to ensure that it is healthy with no links from spam-filled websites. They can then create a plan for improving and adding to your existing links.

Website design and development: SEO consultants will provide design feedback, CRO advice, review your site architecture, evaluate your content and implement on-page optimisation.

When you’re considering hiring an SEO expert, consider these four questions:

Years of experience: How long has the expert been employed in SEO?

An understanding of all three SEO types: Does the SEO expert know on-page SEO, off-page SEO and technical SEO?

Proven track record: Can the expert demonstrate how they have helped other companies?

Excellent communication: Can they communicate well with your team?

Hiring an expert saves you time and money: SEO experts have tested and proven their systems many times, which should mean that implementation on your site is quicker and avoids expensive mistakes.

Hiring an expert means you benefit from their knowledge: SEO is constantly changing and it’s an SEO Freelancer job to stay up to date with the algorithm modifications.

Hiring an expert improves ROI: When you hire an expert to help you meet measurable SEO goals, you’ll increase your brand awareness and increase your ROI.

Hiring an expert means your data is analysed professionally: An SEO expert can study and analyse the data in the reports and define actionable business intelligence.

The exact scope of your business requirements, the deliverables, the time frame and skills will affect the actual price you pay.

To give you a ballpark figure, typical SEO packages (full service) cost from £200 to £400 per month

With so many SEO agencies and consultants available, it’s hard to know how to choose the right one.

Strategy: An agency should take time to understand your existing position and your business goals. If their proposed strategy doesn’t align with your goals, values or budget, then they probably are not a good fit.

Results: Beware of agencies that promise guarantees of overnight SEO success. Unless they work for Google it is impossible to predict

Costs: Price is likely to be one of your largest considerations, but be sure to take into account that it’s normal for most SEO agencies to ask for a 6- to 12-month commitment. However, Surge SEO offer monthly rolling contracts.

You should also be aware that agencies charge much more than freelancers. This is because of their overheads. Unless you can afford thousands per month it is also likely a Junior SEO will be allocated to your account.

Communication: Throughout the hiring process, you should get an idea of the quality of communication from an agency or consultant. Trust your gut feeling and definitely don’t underestimate the importance of first impressions.