3 Red Flag Answers to Watch For When Interviewing a Search Engine Marketing Consultant

The time has come, you're ready to get serious about SEO for your business' website. But as you lack a)the specialist knowledge and b)the time you've made the decision to outsource the task to a search engine marketing consultant. Great call. Except now you have to find the one that's right for you and your business. This is where things can get tricky. Do a quick Google search for, let's say, Search Engine Marketing Consultant London (or wherever you happen to be) and you are going to be presented with a ton of results. Whatever else you do, before hiring anyone to serve as your search engine marketing consultant you need to interview them. And while there is lots of advice out there about what you should ask to help determine the best choice for you there's less about what kind of answers - or statements - given by candidates should serve as red flag warnings that this is not the person/agency you are looking for. Here are five things that, if you hear them during a conversation with a search engine marketing consultant you are considering hiring should be reason enough to show them the door and move on to your next option.

"We're the Cheapest Option Out There"

Good SEO will not come cheap. Why? Because good SEO work can add tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds to your bottom line. And good SEO calls for the latest in cutting-edge tools, the services of knowledgeable practitioners in several areas - all of whom a search engine marketing consultant has to find, and pay - and a significant investment in terms of time and knowledge. That means if someone tells you they can do all of this for £99 a month their work is likely to be pretty shoddy.

"We Can Build You More Backlinks Than Anyone Else"

Backlinks are tricky things. The right ones can help propel your website to that coveted #1 spot but the wrong ones can mean that Google banishes your site from their SERPS altogether. So the key to success is the quality of the backlinks that a search engine marketing consultant can gain for you, not the volume. Someone claiming they can build you the 'most' backlinks is rarely thinking quality and the links they do get you will, more often than not, come from some very shady places (what Google calls bad neighbourhoods)

"We Only Need 30 Days"

SEO is a long-term, ongoing investment. The right search engine marketing consultant can achieve a lot in 30 days, but will never claim they can 'do it all' in that amount of time. Anyone who wants to rush the SEO process is likely only in the game to make a quick buck. They want to take the money, perform a few black hat SEO tricks, then disappear, all too often leaving a client to deal with the fallout when their 'tactics' backfire and the Google penalties start rolling in.