If you are a newcomer to the world of online business and internet marketing, you will probably need professional assistance in your quest to get top search engine rankings.  Fortunately, there are plenty of SEO experts out there who are ready and willing to help.  Depending on your needs and the needs of your business, you can hire an SEO professional to take on the entirety of your SEO needs, or you can simply hire a consultant to look over the work you’ve done and give you some helpful hints.  Either way, you’re going to invest some time and money in an SEO professional, so it’s imperative that you hire someone who’s going to do a good job the first time.  Here are some things to look for when you’re hiring an SEO company: 

·         If an SEO professional makes the initial contact with you, you probably don’t want their services.  Any SEO professional worth his or her salt should be so busy working on other people’s websites that they don’t have time to make cold calls.  Only engage SEO professionals whom you’ve researched thoroughly and to whom you make the initial phone call. 

·         Make sure you can talk to the person who will be working on your website.  Many SEO companies use off-shore professionals to do their work. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but you need to

be able to speak directly to the person who’s working for you and monitor their progress.  You should also make sure in an initial interview that your particular SEO professional uses terms that you can understand. Avoid any professional who uses technical jargon and refuses to explain what he or she is doing in layman’s terms.  Chances are that they’re just trying to pull a fast one. 

·         Be suspicious of anyone who claims that they can guarantee you a #1 ranking on the search engines.  SEO professionals are not privy to search engine algorithms and are therefore unable to guarantee anything. If they do, they’re probably using questionable techniques that could put your website at risk of being banned by the search engines. 

·         Look at the search engine rankings of the professional you’re interested in hiring.  Does he rely primarily on organic SEO or does he pay?  Only hire someone who is dedicated to organic SEO; otherwise, you’ll be paying your SEO professional extra so that he can pay for online advertising.  

 ·         A good SEO professional will be interested in entering into an ongoing relationship with you.  He will want to make sure that your website evolves to meet the changing algorithms of the search engines and other optimization techniques.  He will want to provide reports on a regular basis that tell you how your website is performing and what changes should be made. 

·         Make sure any SEO professional you are considering provides a number of good references.  Look at websites that your potential professional has worked on and talk to their owners.  Were they pleased with the relationship?  Were they pleased with the results?  Was the professional easy to work with?  Ask any questions that you feel are necessary to help you make a good decision about entering into a professional relationship with this person. 

In summary, there are definite red flags to look for when hiring an SEO professional.  Make sure anyone you hire is interested in engaging in an ongoing relationship with you and providing you with quality feedback. Most of all, do your homework by contacting multiple references.