What To Ask SEO Consultants: 11 Important Questions To Help Your Site

SEO strategy sessions are more productive when you prepare a few questions beforehand. Knowing what to ask SEO consultants can help you choose the right SEO partner, reach search goals faster and maximize your return on investment. These eleven questions are right on the money.

What To Ask SEO Consultants About Their Business

Trustworthy SEO consultants deliver measurable benefits for your website. Shady “startups” promise the moon, but waste your money. Ask questions to tell the difference a mile away.

1. How Long Does It Take for Your SEO Strategies To Work?

Offers of SEO success in 30 days or fewer should set off a major red flag. The same goes for $99 “deals” that promise page one of search results with minimal effort.

Effective search optimization techniques take hard work, but provide real results. SEO is like a freight train: You need time to build up speed, but after that, you’re unstoppable.

Expect to invest between six and 12 months for SEO to work its magic for traffic, lead generation, conversions and other long-term goals. Short-term keyword “sprints” can boost search rankings for targeted ad campaigns faster, but even they take about 12 weeks.

2. What Link-Building Techniques Do You Use?

Google places significant emphasis on backlinks — links to your content from well-known, respected sites. You can go in two directions for link building: white hat or black hat.

White-hat link-building techniques follow Google’s best practices. They earn authentic links by creating amazing content that users love and professionals respect.

Black-hat techniques try to manipulate algorithms by breaking the rules:

• Paying for links
• Building a shady network of fake websites
• Using AI to create thousands of low-value “articles”
• Repeating keywords in the same article

Black hat never pays, because Google eventually hits your website with severe search penalties. Look at it this way: If you built a new property, would you hire the contractor who cuts corners or the one who does exceptional work?

3. What Type of SEO Services Do You Offer?

To reach different SEO objectives, you need a variety of services. An important part of what to ask SEO consultants is to discover exactly how they can help with your site. 

Content Creation

Rich content provides an excellent foundation for your keywords. It answers questions, provides helpful tips and shows users how to solve problems. Good SEO content naturally ranks higher.

Website Optimization

Details such as title tags, meta descriptions, site layout and images can have a huge impact on search results. Optimization also means choosing the right keywords for your target audience.

Technical SEO

Given that over 60% of all Google searches happen on mobile devices, every website should be mobile-friendly. Technical SEO can improve page loading times, fix broken links and enhance the user experience.

Local SEO

Do you only sell locally? Local SEO is the key to maximizing rankings for location-based searches, such as “best roofing company in Phoenix” or “dentists near me.”

4. How Much SEO Experience Do You Have?

Search optimization is constantly evolving. SEO professionals should have plenty of experience, preferably at least a few years. They should also stay up to date with the latest changes to search algorithms.

5. How Much Do You Charge?

There’s nothing wrong with asking about pricing when choosing SEO services. Every business has a marketing budget.

At BKA Content, our pricing adapts to the scale and SEO needs of your organization. We work with small businesses all the time. You don’t need a million-dollar SEO budget to get incredible results.

What To Ask SEO Consultants About Your Objectives

Get better results by setting clear SEO goals from the very beginning.

6. Who Are Our Target Customers?

Your target audience is the group that is most likely to need your products or services, visit your website and become customers. Knowing your target audience is the secret to SEO success. It helps you choose keywords that attract high-value leads and makes your content more persuasive. This “persona” can include age, lifestyle, gender, income, interests or purchasing habits.

7. What Type of Brand Voice Is Best?

Your brand voice determines how online users see your company. Choosing a brand identity relates closely to your target audience. Do you need a few ideas?

• The trusted friend: Friendly, informal, experienced and excited
• The professional: Respectful but direct; authoritative and neutral
• The grandparent: Kind, positive and wise
• The social media star: Edgy, trendy, tech-savvy and passionate about the environment
• The work-at-home mom: Natural, funny, creative, bold and loving

The right voice for your brand is one that your target customers identify with and remember.

8. What Are Our Content Goals?

The goals you set directly influence the particular blend of SEO required for success. Some key performance objectives include:

• Ranking higher
• Bringing in more website traffic
• Keeping visitors on your site longer
• Attracting qualified leads
• Boosting sales numbers

An SEO consultant can show you how to get from point A to point B.

What To Ask SEO Consultants About the Process

Good communication between your business and your SEO content partner makes the entire process much easier.

9. What Do You Need From Our Business?

The more we know about your business, the better we can support and represent your brand. Tell us about:

• Your company’s products and services
• Current SEO challenges and problems
• Who your ideal customer is and what success looks like for your business
• “Extras” that make your brand unique
• Your team’s strengths and achievements

10. Who Is My Account Manager, and How Will We Communicate?

Our managed services include a dedicated account manager. These friendly professionals work closely with your business — even sharing a joke when you’re having a rough day. We adapt to your preferences for communications, document storage, content delivery and SEO reporting.

11. Do You Have Any Recommendations?

We love SEO and content marketing. When you ask us for recommendations, our creativity can provide truly amazing results. We give you the best of our expertise, industry know-how and passion every time.

What To Ask SEO Consultants at BKA for the Best Results

At BKA Content, we go above and beyond to exceed your SEO expectations. Whether you prefer a one-on-one conversation with a project manager or a video chat with your whole marketing team, we make time for you.

Do you want more tips on what to ask SEO consultants? Look at our complete guide to SEO for small businesses.