Before we engage in any important endeavor, it pays to ask questions to determine the correct course of action. Obtaining as much information as possible is a crucial step in succeeding at anything – optimizing your website for the search engines is no different.
However, it can be difficult to know what the right questions are in the first place. If you have limited SEO and online marketing experience, this can be especially problematic…you may know a few general questions but may not even be aware of other issues that could affect your position in the search engines and ultimately the number of conversions your site gets.
Continue reading for a list of 61 questions you need answers for before embarking on an SEO campaign. Questions are broken into two categories – questions you need answered if you in-source SEO and ones you need answers for if you outsource to another firm.
We’ll only include the questions here since there are so many but you can find out more about these questions by visiting Search Engine Guide’s article on the matter and clicking on the link for each question they list.
Questions if you’re planning to do your SEO/online marketing in-house
- Do I do it myself?
- Do I have the time?
- What is my time worth?
- Is my time better spent on other things?
- Do I have the knowledge and skills to do it right?
- Do I have the time to stay up-to-date in critical knowledge?
- What if I really screw up the site?
- Is this something I really want to do along with my regular work?
- Will this take me away from my family?
- Is this worth the cost of NOT hiring or outsourcing?
- Will this diminish my capabilities at being effective at my primary job?
- Do I sub out part of it and do the rest myself?
- Do I delegate in-house or use sub-contractors?
- What parts do I do myself?
- What work can be given to other person(s)?
- How do I ensure that all the sub-contractors are working in unison together?
- How do I know who to blame if my search marketing or optimization doesn’t work?
- Do I hire someone to do it?
- Do I pay someone to learn search marketing on the job?
- Do I have the resources to teach or pay someone to learn the craft?
- Will I have to pay for additional resources such as conferences, books, etc.?
- What if someone learns it and leaves?
- What if I can’t find someone capable of learning the craft?
- What if they screw up my site or get me thrown out of the search engines?
- Do I hire someone with experience?
- How much is that going to cost me?
- How do I know they can do what they claim?
- Will they have all the skills necessary?
- Will I have to pay additional dollars as they sub-contract out specialty work?
- How much will I have to pay to keep their knowledge current?
- Will they expect to attend all the major SEO trade shows?
- What if the SEO engages in “black hat” activities that screw up my site or get me thrown out of the search engines?
Questions if you plan to outsource your search marketing
- Do I hire a firm or a consultant?
- Do I hire a SEM consultant?
- Can a consultant do everything I need or do I have to do it myself?
- Will a consultant have all the skills necessary to complete the job?
- Will the consultant sub work out to other consultants?
- Will I be forced to pay additional fees for these sub-contractors?
- Will a consultant spend enough quality time on my account?
- Will I be able to get a hold of a consultant when I need them during business hours?
- Do I hire and SEM firm?
- Will a firm have qualified people working on my account?
- Will a firm have too many clients to give me quality time?
- Does the size of the firm matter to me?
- Is the firm a “ranking factory” or will they be sure to pay attention to my needs?
- How responsive will my search marketing firm be with my concerns?
- Will my calls and emails get answered?
- How much should search marketing cost?
- What should be included in my campaign?
- What should not be included in my campaign?
- What will my payment plan be?
- Will I get the return on my investment?
- How soon should I expect to see results?
- What kind of results should I expect?
- Will I have to give up too much control of my site?
- Am I willing to give out sensitive site access information?
- Will I implement recommendations as they are provided?
- Can I veto recommendations and still expect results?
- Will I be expected to do anything?
- How much will I have to be involved?
- How much will I be allowed to be involved?
Having answers to these types of questions can go a long way in preventing roadblocks in your SEO campaign. If you encounter a problem and don’t have clear answers to your questions, you could expect delay and maybe even worse.
Get all the information you can get your hands on before signing any contracts or investing a lot of time and money. SEO campaigns can work, but you have to do them right to succeed.