Do you know what all the fuss is about hiring a Freelance SEO Specialist? Let’s read it all today!
It is commonly understood to all, SEO is one of the best ways to prove your existence or to target potential customers.
It is the preferred method of tailoring your website content as it ranks well in search engines and more and more people visit the website.
While previously it was quickly done by just adding high-volume keyword search terms in the content even if they didn’t make sense, but now it’s not the case.
Search engines now apply various algorithms and have become quite advanced. So, only blending keywords somewhere in content doesn’t work. Well, due to colossal sophistication, there comes the complexity of being ranked high on search engines. This is where the demand for an SEO expert arises.
Thinking about who actually is Freelance SEO Specialist or why and how to hire one, or how the expert is different from the in-house one?
Sure, you are struggling with such similar questions concerning Freelance SEO Specialists. Let’s walk through the answers all one by one.
Yeah! Keep reading the guide…
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search Engine Optimization, commonly known as SEO, is the process by which you can boost both the quality and quantity of traffic to your website through “organic” (i.e., not paid) results.
Many people think that SEO is all about search engines, but it is not entirely correct because SEO is much about the people.
When it comes to improving the SEO ranking of your website, you need to understand things like what keywords people are using, what they are searching for, the answers they’re looking for, and the kinds of content that will best answer their questions.
In all, for powerful and result-worthy SEO, you not just need to understand the purpose behind the search query the user conducted but also offer the answer the person is looking for in a way the search engine crawlers can discover and understand.
Who Is a Freelance SEO Specialist?
If you are a Freelance SEO Specialist, you must be equipped with all that is about SEO. Apart from having a skill set, he/she owns the proper tools, resources, and software required to meet the clients’ SEO needs.
The expert is also skilled in managing the SEO of all kinds of websites despite the website builders they are built on.
In all, from increasing traffic to your website to making your site rank to generating leads for you, an SEO Specialist can do all!
Difference Between In-house vs. Freelance SEO Specialist
SEO is a complex process that needs consistency. Businesses have two basic options to leverage the benefits of SEO. They can choose an in-house SEO expert, or they can go for a freelance SEO specialist.
- A freelance SEO specialist takes on various clients or projects simultaneously; hence they have diverse skills and knowledge. They also know how to give any project the required time and dedication.
- Freelancers work hard to bring results. Plus, they deliver on-time work to get positive feedback from clients as their future career (and income) depends on the current or past projects.
- In comparison to in-house experts, they charge based on projects only, which means you don’t have to pay for extra things like bonuses. Also, you don’t have to pay for expenses like office space as the freelancers usually do work from home and charge only a reasonable amount. In short, they are more affordable.
- There is more flexibility in hiring freelance SEO specialists as they provide greater flexibility and are willing to improve their schedules such that your work calendar is not interrupted. If needed, they also get the task done in a more petite time frame.
That means, compared to in-house SEO experts or SEO agencies, freelancers can be more proficient, and they are more affordable too.
However, there could be possibilities that you need an in-house team to work on the strategies advised by the freelance SEO expert. This is one of the reasons many companies employ both an in-house team and a freelancer to keep the work going.
Responsibilities of a Freelance SEO Specialist
- Analysis and evaluation of the websites that require optimization and improvisation.
- Targeting sound keywords to get the most relevant traffic
- Developing comprehensive strategy reports
- Running effective PPC campaigns
- Handling compelling SEO content websites, blogs, and social media accounts
- Enhancing websites and online content with powerful keywords
- Using strong calls-to-action to convert visitors through
- Holding a check on SEO techniques and keywords used by rivals
What skills does a Freelance SEO Specialist need?
After presenting the primary responsibilities of SEO and Freelance SEO Specialist, our next focus is on the SEO skills that employers must look for when choosing an expert for their work.
Technical SEO
If you think SEO is only about researching the keyword and then stuffing them on a page, then you’re in for astonishment because this is not what it is.
Instead, SEO is about turning regular websites into a better one at both the page and server level, even in a structured way, to improve their chances of getting attention on search engines, with the ultimate goal of getting traffic and leads.
Skillset to do on-page optimization, including alt tags, title tags, H1, copy optimization, etc. It is helpful, but it’s more crucial to understand the technical side of SEO for any expert. But make sure those who are great well-versed with technical SEO are great to hire.
Knowing both server-level and page-level optimization is what makes one a rounded SEO practitioner.
Link Building
It is no doubt that the opportunities to build links have increased tremendously with the rise in social media platforms over the past few years.
Now we have legitimate methods of building links like good old-fashioned directories, credible high PR sites, association sites, and so on. Such links are called permanent links with a larger “shelf life” than the temporal links gained by social media channels, like blogs, bookmarking, content syndication, and Twitter.
One imperative part is internal link optimization – not only on your own properties but also on social media platforms like Facebook pages. Well, internal link optimization could be the low-hanging fruit you want to go after, especially with so much content created by your internal social media team.
Freelance SEO Specialists must be proficient in both external as well as internal link building and optimization.
Social Media Marketing
Have you passed even one day without hearing about social media? Not in this online world.
Social media skills are not only about managing accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube but driving traffic from social platforms. Creating compelling posts with accurate CTAs and targeting them well to the intended audience is also done by experts.
From widening the customer base to increasing leads, most can be easily done by social media platforms or social media marketing.
Research and Analysis
Keyword research, one significant part of SEO, demands that SEO specialists meticulously plan out keywords that are important as well as of high value. A proficient SEO expert should know the value of well-researched keywords that are relevant to the product or service.
Plus, like reading and interpreting data, Data analysis is also equally vital, and a Freelance SEO Expert must be proficient in both skills.
Other technical skills:
- An in-depth understanding of Google tools like GA and GSC and analytical skills are crucial for an SEO expert to stay updated about the latest SEO trends.
- Given the importance of the ever-changing search engine algorithms, an SEO expert must know how to fix the technical issues to obtain the perfect visibility of the sites.
- H1, XML sitemaps, Meta tags, robots.txt, status codes, and the capability to resolve crawl issues are among the other crucial technical SEO skills.
Advantages of Having a Freelance SEO Specialist
A professional can dedicate more time than you can
SEO not only includes getting to understand the industry’s history and speculating future trends; it shifts every day, and you need to be careful to stay on top of it.
In fact, many times, Google has agreed to make minor changes in their algorithms not once but various times a week. And, there is no point in spending your time trying to keep up with Google’s changes unless you want to become an SEO expert yourself.
By assigning this work to an individual specializing in the same field, you can have more time to concentrate on your business. And it’s most satisfying to leave learning about new changes in SEO to those who have been doing it for some time now.
Get On The First Page Sooner
The quicker you get your website to the top position of the search results, the speedier your organic traffic rises. More visitors to your website means more conversions, and a specialist SEO professional knows how to target the exact demographic and knows the tactics to bring your site to the first page.
The Website Sees Excellent Results
To maintain your site’s SEO needs, hiring a productive business is a perfect idea. With proper SEO, your website will rank amongst the top search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO assists in providing the site the necessary exposure so that it reaches out to more numbers of potential customers and becomes a brand.
With the right SEO strategy, the site will aim at the most appropriate keywords, will be able to load faster, and will be able to compete actively with other competitors in the industry.
Keep Your Website Updated
SEO specialists, as their primary job, help you have your website updated. Google keeps changing the algorithms, and competitors may overtake your position on the search results page due to the updates. Hence, your SEO experts observe your improvement and update your site to reflect changes in the algorithms.
Experts Stay Up-to-date with the Latest SEO Trends
Every single day SEO changes and this makes it challenging to keep up with Google’s antics. Google is on record as saying that they make a few changes to their algorithms various times per week.
An SEO expert will stay up to date with the newest best practices, track progress, achieve better results, and be able to communicate new branding ideas with your team.
Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Freelance SEO Specialist
- What kind of services can you offer?
- How many years of experience do you have?
- Have you served with any projects in our industries before?
- What will you do to raise our search engine rankings?
- What kinds of reports do we expect from you, and how frequently?
- How do you charge your services, and what payment options are convenient for you?
- Can you share reports on some of your previous clients and their results?
Hire a Dedicated Freelance SEO Specialist Here!
If you are reading this guide, quite sure you are looking for one Freelance SEO Specialist to work for you. Am I right?
At this network, you can find one. Yes, Freelance Digital Marketers is a group of experts striving to serve the best of SEO to all clients.
Get in touch and find out how I can help make your business thrive!