How to Find & Hire The Right SEO Experts for Your Business

Avoid the costly mistake of hiring the wrong SEO agency! This guide will equip you with the tips, tricks, and insights you need to hire SEO experts who will drive measurable results for your business.

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Finding and hiring an SEO expert is a lot like shopping for clothes. You don’t just walk into a random store, purchase the first item you see, and call it a day — you have to think about size, style, and, of course, the price.

Like clothes shopping, hiring an SEO expert for your business requires research and planning to find the right fit for your business. With so many SEO companies promising so much and often under-delivering, you need a keen eye and intel to help you choose the right SEO experts for your business.

So today, we’re giving you the rundown on how to hire SEO experts like a pro. Stay tuned as we cover topics the following:

What is the best way to find and hire an SEO expert?
12 questions to help you hire SEO experts
FAQs about hiring SEO experts
Types of SEO experts you can hire
Top SEO companies & experts to hire in 2025

When you gather enough tips to guide your selection of the best SEO experts for your business, be sure to check out our list of the best SEO companies in 2025.

What is the best way to find and hire an SEO expert?

So, if you can’t just pick a random provider and call it a day, how do you choose an SEO expert?

Start by following these steps:

1. Determine your goals and KPIs

Before you begin looking at SEO provider options, you’ll want to plan out your SEO goals and decide what key performance indicators (KPIs) you’ll be focusing on when measuring results.

Determining your goals and KPIs helps you narrow down your list of SEO experts by ensuring you focus on providers equipped and capable of helping you reach those goals.

For instance, if you’re looking to drive revenue for your business through SEO, be keen to find a proven track record that drives results for clients. Check out their case studies, reviews, and testimonials to determine if they’ve formally driven revenue for clients.

WebFX is an example of an industry-leading SEO agency with a proven track record of driving results. In the past five years, we’ve been able to increase $10 billion in revenue for clients and an 20% average increase in return on investment (ROI).

2. Decide between outsourcing or hiring an in-house SEO team

In your hunt for the right SEO team, you’ll have to choose between committing to an in-house team or outsourcing to expert SEO experts. There are advantages and disadvantages to either option, as highlighted below.

You’re better off with an in-house SEO team if you’re looking for:

Direct control and alignment of your SEO and strategic business goals
A team with a deep understanding of your brand and business
A sustainable SEO strategy that runs uninterrupted for a long time

However, an in-house SEO team can be expensive in the long run due to the costs associated with hiring, training, salaries, and benefits for team members. It also limits your scalability, meaning if your business is still scaling, you’re better off with an outsourced SEO team. Other advantages of outsourcing SEO services include:

Saving on costs typically associated with hiring an in-house team
Accessing world-class expertise for all SEO strategies, including on-page, off-page, and technical SEO
Unlocking access to advanced technology and detailed reporting insights
Understanding the latest trends and insights to help you gain a competitive edge

3. Set your budget

When hiring an SEO expert, the last thing you want to do is break the bank. That’s why you’ll want to spend some time looking up how much SEO services should cost before you jump into hiring an expert.

According to our in-depth research, SEO typically costs between $500 to $7,500 monthly on average. These costs may vary significantly based on:

Company size: Small and medium-sized businesses typically spend $501 to $5,000, while large and enterprise businesses spend between $2,500 and $5,000 monthly. The higher costs are due to the reputation of the established businesses plus the complexity and scale of their business processes.
SEO pricing plan: You get to choose between hourly, monthly, and per-project pricing plans. The monthly retainer fee is the most popular model, with a 36% popularity score, followed by project-based pricing, which is preferred by 28% of businesses.
Service provider: SEO agencies, for example, are more expert, and consultants are more expensive, charging $51 – $100 an hour, while SEO freelancers charge $1 – $75. These prices vary based on capabilities, experience, and scalability.

Setting an SEO budget can be daunting, but you can get by with our free SEO cost calculator that estimates costs based on your business size, target market location, and industry competition.

SEO Calculator

Business Size

Your target market location

Industry Competition

Do you want to reach local customers?

Yes No

Number of Locations

Do you require content creation?

Yes No

Your Estimated Monthly SEO Cost Is:

Get a free proposal

4. Build your shortlist

Now, the time has come to build assemble your list of potential SEO providers. When looking at SEO experts, there are a few things you’ll want to look for:

Reviews across various sites (Clutch, social media, etc.)
Case studies
Certifications
Awards and recognitions

Looking for the above items will give you a better sense of an SEO expert’s capabilities and specialties. Knowing that specific experts have any awards or special recognitions can give you peace of mind that they’re trustworthy SEOs, while reviews and case studies can help you see their work in action.

You can also download our free marketing agency research template to help you stay organized as you look to hire an SEO expert for your business!

Download Now: Free Marketing Agency Resource Template

5. Ask questions

Finally, the best thing you can do when looking to hire SEO experts is ask questions. An SEO provider’s online presence can speak volumes, but let’s be honest — nothing beats talking to them one-on-one.

Schedule consultations with your top picks for SEO experts so you can get a better sense of who they are. Ask questions that help you better understand how they can help your business and how you can work together with them.

That’s great and all, but what kinds of questions should I ask?

We’re glad you asked — keep reading to see 12 questions that can help you hire SEO experts that fit your business!

12 questions to help you hire SEO experts

As you browse the best SEO companies, you’re narrowing down your numerous options to land on the best fit for your business. The best way to start vetting your SEO provider options and narrowing down your list is to ask experts questions related to their SEO process, experience, pricing, and more.

List of 12 questions that helps you hire an SEO expert

Take a look at these 12 questions you can ask to help you hire the right SEO expert for your business.

1. What sets you apart from other SEO experts?

It’s helpful to hear straight from candidates about their most valuable qualities and services.

Their answer can give you an initial taste of their depth of SEO knowledge. Depending on how they explain their services and processes, you can gauge their skill level and familiarity with current search engine practices.

2. Can you give a summary of your SEO process?

Ask the SEO experts to lay out the usual cornerstones of their strategies. This will also help you gauge their proficiency in a number of services. Get into the nitty gritty:

Do they favor technical SEO?
Can they carry out off-page SEO effectively?
Do they have copywriters who are proficient with on-page SEO?

Full-service SEO agencies should be able to discuss their full range of Internet marketing skills and how they can support overall success.

3. Do you inform clients about technical site changes?

With SEO, your website can potentially see a structural transformation. Everything from the aesthetic appearance to the navigation is liable to change.

When your SEO experts are transparent about major site components, it’s a good indication. Hiring an SEO agency that’s straightforward about its methods keeps you away from black-hat SEO and penalties.

4. What tech stack do you use for SEO campaigns?

The tools your SEO specialists use to evaluate and improve your site’s SEO health — whether it’s popular tools on the market or in-house technology — can impact the overall success of your strategy.

For example, at WebFX, we use several robust SEO and marketing tools to help you understand the health of your site’s SEO. Our proprietary marketing automation software, RevenueCloudFX, is backed by IBM Watson, and it’s free to our clients.

5. How long will it take to see ranking results?

SEO is an ongoing process, and you won’t see results overnight. However, you can still judge SEO experts’ pace via their answers to the above question.

Your SEO specialist should be able to give you a general time estimate for your campaign to take off, which is ideally between three to six months.

While they can’t give you an exact date for reaching specific goals (search engines are constantly evolving), they can base their estimate on past campaigns they’ve worked on that are similar to yours.

Be wary of SEO experts who promise overnight, permanent, or long-term ranking results or claim a relationship with Google or its algorithm. These are some proven tactics used by a scammy or bad SEO agency.

6. How do you measure progress?

What determines if your site is doing well in the eyes of SEO experts? There are numerous metrics that can guide campaigns, from keyword rankings to bounce rates.

This question also factors in your business goals because metrics go hand-in-hand with your objectives. If they bring up key performance indicators (KPIs) that have a direct benefit to your business, you can confidently move forward.

However, not all KPIs will matter in the end, some are vanity metrics that won’t drive any measurable value for your business. So, you should be wary of SEO companies focusing on these headline-grabbing metrics, like growing social media followers, website visitors, and keyword rankings.

Gravitate toward experts who focus on the best SEO metrics, like bounce rates, conversion rates, organic traffic, and click-through rate (CTR).

7. How frequently do you report results?

Reports are a reliable way to maintain communication between your business and the SEO experts. SEO experts often send out reports weekly, monthly, or quarterly, so ask them when to expect reports.

It’s also handy to know what the reports contain so you’re prepared to read them. Ask them to also clarify the different marketing reports they’ll be providing you with a good idea of what they’ll be tracking for you.

8. Can I see a list of case studies and references?

The best SEO service providers should be able to refer you to a number of case studies or testimonials to display their past work. If they can provide you with success stories, you have a decent idea of their proficiency.

Client reviews can show how trustworthy and productive the SEO campaigns were — plus, you can navigate to clients’ sites to scrutinize them for yourself. Additionally, case studies are even more meaningful because they often relay important statistics, like the year-over-year (YoY) growth in organic traffic and conversions.

WebFX helps companies like yours reach their business goals.

See Case Study

Our marketing department has a lot of key performance indicators that WebFX has always helped us achieve... WebFX has always worked hard to make sure that we’re getting what we need out of the partnership, not just what may seem like the best result.

HydroWorx

9. What problems do you notice on our site?

An SEO audit is useful for developing an informed strategy. While this normally takes tools and time, you can get a feel for SEO experts’ instincts when you ask their opinion of your existing site.

Their honest evaluation of your usability, design, and content can be at a sneak peek to your working relationship with them. You can start by conducting an SEO audit so you can have counter-questions for what they come with.

10. Do you stay on top of SEO trends and updates?

Currently, Google has 200+ ranking factors, but search engines are constantly creating new ones to rank pages.

Because the SEO landscape is changing constantly (primarily ranking factors), it’s necessary for your SEO partner to stay up-to-date on the latest SEO best practices, algorithm updates, and trends.

Working knowledge of SEO changes is crucial to the long-term success of your SEO strategy, so question your candidates about how they stay updated on all things SEO.

In 2025 and beyond, you want to work with an SEO agency with a grasp on OmniSEO™ to future-proof your rankings everywhere.

So, what’s OmniSEO™? It’s the holistic search optimization approach that helps you rank on all types of search engines, including AI assistants, voice search, and social media.

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11. What is the price of hiring an SEO expert?

The SEO experts should break down what your money’s going toward you know what you’re getting into. Pricing typically changes based on the thoroughness of the packages or projects, but sometimes the rate is hourly.

If the SEO pricing is eerily low, they might participate in low-grade tactics like obtaining substandard links. Just like SEO is an investment of time and well-crafted content, it’s also an investment of funds.

Cheap SEO services, typically under $100, are bad for you because they often offer one-size-fits-all strategies, have terrible customer service, and are inexperienced. This guide shares more about why cheap SEO services aren’t your friend.

Also, remember to discuss payment and billing methods to get the full picture of the partnership.

12. How will my site change after our partnership ends?

If you separate from your SEO company at some point, you want to make sure the site’s content and design stay functional and continue to thrive.

Whether you have financial setbacks or other concerns, you might need to end your contract sooner than expected. The termination portion is most relevant to you, and there can be extra costs if you want to leave before the period is finished.

It’s vital to understand the terms of your contract before you sign anything, so go over the details with your SEO experts.

FAQs About Hiring SEO Experts

Looking for more information on how to hire an SEO consultant for your business? Check out these FAQs!

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing process that involves optimizing your website and its content to improve your site’s performance and visibility on search engines. Businesses use a variety of practices and techniques to improve their SEO, like:

On-page SEO
Off-page SEO
Technical SEO

What does an SEO specialist do?

An SEO specialist works to improve a website’s search engine performance through techniques like on- and off-page SEO, and technical SEO.

SEOs use a variety of analytical, research, copywriting, and web development skills to improve a site’s online visibility. This includes performing tasks like:

Auditing websites for optimization opportunities
Implementing optimization strategies
Analyzing website data to monitor site performance
Communicating SEO results to clients on a regular basis
And more!

How much does it cost to hire an SEO expert?

On average, SEO services can cost anywhere from $2500-$7500 per month, but can also be paid for by hour, or by project. The cost of SEO depends on a variety of factors, including:

Who you hire for SEO (freelancer, agency, etc.)
Project size
Scope of services

Is it worth hiring an SEO specialist?

Yes, it’s worth hiring an SEO specialist! Over 90% of online experiences begin with a search engine, so ensuring your website is visible in search results is crucial to the online success of your business.

What’s more, 95% of search traffic goes to the first page of search results alone. An SEO specialist has the experience, knowledge, and expertise necessary to help you develop and maintain an SEO campaign that scales to your growing business and is flexible in the wake of constant algorithm updates, allowing for long-term success.

How do I find a good SEO expert?

Finding the right SEO expert for your business requires research and planning — you don’t want to cut corners and choose an agency that doesn’t align with your business’s SEO goals.

To find a good SEO expert, follow these steps:

Determine what key performance indicators (KPIs) will measure your SEO success, and set your SEO goals
Set a monthly budget after researching how much SEO costs
Build an agency shortlist using reviews, case studies, and certifications
Compile a list of questions to ask each agency

Should I hire an SEO expert?

If you’re asking yourself, “Should I hire someone for SEO?” or “How do I know if I need to hire an SEO expert?” here are a few items to consider:

Time: SEO isn’t a one-and-done deal — it’s a digital marketing strategy that takes time to produce results and requires regular maintenance and fine-tuning. If you feel like you can’t regularly dedicate time to work on your business’s SEO, you may want to consider hiring an SEO consultant.
Expertise: Search engine ranking factors, algorithms, trends, and best practices are constantly changing. That means a working knowledge of SEO is crucial to running a successful campaign. If you’re not familiar with SEO or don’t have the time to regularly research and analyze the latest SEO news and updates, hiring an SEO specialist could be the next step for you.
Effort: Developing and maintaining a successful SEO strategy for your business requires a significant amount of effort and dedication. Always-changing algorithms means you need to always be on your toes when it comes to SEO, and that can be tough when you’re already running a business. If you don’t want to add that kind of stress to you, your team, and your business, you could greatly benefit from hiring an SEO strategist.

Types of SEO experts you can hire

When it comes to hiring SEO experts, you’ve got a few different routes you can take:

Freelance
In-house consultant
Agency

Each of these SEO providers have their pros and cons, which we’ll cover below. Take a look!

Freelance

Freelance SEO professionals are individuals who have well-rounded SEO experience, but often specialize in specific areas of SEO. They’ve likely worked with clients in a variety of industries, typically on a project-by-project basis. While they’re able to work one-on-one with clients, they may not have the vast resources of an SEO agency or consultant.

In-house consultant

An in-house SEO consultant works in-house, allowing you direct control over your work without the hassle of doing it all yourself. You’re always in the loop about the progress of your SEO campaign and have a direct line of communication with your consultant.

On the flip side, hiring an SEO consultant means hiring an new employee, which can be a time-consuming process that comes with onboarding expenses, an annual salary, etc. For some businesses, especially small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs), these costs may be too high to make in-house consultants a viable option.

Agency

SEO agencies are made up of entire teams of well-rounded SEO professionals who each have their own specialties. Agencies have experience with with clients on a long-term basis, and as a result have established practices and procedures, and a vast network of SEO tools and resources at their disposal. While they are more expensive to hire than freelancers and consultants, SEO agencies’ costs reflect their extensive experience and working knowledge of the latest SEO trends, best practices, and updates.

Freelance vs. consultant vs. agency SEO

	FREELANCE	IN-HOUSE CONSULTANT	AGENCY
Skills & Expertise	Well-rounded SEO Expert in one or more aspects of SEO Multi-industry experience	Well-rounded SEO Expert in one or more aspects of SEO May specialize in specific industries	Team of experienced marketers with in-depth SEO experience Various specialties, certifications, and multi-industry experience
Resources & Network	Resources are limited Freelancers have a vast network due to their prior experience working with other businesses	Resources are dependent on the SEO’s previous experience & network, as well as that of the business they work for	Vast array of digital marketing tools, resources, and technology Considerable network of other marketing professionals Constantly monitoring the latest SEO trends, best practices, and algorithm updates
Flexibility & Structure	Flexibility in when they help and communicate with you (i.e. can sometimes work outside of normal business hours) SEO processes may not be established, consistent, or organized across all clients and industries	Flexibility is dependent on your business and the SEO you hire Establishing processes and workflows are dependent on you, your SEO, and your team	Typically operate during standard working hours Established SEO processes in place that are consistent, organized, and streamlined for efficiency
Communication	Direct line of communication and feedback	Direct line of communication and feedback	Communication and feedback is streamlined through project management tools, scheduled meetings, and/or a dedicated project manager

Top SEO companies & experts to hire in 2025

For many businesses, hiring an SEO agency is the way to go when outsourcing SEO. Agencies have the knowledge, resources, and marketing experience to give businesses peace of mind that their SEO campaigns are in capable hands. Not to mention, agencies are ideal SEO partners for businesses looking to foster long-term SEO success, rather than assistance with short-term projects.

There are thousands of SEO companies out there to choose from, so which one is best for your business? We’re making it easy for you — check out some of the top SEO companies and experts you can hire in 2025!

AGENCY	LOCATION	SERVICES	PRICING
WebFX	Pennsylvania, USA	Full-Service SEO including National, Local, Ecommerce, and Enterprise SEO, plus SEO Auditing and Consulting	Starting at $1375 / month
The SEO Works	Sheffield, United Kingdom	National & Local SEO	Starting at $1000 / project
seoplus+	Ottawa, Canada	National SEO, Shopify SEO	Starting at $150 / hour
High Voltage SEO	Berlin, Germany	National & International SEO, SEO Consulting	Starting at $1000 / project
SIXGUN	Melbourne, Australia	International & Local SEO, Google Penalty Assistance	Starting at $1000 / project

Learn More About the Best SEO Companies!

Meet WebFX, your award-winning SEO experts

For 25+ years, WebFX has been focused on driving quality results for our clients through data-backed SEO services. As a result, we’ve help clients generate over 24 million qualified leads.

From sustainable digital marketing solutions to our in-house marketing technology, our team is well-equipped and ready to help new clients crush their SEO goals.

Are you ready to hire an award-winning SEO agency? Let’s get started! Give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online to start boosting your rankings and generating high-quality traffic.

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