What an SEO consultant does, and when SEO consulting is worth it

Google describes the useful services SEOs and consultants provide, including review of your site content or structure, technical advice on website development, content development, keyword research, SEO training, expertise in specific markets and geographies, and optimizing for generative AI.

It helps to think of the work in three modes:

• Diagnosis. Finding what's holding a site back, from technical problems to thin or confusing pages.
• Direction. Turning those findings into a prioritized plan your team or developer can carry out.
• Teaching. Training your staff so the basics become part of how you publish.

Google lists SEO training among the services an SEO can provide, and for a small business it can be the most valuable part, because you keep the knowledge after the engagement ends.

Google points to one moment in particular. It says a great time to hire is when you're considering a site redesign, the earlier the better, or planning to launch a new site, so the site can be built search-friendly from the start. It adds that a good SEO can also help improve an existing site.

Google is just as clear that not every business needs one. If you run a small local business, Google says you can probably do much of the work yourself, starting with its SEO Starter Guide. Even if you hire help later, Google notes that knowing the basics lets you notice when an SEO wants to use a technique that's not recommended or, worse, strongly discouraged.

If an engagement starts with an SEO audit, Google's guidance on audits is practical:

• Grant only read access to Search Console at the audit stage, not write access.
• Expect realistic estimates of improvement and an estimate of the work involved.
• Check the recommendations against official guidance from Google Search before making big changes.
• Notice whether the consultant cites official Google documentation as evidence.

Google also says it doesn't evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools, and that those tools don't have access to its internal ranking data. A tool's score is a starting point for questions, not a verdict.

The best sign of a good consultant often shows up in the first conversation. Google says your SEO should ask questions about what makes your business unique, who your competitors are, how search results can help and how your customers find you. If they aren't interested in your business, Google's advice is to find someone who is.

Transparency matters just as much. Among the questions Google suggests asking: will you share all the changes you make to my site, with detailed information about your recommendations and the reasoning behind them? And if a consultant has direct access to your server, Google says they should be willing to explain every change they make.

From Google's suggested interview questions:

1. Can you show me examples of your previous work?
2. Do you follow the Google Search Essentials?
3. What results do you expect, and in what timeframe?
4. How do you measure success?
5. What's your experience in my industry and my city?
6. How will we communicate?

Then check references. Google suggests asking past clients whether the work was useful, the consultant was easy to work with and the results were positive.

Agree on how you'll measure success before the work begins. Google's suggested interview questions include asking how an SEO measures success, and Google gives every site owner a free way to check. Search Console's Performance report shows clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position, and which queries and pages bring people to your site.

Save a snapshot of those numbers on day one. Then, every month, compare them with the consultant's report. A good consultant welcomes that comparison, because it shows the work in the same numbers you can see yourself.

Google's list of warning signs is worth remembering:

• A guarantee of a top ranking. Google says no one can guarantee one.
• Claims of a special relationship with Google, or a priority submission.
• Secrecy, or an unwillingness to explain the plan clearly.
• Deceptive or misleading content created on your behalf, which Google says could get your site removed entirely from Google's index.

Google also reminds site owners that you are ultimately responsible for the actions of any company you hire.

Google's guide notes that in the United States, the Federal Trade Commission handles complaints about deceptive or unfair business practices, and lists the FTC's website and phone line, 1-877-FTC-HELP, for filing a complaint. For companies outside the United States, it points to econsumer.gov.

SEO consulting works best as a partnership: the consultant brings method and judgment, and you bring the knowledge of your customers that no tool can see.