Website owners are just as diverse as their websites. Some take care of almost everything on their own, while the others rely heavily on expertise of the professionals. And the same counts for optimisation of their websites. While some websites need only a few improvements, others need a complete overhaul to make them search engine friendly and subsequently, improve their rankings in search engine results pages (SERP) which is of course the main goal of SEO. As a result, there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. So if you are thinking about hiring an SEO provider, you should therefore consider what exactly are you looking for. The options include:

• On- and off-site SEO. SEO can’t do magic. If your website doesn’t contain quality content incorporating the right keywords or if there are any coding errors, even the greatest experts won’t be able to help you if you don’t let them take care of both on- and off-site SEO. This is unfortunately quite expensive option (although it isn’t as unaffordable as many people think) but if you aren’t sure what you are supposed to do to optimise your website, it is better to leave it over to the professionals.

• Off-site SEO. If you don’t like the idea of another person reviewing and editing your website for one reason or the other and are absolutely positive that your website design and content meet all search engine requirements, you may hire an SEO expert to optimise your website by helping you increase the quantity and quality of backlinks. In addition to winning you extra “points” at search engines, these will also help increase traffic to your website. Be sure, however, not to insist on large number of backlinks because a dramatic increase of links all of a sudden may achieve adverse effect on search engines. Rather than interpreting them as proof of your website’s popularity, they will probably interpret them as an attempt of manipulation and punish you by degradation instead.

• SEO consultancy and training. If you feel confident in your knowledge of SEO and have the time to optimise your website on your own, you should perhaps consider SEO consultancy and training to find out all about the latest SEO strategies. You may end up hearing what you already know but this doesn’t necessarily mean you have wasted your money. It may also mean that you have an excellent knowledge and that you are on the right track.

• Penalty recovery. Did an SEO “guru” get your website degraded or banned? Don’t despair because nothing is lost yet. There are unfortunately many unethical SEO providers out there but luckily, there are also many who can help you repair the mess and restore your online reputation in the eyes of both search engines and web users.