When should you be looking to engage in search engine optimisation services?
When should you be flipping through SEO consultants or contacting firms for quotes? Simple answer, if you’re looking to save money and time, you should be engaging in SEO services right from the very start, even before you’ve thought of a domain name.
Now don’t get us wrong, you can contact an SEO firm at any point in your website’s lifecycle.
However, by not contacting an SEO firm or consultant right from the very beginning, you may end up having to spend more when it comes to SEO as the technical SEO developer would need time to re-develop sections of your website that would have initially been optimised if it was done from the get-go.
Why hire an SEO from the beginning?
As SEO consultants, we have only once been contacted by a client that had nothing ready, but only a concept behind a potential website.
This is the perfect scenario that would allow us to voice our inputs on the following from the very beginning.
- Keyword focus and direction.
- Domain name and alternate domain names (to protect the brand).
- Optimised web hosting.
- Optimised website layouts.
- Website crawlability (making it easier for search engines).
- Content management abilities (including the use of blogs, etc.).
- Developing a system for different variations if your website is multilingual.
From the above list, you can do many of these at any stage in a website’s lifetime, but imagine the amount of expense you could save having done them before. As having your website redesigned after spending thousands on a pretty design could be a complete waste of your budget if it’s not optimised correctly.
While the statement of “get your SEO done right from the beginning” has become more than a cliched remark, you’d be surprised how often SEO practices can be missed.
Finally, it’s also worth noting that some web-development companies often offer SEO as an extra — after the initial build.