If you are paying someone to do SEO for you and you are not seeing an increase in both the number of visitors to your website and ALSO an increase in enquiries for your services, you are wasting money on SEO.
If you do not currently check both of those numbers each month, you need to start right now, otherwise how you can calculate your return on investment?
In my vast experience of SEO companies (having spent tens of thousands of pounds on their services), I know that they will try and confuse you with all sorts of metrics, such as reducing your ‘bounce rate’ or showing that you are top of Google for the keywords ‘Business Owners in Bristol with two left feet’ (in other words search terms that will not win you any new clients), but the metrics above are the ONLY numbers that matter.
Sometimes SEO companies will show you that you are getting more visitors, but if that doesn’t convert 
into more enquiries for your services, it is because, more likely than not, they are targeting keywords that whilst leading to more traffic to your website, will not produce new clients for you.
You might see the visitor numbers rise, but because there is no ‘buyer intent’ behind the keywords, these additional visitors will not turn into fee-paying clients.
By way of an example, if you were a Consultant, your SEO company might generate results for the search term “How to become a business consultant.” This term is not going to produce results for you, so whilst it might attract people to your website looking to start a consultancy, it won’t attract the clients you are looking for.
A good tip for finding keywords which will convert into clients is to use Google Ads first. This way, you can instantly see the results and know that the right keywords are converting and then target them with SEO as well (which takes much longer to achieve results).
The other thing to be really wary of is that Google tailor’s your search results based on your search history. I am often told by a prospect “I am at the top of Google for XXX which is really good.”
When I explain to them that for me they are on page 30 of Google for that search term, they believe that I am mistaken. However, the truth is that because they kept on searching for their own business name in the results for a certain search term, then clicked through to their own website, Google moved their firm up to the top of the search results for THEIR computer (but not for anyone else).
Are you spending money on SEO services?
If you are spending money on SEO services, the only way to be certain that your SEO is working is to see an increase in monthly visitors to your website AND an increase in enquiries for your services. If both of these things are not happening, it is time to stop SEO and save yourself some hard earned marketing budget. You could then use this saved budget to purchase Google Ads services for which you can instantly measure the increase in visitors and enquiries for your services (and see the immediate increase in income from it too).
If you would like to discuss Google Ads or your current SEO campaign with me, I am happy to help. You can request a free copy of my Google Ads Whitepaper by clicking here :