Hey, Nick Ponte here. I own and operate an SEO agency in sunny Maui, Hawaii. Last week, I shared  three ways to make your Maui advertising matter.

This week, I’ll dive into what it looks like to hire an SEO expert in Maui. Let’s say a business owner wants to drive results through his website. He knows a little about SEO experts and considered hiring one, but he doesn’t think he’d get much return on the investment. Instead of working with an SEO expert, he decides to create and manage his own website. Shortly after, he finds his website doesn’t get the traffic he expected. Leads die down, sales plummet, and he keeps wondering what he’s doing wrong.

You can avoid this 100% preventable problem—but only if you understand the power behind using SEO  to boost your marketing. Without it, you’ll repeatedly put in effort without much effect on business growth. Having a skilled perspective on SEO can make the difference for your success. An SEO expert in Maui understands how to drive results in your business through your website so you can focus on running your business.

So, what do you look for in an SEO expert in Maui? Hiring just any marketing expert won’t cut it—you need a specialist who lives and breathes Maui to cater to your market.

Also Read: Stand Out from Competition with Maui Advertising

Why Hire an SEO Expert?

In today’s digital economy, you’ll find no shortage of information bombarding you daily. You won’t find a problem with scarcity, but excess. To grow your business from the ground up, you could try scouring the web for information about how to expand. But generic marketing advice doesn’t work for every situation. Even the best marketer in the world can’t help you if they don’t understand your goals or your audience. SEO’s power lies in targeting: If you target your audience in the right way, Google rewards you with exposure.

Hiring the right SEO expert can make or break your business. The business owner I mentioned before felt confused and distraught because he didn’t have SEO expertise. Without guidance, he may decide to sell the business, wondering why it went sideways. But we see the flip side all the time: the moment he finds an SEO expert that serves his business and audience, everything changes. Google ranks his website and ads favorably, customers find him, calls get booked, his schedule fills up, and the snowball continues rolling down the hill.

If you want to stop guessing at SEO strategies and start seeing results, don’t market without professional input. Let’s talk about the top three qualities to look for in a Maui SEO expert.

Also Read: Developing Your Online Profile through Organic SEO

3 Important Factors for Hiring an SEO Expert in Maui

1. References

When browsing through options for an SEO expert in Maui, you shouldn’t first consider their experience, but their references. Let me tell you why:

Anyone can boast about their impressive knowledge or experience. However, if you want to gauge an expert’s quality, check out how previous clients and colleagues talk about them. Ask the SEO expert about their references and how they served them. Reach out to those clients to get the full picture. Their testimonies will give you the most accurate picture of the work and experience you can expect from that expert.

2. Experience

If an SEO expert’s references seem solid, you then want to check out their experience. This might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many business owners end up in sticky situations they could have avoided if they’d looked into an agency’s experience. 

When I talk about experience, I don’t just mean letters after their name. Look for “been there, done that” kind of experience—graduates from the school of hard knocks with results to prove it. The SEO expert your business needs has already accomplished what aim to do. They know how to handle the exact challenges you face. A great SEO expert knows how to generate results, and they can replicate previous success for your business.

3. Comprehensive Results Reporting

Let’s say you’ve found an SEO expert in Maui with fantastic references and relevant experience. Awesome—but you need to look for one more essential quality: How do they report results?

In the advertising industry, reporting results makes the difference between guessing and knowing. Without a report, you can’t gauge whether your campaign or ad hits the mark. But with records of actual results, you’ll know which tactics work, which strategies don’t meet expectations, and how you should adjust over time. Any quality SEO expert in Maui must offer reporting as part of their services. We send regular reports to all of our clients so they can see how partnering with an SEO expert benefits their business.

Don’t feel overwhelmed or discouraged while searching for an SEO expert in Maui. Let us make it easy for you: every day, we help business owners turn their marketing strategies around. We know what Maui businesses need in today’s market, and we offer comprehensive reporting for every client.

I want to offer you a FREE SEO audit to help you get started. If you want to get results, reach out to us today!

Further Reading: 7 Ways to Optimize Your Advertising in Hawaii

Photos Courtesy of Christian Joudrey, NisonCo PR and SEO, and Melanie Deziel