Every industry has some sort of certifications. From board certified to IT CCNA certifications. In the search engine marketing industry, there are a dozen organizations offering certifications, which include google, semrush.com and many more..
Do SEO / PPC Certifications Mean Im Working With The Best?
No they do not. For example, Google Ads management certifications are extremely easy to pass. Most of these tests are having cheat sheets on Google. You do not need any high level qualifications or experience to take these certifications at all. The SEMRUSH.COM certifications are similar to Google’s, but they also have online cheat sheets.
How Do I Choose An Expert Based On SEO or PPC Certifications?
The best SEO’s in the world use the best tools in the industry, the understand how these tools work and how they will assist them in getting your website to rank and generate new business. They have enough revenue to spend the money on these tools, which can cost quite a bit. A good SEO will have numerous subscriptions from numerous tools. For example at Inbound, we have subscriptions at Moz.com, Semrush.com, Ahrefs.com, Brightlocal.com, and Raventools.com. These tools have similar features, but some have different features that alllow us to perform at a high level for our clients.
Heres How You Choose The Right Professional
Experience always comes first. This is actually one of the easiest ways to choose an SEO or PPC expert. How many years have they been working in their field. If they are in business 10 years later, they are doing something right. Similar to any professional in any industry. From legal to medical and oil & gas. If you do not do a good job, you will not retain clients, and you will not be able to keep the lights on. No referrals and very few reviews.
References are important, but nobody calls them. We do not have a high volume sales team. We retain our clients, and most of them have been with us for many years. The potential customers who call us rarely pickup the phone and call these references, who would tell them why they have chosen us and why they have continued paying for our services. This is by far the most accurate way to choose an SEO/PPC professional that will do a good job for your business.. Ask for references or proof of success.
Marketing material is next. How much effort have they put into their sales material. From their website design to their proposals and business cards. Be caerfull though, this could be a misleading attribute. You can have a beautiful website and proposal, but they have zero clue what they are doing.