For some people, they do not know what to expect from a SEO consultant. In most cases, clients always expect more than what can be done in the given timeframe and budget. For many SEO consultants, they always face a dilemma when facing clients. Some consultants will try to overpromise in order to get the deal and under-deliver by the end of the project. On the other hand, there are consultants who always undersell and over-deliver in the end. Unfortunately, when the consultant undersells in the beginning, he or she will have difficulty getting the deal because most clients have unrealistic expectations.
The tricky part about SEO is that most of the benchmarks are not under the control of the SEO consultant. Benchmarks like traffic, enquiries and sales vary depending on many factors. I think it will be useful for you to understand what NOT to expect from a SEO consultant.
1. Never expect guaranteed rankings. Many people who are interested in SEO want guaranteed rankings for certain keywords in a certain timeframe for a certain price. Unfortunately, no one can guarantee you a certain ranking for a keyword. Rankings should not be used as a benchmark because it is subject to the algorithms of the search engines. Search engines change their algorithms every now and then so it is just impossible for someone to guarantee you a certain ranking for a certain keyword.
2. Never expect the cost of SEO to remain the same overtime. This is because most SEO consultants charge according to the amount of work that needs to be done. When rankings and competition changes, so does the cost of the SEO package. The cost of SEO is likely to increase to accommodate more competitive keywords.
3. Never expect SEO to be a one-time project. SEO is a continuous process as link building needs to be undertaken from time to time. When you change the layout or add new content to your website, you need to optimize it. Most clients expect SEO to be a one-time project. This is simply impossible.
4. Never expect to see quick results from SEO. If you want to see an increased in organic traffic to your website in one day, it is simply not possible. SEO takes time to take effect before you can get any ROI from it. So be patient and do not give your SEO consultant an impossible timeframe to deliver the ROIs.