Google’s John Mueller Seeks Advice On Hiring SEO Consultants

Google Search Advocate, John Mueller, has turned to Twitter seeking advice on what to consider when hiring an SEO consultant.

He posed the question on behalf of someone running an animal park, indicating the need for a local SEO consultant to enhance their online presence.

“Does anyone have recommendations in terms of people/companies & things to watch out for when picking one?” Mueller asked in his tweet, “How do you separate the serious from the less-serious folks?”​

Here’s a look into the ensuing conversation, including a range of insights into what you should look for when hiring SEO professionals.

One of the replies to Mueller’s tweet highlighted the cost-sensitive nature of SEO consultancy.

Kris Roadruck emphasized that most low-budget local SEO services, charging below $1000 per month, are “chop-shops” offering minimal service.

He claims these services follow a generic formula and warned that’s the level of quality businesses can expect unless they expand their budget.

Roadruck states:

“This is unfortunately budget-sensitive. Nearly all the folks that do low-budget local SEO (Sub $1000/mo) are chop-shops doing very little indeed and just following a generic formula performed by underpaid folks. Sadly this is the price range most local companies can afford unless they are attorneys, dentists, or some other high value service based biz.”

“This is painfully true,” reads a reply to his tweet.

Isaline Muelhauser responded to Mueller’s tweet by suggesting that a local agency could be a helpful resource.

She highlights the advantages of working with an agency that operates in the same area as the business requiring local SEO services:

“Chose someone who’s experimented in local SEO and understands the local market.E.g. for Local SEO we manage multilingualism and often low [monthly search volume].The animal park owner should feel that their business is understood not receive a general pitch deck.”

To that end, it helps to ensure the agency you hire is familiar with the tools of the trade.

An individual who goes by the handle SEOGoddess on Twitter states:

“If the local SEO company knows what @yext or @RenderSeo is then that’s the first step in trusting they know what they’re doing. From there it’s a matter of drafting up a good strategy and knowing how to help execute on it.”

The Twitter thread sparked a variety of responses. However, these key topics were left unexplored:

To address these gaps, let’s look at a successful SEO strategy for a local business dealing with animals.

The most relevant case study I could find is from Step 5 Creative, who performed local SEO services for Deer Grove Animal Hospital in Illinois.

This case study shows what’s involved in a comprehensive SEO approach and what you should expect from an experienced agency.

The first step in Step 5’s SEO campaign was a thorough onboarding process, which included the following:

The above steps aim to improve a site’s visibility to human visitors and search engine bots.

Step 5’s strategy also involved ensuring the business was listed in local online directories and had a complete Google Business Profile.

Keyword reassessment was another crucial step. The team monitored clickthroughs and positions for targeted keywords and adjusted their strategy accordingly.

The team conducted extensive keyword research, experimenting with different variations of keywords to see which yielded better results.

Reviewing the animal hospital’s traffic acquisition report and bounce rate helped the Step 5 Creative team understand where visitors came from and how they interacted with the site. This information allowed them to improve the user experience and encourage better traffic flow.

Lastly, the team underscores the need for continual updates for long-term success. This refers to the earlier point of working with an SEO consultant committed to staying current with best practices.

In the complex world of SEO, it’s essential to differentiate between “serious” and “less-serious” consultants.

Serious consultants are invested in understanding your business, industry, and specific needs.

In contrast, less-serious consultants might offer generic services not catering to your unique requirements.

Here are additional criteria to consider and red flags to watch for when hiring an SEO professional:

The Twitter conversation initiated by Google’s John Mueller provided valuable insights into what to consider when choosing an SEO professional.

Cost shouldn’t be the sole factor, as low-budget services often deliver minimal results.

Instead, prioritize experienced SEO agencies that understand the local market and have a track record of success.

Look for consultants knowledgeable about industry tools who can develop a customized strategy tailored to your business’s needs.

Other essential factors include transparency, a proven track record, continual learning, and adherence to ethical practices.

By following these guidelines, you can make an informed decision when hiring an SEO consultant that will help your business thrive in the digital landscape.

Featured image generated by the author using Midjourney. 

All the Ways ChatGPT Can Help You Land a Job

Of course, chatbots don't know any of this, but they can make smart assumptions based on the masses of text they've been trained on and information from the web. It's always worth double-checking key points, especially when it comes to the details of a company (you don't want to bring up an inaccurate fact during a job interview).

A prompt could be as simple as, “What does someone starting a new job as a project manager need to know?” with whatever embellishments you see fit. When we tried that query, we were given an idea of the skills, software, and hierarchies involved.

Prepare for Interviews

Think about what you might be asked in advance.

When you get to the interview stage, you might want to ask a chatbot, "What are the typical questions asked in an interview for the role of ..." and see what responses you get. As usual, the more precise you can be in your prompt, the more tailored the responses are going to be. This will give you some idea of what to study up on, or how to prepare your responses.

You can also get some ideas about what a good answer looks like. "What is the best response to a question about … ," for example. You want to answer as yourself, not as an AI bot, but you can get some ideas and inspiration using this method—so if you get asked about your biggest weaknesses, for example, make sure you talk about how you're working on them.

Remember that Bard, ChatGPT, and Bing AI have never been in interviews, so we'd also recommend looking up advice from actual experts in the field. However, these AI bots can give you some really useful points to think over and use in your interview preparation.

Refresh Your Résumé

Chatbots can give you alternative ways of saying something.

When it comes to improving your résumé, we wouldn't suggest using AI to write the entire document—you're advertising yourself, not ChatGPT—but there are useful tweaks and improvements you can make using an AI bot. You could ask about which of your qualifications are most important to the role, for instance, and therefore should be displayed more prominently.

You can input text into an AI chatbot and ask for it to make the copy more engaging, more succinct, or more punchy, which might help you craft a better personal bio. Again, don't just cut and paste the results. The point is to give you an idea of some different words or phrases you could use.

When it comes to your cover letter, if one is needed, your helpful AI chatbot can lend a hand here as well. You can ask for ideas about what to include and how to say it, while also feeding the bot information about the sort of role you're applying for (which will tailor the results accordingly). If you end up with far too many words, you can ask the bot to trim out anything unimportant.

WIRED has teamed up with Jobbio to create WIRED Hired, a dedicated career marketplace for WIRED readers. Companies who want to advertise their jobs can visit WIRED Hired to post open roles, while anyone can search and apply for thousands of career opportunities. Jobbio is not involved with this story or any editorial content.

Google’s new image search feature helps show what’s AI-generated and what’s not

Google announced a Magic Editor Google Photos tool during I/O 2023 that will let you create fake images out of your photos with the help of generative AI. The feature goes beyond the AI capabilities already available in Google Photos, and I already explained why I dislike the idea of distorting reality like that. Thankfully, Google is also introducing features to help you spot AI-generated fake photos.

Below, I’ll show you how easy it is to do it. But also explain why it’s not enough, as Google Search might not be able to recognize fake AI photos automatically.

Here’s how Google opens the blog post announcing the new About this image feature intended to help identify AI-generated fake images:

Have you ever found yourself in this position? You see an image on a website, in your feed, or in a message from a friend — and you think, “this doesn’t feel quite right.” Is the image being shown in the right context? Has it been manipulated or faked? Where did it come from? When you’re trying to figure out if a piece of information or an image is reliable, having the full story is key.

Sixty-two percent of people believe they come across misinformation daily or weekly, according to a 2022 Poynter study.

The problem is that some people might use tools like Google’s new Magic Editor to do exactly that: Disseminate fake pics online for the purpose of duping others.

Google has yet to announce a tool that automatically detects generative AI photos. But the company said it will always mark its own generative AI photos so that users know the image was generated with Google tools.

Here’s what Google markups will look like:

Google also notes that “you can expect to see these from several publishers including Midjourney, Shutterstock, and others in the coming months.” But that’s not a guarantee that all services will mark generative AI images accordingly, or that creators will.

Thankfully, Google is taking steps to help you determine whether some of the images you find online are real or generative AI fakes. This feature will not work on all photos you find online. And it might not help you determine whether your friends share generative AI images in a group chat.

But the feature can work where it matters, spotting news stories meant to manipulate public opinion.

About this image will be available in the US in English first. It’ll provide the following important contextual information, according to Google:

Google uses the Moon landing example above to show how About this image works. The feature provides the context you need to realize the image is fake.

Here’s how to use About this image:

But, again, if an image is brand new and lacks any generative AI markings, the About this image feature will not be able to tell if it’s fake or real until it gets more information from other places.