<h3>5. Audit Their Toolset</h3>
<p>Ask about their toolset. They should use all the basics. There are tons of SEO tools. Ahrefs, and Semrush are the most common keyword research and ranking tools. <a href="{entry:12344@1:url||https://www.geniusesforhire.com/blog/seo-based-scalenut-review}">Scalenut</a>, <a href="{entry:11709@1:url||https://www.geniusesforhire.com/blog/surfer-seo-overview}">Surfer SEO</a>, Frase, and Page Optimizer Pro are the most common content evaluation tools. The tools they use are less important than that they use them and know how to use them. No SEO tool is perfect. Experienced SEOs can describe, in depth, the strengths and flaws of every tool they use. If they only use free tools, then run because that means they aren't doing the work.<br /></p>
<h3>6. Check Their Sources</h3>
<p>Ask about their sources for backlinks, content, and other SEO deliverables. If they can't share them, then run. If they say it is all in-house, then they should have the portfolio to represent a company with lots of employees. You don't need specific people - but you do need generalized answers - we like these sellers on legiit, or we get press releases from x or citations from y. Every good SEO company outsources something. There are many SEO agencies and freelancers that have focused on creating a process for one particular thing. This makes them both very good and affordable at that task, and good SEO agencies take advantage of this instead of charging you extra for no reason.</p>