SEO Consultants

Bill Hartzer SEO Consultant

“If you build it, they will come.”

You have probably heard that quote, and it couldn’t be more appropriate to describe a web presence on the internet today. A website needs website promotion and search engine optimization, though, to drive traffic and sales from the search engines. It’s not enough to just build and launch a website. If you have the budget, or you want to get traffic to your website quickly, you can pay for traffic through PPC (Pay Per Click), or paid social media ads, such as Facebook ads. Those methods work, but only if you have the right content on your website, your website is optimized properly, and you have enough content. That’s where SEO (search engine optimization) comes into play.

You need website promotion and SEO consultant from Hartzer Consulting.

And you need a proven, experienced SEO consulting like Bill Hartzer of Hartzer Consulting.

Bill Hartzer SEO Consultant speaking at Namescon 2020

It is easy to get up your website up and running. But how many people will really come visit your website? You not only have to build a great website, in today’s internet world it is necessary to take advantage of the services of someone like Bill Hartzer and Hartzer Consulting, an SEO Consultant who has been providing SEO consulting for over 20 years. I also offer monthly SEO services, as well, and would be happy to talk to you about how my 20 years of SEO experience can help your business.

You need someone who will help you drive the right visitors to your website. Someone who has a lot of actual experience doing the work in a way that doesn’t violate search engine guidelines.

Someone like Bill Hartzer, SEO Consultant, and Hartzer Consulting.

SEO Expert Bill Hartzer
Bill Hartzer, of Hartzer Consulting SEO Consultants, speaking at the Pubcon Austin 2018 conference, in Austin, Texas.

Hartzer SEO Consulting Gets You ROI From Your Website


Once you build a great website, how do you achieve the maximum ROI (Return on Investment)? It’s all about how you market your business. You should combine the very best marketing strategies along with Search Engine Optimization strategies. That is where Hartzer Consulting can come into the equation. Bill Hartzer, CEO of Hartzer Consulting, has been practicing organic (natural) SEO, trying to get websites visibility, since 1996 and providing SEO consulting services.

Bill Hartzer Speaking in Texas

Website Promotion and SEO Consultants

  • As an SEO Consultant, Bill Hartzer’s SEO consulting efforts are as big as Texas! In fact, back in 2004, Mr. Hartzer was one of the original co-founders of the DFWSEM Association, the Dallas/Fort Worth Search Engine Marketing Association. He wrote an extensive Dallas SEO History, which is continuing to evolve as we write this. He’s been asked to serve at the Chair of the State of Search conference in 2019 and for 2020, one of the premier digital marketing conferences in the United States. State of Search is run by DFWSEM.
  • As a digital marketing and SEO consultant, Mr. Hartzer’s primary focus and expertise in his SEO consulting practice is providing highly technical SEO Audits and Link Audits of websites, as well as link cleaning services. With Google algorithm updates occurring on a regular basis, with its Core updates being rolled out several times a year, it is especially important to have a technical SEO audit and a link audit performed on your website.
  • Many of Google’s search engine algorithms process in “real time”, meaning that these algorithms aren’t rolled out manually on a certain date like they were 10 years ago. Now, if you have an issue with content on your website or links, then once you identify and fix the SEO issues on your website, it will only be a matter of time until your website recovers. And that can be in days or just a few weeks.
  • Even if you have not seen a traffic decrease in the past, you might see a large decrease in organic search traffic if your website is not compliant with Webmaster Guidelines and your link profile (the links from other websites to your website) is not cleaned up.
  • While Hartzer Consulting specializes in highly technical SEO audits of websites, we also provide ongoing monthly SEO Consulting services, on a retainer basis. We always prefer to begin all new projects with an SEO audit to find out the issues that need to be addressed. Then, we can continue to provide the actual work that’s recommended in the results of the audit. For example, every website isn’t perfect–we rarely, if ever, find a website that doesn’t have technical issues that need to be addressed. Those issues need to be addressed first, which is usually done in the first month or first few months of ongoing monthly SEO services. Then, we prefer to build on the positives and what is working for you and your website to bring more qualified visitors.

Qualified Visitors Mean More Sales and More ROI

Not only do you have to have a website that is functional for your website visitors, you need to use the latest SEO services to drive qualified visitors to your site. Qualified visitors are truly interested in what you sell and the services you provide, they will stay longer on your website, and even come back again and again. Using the proper organic/natural SEO techniques and the services of a qualified SEO Consultant will help drive those visitors to your website: those visitors who end up becoming your best customers.

checking search engine optimization results

How Can SEO Consultants Drive More Qualified Visitors for Less Money?

Whether your business needs more visitors and more sales overall, or whether you need a very specific part of website promotion and website marketing such as an SEO Audit, Link Building (link earning), and even Social Media Account Setup and Management, Hartzer Consulting can handle it for you.

Here are some of the website promotion services that we provide, as SEO Consultants providing SEO consulting:

If you are looking for more information about SEO and how it can help you expand your business online, and you already have a website, you may want to start reading Bill Hartzer’s SEO tips, which will help you understand some of the changes involved that may be needed on your website that makes it more search engine friendly.

seo consultant versus seo agency

Should You Hire an SEO Consultant or an SEO Agency?

SEO, Search Engine Optimization, isn’t dead. SEO, which is optimizing your website to search engines and general search, is still alive and well. However, it has become more difficult over the years. Perhaps that is why so many people claim that SEO has died. The technical SEO with all the changes, requirements and updates and issues such as mobile friendliness and responsive design, AMP and page load speed has made it a complicated web that is becoming more difficult to navigate. Do you need an SEO Agency or a SEO Consultant?

I have been practicing natural and organic SEO since mid-90s and have held various managerial-type positions in SEO over the years. After running an SEO agency for some time, I can tell that a technical SEO expert is essential to help you decide where to focus your efforts and which issues are most important to your business. You need to be aware of which issues are important and which can be ignored or postponed. This information can be gathered from an SEO Agency, or an SEO Consultant. You will ultimately have to make the decision:

To navigate these technical SEO waters, should I hire an SEO consultant or an SEO Agency?

Are you looking for a SEO consultant? Should you go with an SEO agency? Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Let me explain both the positives as well as the negatives, and why you may need to hire one or both.

SEO Consultants Versus SEO Agencies

What is the difference between an SEO agency and a SEO consultant? The difference between them is usually the number of people they work with. You know who you are dealing with when you hire an SEO consultant. They will be the ones who do the actual work and provide consulting. An SEO agency will typically have a sales representative, but they are not the ones doing the actual work.

SEO Consultant

This is the person who does the actual work for your account. First, you will deal with them in a sales-like manner. Then, you will talk to them directly on a regular basis about updates. Due to time constraints, SEO consultants tend to work with a smaller number of accounts. Although they may be more costly, they are worth it if you retain them to manage your account on a monthly schedule.

SEO Agency

The sales person you deal with is not the one who does the actual work for your account. Typically, you will be assigned an account manager (not necessarily the one doing the actual work). You will usually speak to this person on a weekly, or monthly basis. They’ll help you understand what’s happening with your account. Many agencies, both large and small, don’t talk to their actual employees. They are too busy optimizing many websites daily, working on multiple accounts. Although they might be more expensive in the long-term, SEO Agencies are likely to have many accounts.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of working with a SEO Consultant or working with an SEO Agency.

SEO Consultant Positives

An SEO consultant can be a positive hire. Here are some positives I can think of.

  • An SEO Consultant may be the best option for you if your business is small or has a very few pages. You know who to contact if you have any questions or want to make changes to your website.
  • SEO consultants rarely outsource work to other people.
  • An agency may not be able to diagnose more complicated issues, but you can hire them. The majority of SEO consultants have more knowledge and are often more skilled than other types, particularly technical SEOs. They are hands-on and can do the actual work, which allows them to have greater experience in diagnosing the true problems.
  • SEO Consultants are available to provide services for a nominal fee. An SEO Consultant is not necessary to be hired on an ongoing basis. Even if your SEO team is already in place, it’s possible to hire an SEO consultant to review your current SEO strategy, conduct a technical SEO audit, or assist with site redesign.
  • To review the work of your current SEO agency, you can hire a consultant. Are you satisfied with the results your current SEO agency provides? Are you achieving more sales and traffic? An expert can review your results and review the optimization efforts of your SEO agency, as well as their link strategy.
  • If SEO Consultants find a problem, they will tell you immediately. They’ll then give you the option to have the work completed immediately (as they will typically want to be paid for the work). The whole process will be much easier if you work with just one person.
  • SEO consultants won’t typically make you sign long-term contracts. An SEO agency will. The best consultants will be efficient, honest and do the job. It is in your best interest to ensure that you understand what you need to do before you hire them. They know that you will leave if they don’t deliver results and you go to another agency or consultant. There are no excuses. They did the work, or they didn’t.

SEO Consultant Negatives

There are some negatives to working directly with an SEO Consultant. You might also want to avoid hiring an SEO Consultant. These are the main negatives I can think of.

  • SEO consultants typically have a specific area of expertise in search engine marketing or website marketing. They may be able to specialize in SEO audits and Paid Search issues (with more expertise in paid search issues than web server or content issues). They may not be able to diagnose the problem if it is related to website marketing. They might be too eager to fix your problem and not have enough knowledge to refer you.
  • The cost of hiring a true SEO expert on a one-time basis can be more than the fees you would pay an agency.

SEO Agency Positives

An SEO Agency can be a good choice. Here are some positives I can think of.

  • An SEO agency that does ongoing monthly work is cheaper than hiring one. Spread the cost over several months, or for the entire term of an SEO contract.
  • SEO is not the only factor that can impact your website’s traffic or sales. To be successful, there are many moving parts. These include SEO, web design and paid search. You will need to have a team of people working together if you have a large website (over 50 pages), or are in a competitive field.
  • An SEO Agency can make it easier to manage a website that is larger or more frequently updated. A single agency can handle all aspects of content updates, social media updates and paid search management.
  • An agency can provide one point of contact. You can contact your account manager if there is a problem. You can call your account manager to report any issues.
  • An agency is a better option for maintaining your website and optimizing it for promotion. An agency can also handle larger projects such as a website migration to new CMS or an update to the site’s design. It is possible to hire an independent SEO consultant or have someone on staff who can manage the project.
  • An agency relationship can last a lifetime. Although some employees may leave, it is possible to find the right agency. Agencies often have long-term employees who will be responsible for your account. They are familiar with your requirements and know that they can help you grow your sales and traffic. Make sure they are aware of that.

SEO Agency Negatives

There are many negative aspects to working with an SEO Agency. Some people swear they will never use another SEO Agency again. These are the main negatives I can think of.

  • SEO Agencies often outsource work to other companies.
  • People who talk to you initially (such as salespeople) may not be the ones actually doing the work.
  • Sometimes it takes longer to achieve results. Most agencies only work a set number of hours per month. After they reach that limit, they put off the work for another month until they have more time. Let’s suppose that your site is losing visitors every day and there’s an issue. You’re losing sales. You need to fix or optimize a lot more pages on your website. This might require 10 hours of work. The agency will charge you for 10 hours per month. The agency employees will work the 10 hour work period at the beginning of each month. After that, they will put off the rest for a few weeks to make up the time until the next month. An agency can handle the optimization or fix if it takes more than 30 hours. This will take three months. This is standard operating procedure for agencies. Better agencies will identify the problem and give you an estimate of the time it will take. This will allow you to decide whether you want to have the work completed immediately or spread out over several months. However, this is not always the case.
  • SEO Agency employees, and agencies generally, don’t have any incentive to start work immediately. They can stretch the work out over months if they charge a monthly fee. But, you still get the same amount. Consultants are different.
  • Agents hire salespeople and account managers. Most account managers have only one to two years of industry experience, which is a plus in these times. A marketing degree is required to be hired as an account manager. They are not SEO experts. You can ask questions to another expert. There is a delay. This is the way agencies are set up, which is inefficient.
  • SEO is not the only factor that can impact your website’s traffic or sales. To be successful, there are many moving parts. These include SEO, web design and paid search. All of the moving parts in an agency need to know what’s happening with your account. You won’t get the best results if the agency doesn’t involve all the people involved in the meeting and discuss your needs.
  • People are hired by agencies right out of college. These are often hourly workers and their first job after college. Some do extremely well and move up quickly in the organization. After gaining experience, some will be offered higher salaries and will then leave the agency for $10,000 more per year. This is a common occurrence. I’m aware of many agencies with high turnover rates for account managers. They don’t have to turnover high, but it is not their fault.
  • Most agencies will require you to sign a contract for at most 6 months or one year. Why? They need to work for you for a few months. In the first month, the account manager will be getting to know you and the SEO experts from the agency will analyze the website and make recommendations to implement them. Next, you will be implementing those changes over the next few months. This process can take up to 4 months. It’s something I’ve witnessed, and I can confirm that it’s possible. I’ve also instructed my employees to do the same. We are only allowed to work on your account 10 hours per month due to the contract or the amount you pay the agency each month. For example, 20 hours per month. These hours are not enough to do the amount of work required. You can’t help but drag it out when working for an agency. Although we could alert you, client, I can assure you that you don’t want to hear that we require more work and that you have to pay us more. It’s not always been positive in the cases I have handled. Therefore, agencies will not tell you the client. It is a waste of time.

You can see that there are many reasons why an SEO consultant should be hired and also why an SEO agency should be hired. Both of these situations have been a part of my life, so I can understand the pros and cons. I have been an in-house, a manager, an expert in SEO and even a director of a digital marketing agency.

An SEO Consultant That Gets Results

But, frankly, it’s not about Bill Hartzer’s background in search engine optimization and internet marketing. It’s about getting results for your website–whether that means better search engine rankings, more traffic and sales, or more leads from your website. If you’re ready for actual measurable results from hiring an SEO Expert such as Bill Hartzer, feel free to get in touch.

Domain Name Consultants

Not only are we search engine optimization, digital marketing, and internet marketing consultants, we’re domain name consultants, also providing domain name broker services and domain name consulting services. A strong online strategy involves not just a website and a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, but it starts with a great domain name. We understand the importance of a great domain–they see it in the search engine result listing.

We’ve been buying and selling great domain names since the 1990s. And actually using them as a part of our online marketing strategy and the strategies we recommend for our clients. Combine a great domain name with SEO, and you have a winning combination that leads to a successful website.

Contact Us Today

We actually answer the phone. We’re not just a regular agency or consulting firm. We’re SEO and Domain Name Experts.

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