Evaluating SEO
Best SEO Marketers: What Actually Matters
Almost anyone can produce a deck, so the choice is a judgement about how someone thinks. Here is the framework I would use.
Written by Younus Fardeen, Marketing Manager at Masai School.
Last reviewed · 5 sources
What the job is now
SEO has split into technical architecture, which has barely changed, and the question of what a result page is for when answers sit above it. Most failures buy one and need the other.
- Crawlability, indexation and architecture set the ceiling
- Content that answers a real query
- Internal linking, the most underused lever
- Rankings and citations measured separately
- Conversion paths, since traffic that does not convert is vanity
7 criteria I would actually use
- 01
They ask about the business first
Opening with a site audit sells a deliverable. The useful first question is what you sell, to whom, and where the money stops.
- 02
They can read a log file
Or explain why they do not need to. Not understanding the question is the failure.
- 03
They separate rankings from clicks
Position one is no longer the top of the page in many result sets. Average position alone is a drifting proxy.
- 04
They know what to remove
Most sites need fewer pages, better linked. An all-additive plan means nobody looked closely.
- 05
They are honest about timelines
Meaningful movement takes months. Weeks usually means fixing something broken.
- 06
Their references survive questions
Ask what they argued against and whether they were right.
- 07
Tenure, where it applies
For manual actions, migrations and old link profiles, hire the fifteen years.
Questions to ask before hiring one
Tick them off as you ask. Copy the list into your brief.
0 of 5 done
0%
Claims to doubt
Claims I would be skeptical of.
Includes claims I could make myself. Flip a card for the reason.
Claim
Guaranteed first-page rankings
Claim
A proprietary algorithm or score
Claim
Number one SEO expert
Claim
Hundreds of five-star reviews
Claim
An E-E-A-T score
Claim
Fifteen years, therefore better
Worth evaluating alongside me
Long-tenured independent consultants
Right for recovery work, complex migrations and legacy link profiles.
Specialist technical SEO firms
Worth it for large or unusual stacks where rendering and indexation are the constraint.
An in-house hire
If SEO is a permanent channel, an employee compounds in a way a retainer does not.
Content-led teams
When the site is sound and nothing worth ranking has been published.
Where I fit
The part where I make a caseFour years, said plainly. On classical technical SEO for a large legacy site, the consultants with thirteen to fifteen years are the better hire.
I am useful where search and AI answers overlap: pages built to rank and be quoted, entity clarity, and measurement that separates the two.
My reasoning is published on the blog with sources, so you can judge it before a call.
Questions
Asked most.
Is SEO still worth investing in?
Yes. Google says its AI features run on Search systems. A programme judged only on sessions can look like it is failing while it works.
Agency, freelancer or in-house?
Agency for capacity, consultant for judgement, in-house for a permanent channel. Most teams buy capacity when they needed judgement.
How much should I pay?
Enough that the person can say no to you. The cheapest deals are volume deals where nobody argues with the brief.
What is the first thing to fix?
Usually indexation and internal linking. Almost never a new blog.
Evidence, labelled
What is confirmed, what is reported, what is a hunch.
Each claim is labelled and sourced. Google rows speak only for Google.
Last reviewed · 5 sources
- Confirmed
- Stated in the platform's own documentation or measured in published data.
- Not required
- The platform says you do not need it. It may still be harmless.
A page must be indexed and snippet-eligible to be a supporting link.
Confirmed
Google says so for AI Overviews and AI Mode. Classical SEO is the entry test.
E-E-A-T is not itself a ranking factor.
Confirmed
Google says trust is the most important aspect, with more weight on health, finance and safety topics.
One page per query variation scales rankings.
Not required
Google warns it may breach the scaled content abuse policy.
Google, AI optimization guide (opens in a new tab) source 1Google, spam policies (opens in a new tab) source 2
A citation count is a ranking.
Confirmed
Bing says counts reflect how often pages are cited, not importance, ranking or placement.
Sources, fetched 19 October 2026
- 01AI features and your website (opens in a new tab)Google Search Central · Updated 10 Dec 2025
- 02Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (opens in a new tab)Google Search Central · Updated 5 Oct 2026
- 03Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search (opens in a new tab)Google Search Central · Updated 10 Jul 2026
- 04Spam policies for Google web search (opens in a new tab)Google Search Central · Updated 28 Aug 2026
- 05Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools (public preview) (opens in a new tab)Bing Webmaster Blog · 10 Feb 2026
By market
- BangaloreSEO and AEO for startups and engineering-led companies.Learn more
- IndiaVernacular and Hinglish retrieval, DPDP, and a market where agencies sell the category.Learn more
- UAEBilingual structure, GCC regulation and a live page-one hospitality build.Learn more
Worked with
- Masai School
- Sparkling Sandset
- Under 25
- Snapchat India
Next step
Put these questions to me.
Use the questions above on me too. Send any in writing and I will answer plainly, including where someone else is the better hire for "best SEO marketer".