GUIDE 2023

7 Best Sites to Hire Top SEO Consultants in 2023

Ever since I’ve been a content and growth marketer, I’ve understood how important good SEO is to online growth. To take advantage of this, I’ve always preferred to hire a freelance SEO consultant from an online job board or freelancer platform.

For me, hiring a freelance SEO consultant has proven more affordable and just as effective as having an in-house SEO expert for every campaign.

Sure, a full SEO/SEM agency might be a better solution for an extended content campaign. However, they’re just redundant when you need help with short-term SEO.

Now, you might think that a freelancer platform isn’t the right place to hire a high-level SEO consultant.

However, I’ve found that some of these portals actually have some experienced and highly-skilled SEO experts.

Additionally, they also give clients the chance to gauge the level of the SEO expertise they’ll bring on.

On the other hand, almost all of these sites and the SEO service providers on them all have some negative element to them that makes them less than 100% reliable.

In this article, I’ll be listing the top 7 sites to find and hire a top SEO consultant.

Let’s jump right in.

Why Should You Use The Product Company To Hire An SEO Consultant?

Developing and implementing an SEO strategy in 2023 requires a high-level understanding of what makes an SEO campaign successful.

It’s easier to find someone with that level of SEO knowledge on a platform with plenty of top SEO experts.

This is exactly what I wanted to develop when I founded The Product Company.

What makes The Product Company different from all the other freelancer platforms is the method we use to get you in touch with highly-skilled SEO consultants.

We don’t just put up a list of SEO profiles for you to choose from. Instead, we closely understand your campaign, figure out the nuances of implementing such a campaign, and then assign an SEO consultant who will be the best fit for that particular campaign.

No matter how detailed and extensive your SEO goals are, you can definitely find the right SEO consultant with The Product Company.

Top 7 Sites to Hire an SEO Consultant

If you’re looking for a top SEO consultant to assist you in your campaign, here are the top 7 sites where you can find one.

1.   The Product Company

The Product Company is a product and growth marketing firm that I founded to provide expert marketing solutions and resources.

Functioning as a marketing consultancy, The Product Company helps companies through modern white-hat SEO and effective marketing services.

The Product Company put you in touch with some of the top freelance SEO and marketing consultants in the business.

All the freelancers that The Product Company hosts are industry veterans with a lot of experience implementing SEO in major content marketing campaigns.

Our clients book a consultation session with one of our experts, who then proceeds to get all the relevant project details from you.

Once they have the needed data, they will figure out exactly what level of SEO consulting services your campaign needs, and connect you with an SEO company or consultant who has those skills.

As an experienced growth marketer, I ensure that every SEO consultant that The Product Company hosts has the capacity to generate campaign success and real results via effective growth marketing.

When you hire an internet marketing or SEO consultant through The Product Company, you get great returns on your ROI, as well as, actual marketing value.

Currently, The Product Company connects you with SEO professionals who provide a variety of services. These include local SEO implementation, web page optimization, search analysis via Google Analytics, organic search growth, and more.

All in all, if you’re looking for consultants who understand SEO requirements in 2023 and are carefully selected to be the perfect fit for your content marketing needs, The Product Company is your top choice.

2.   Upwork

Upwork is another massive platform with millions of professional profiles, like Freelancer.  

What sets Upwork apart is the detailed profiles and the profile score system (known as the Job Success Score). It provides you more data to help you decide whether a certain profile is ideal for your project or not.

The Upwork sorting algorithm gives you job-related filters that narrow down your selection to the exact professional capacity you need in a freelance consultant. Additionally, the job score gives you an idea of a freelancer’s ability to deliver according to your specs, and within the deadline.  

However, despite giving clients a lot of information to make a better decision, Upwork doesn’t actually interview the professionals on their platforms for you.

You’ll have to determine whether or not the profiles you shortlist are viable for your project.

All in all, Upwork is ideal for clients that want some transparency in the freelancer profiles they look through.

3.   Facebook Careers

Facebook Careers is a brand new online job board that’s gaining a lot of traction within the freelancer community.

The platform uses the Facebook infrastructure and serves as an alternative to LinkedIn. It already has thousands of profiles for all kinds of marketing and growth-related work areas, such as conversion copywriting and reputation management SEO.

Facebook Careers has a user-friendly interface that makes it very easy to browse through profiles. The profiles themselves are detailed and have all the relevant data needed to make a hiring decision.  

Because it’s a new platform, it still hosts mostly skilled professionals and hasn’t been overpopulated by fake profiles or mediocre service providers.

What’s great about Facebook Careers is that there are plenty of technical SEO consultants there, as well. It’s definitely one of the better online freelancer portals.

All in all, give Facebook Careers a try if you want to choose from some competent and detailed profiles on a somewhat familiar platform.

Honorable Mentions

4.   People Per Hour

People Per Hour is a similar platform to Fiverr, but with a focus on an hourly pay rate.

The platform is built on the freelancing concept of hourly payments.

Over the years, People Per Hour has grown to the point where it features many consultants or industry expert for any aspect of marketing.

The professionals on the platform function in a short-term professional capacity. They are better suited for tasks that require a day or two of work, at most. Hire an SEO consultant from there for any longer and you will accrue higher costs than what a fixed-pay consultant would cost you.

Regardless, if what you have in mind is a basic SEO task, such as on-site SEO (also known as on-page SEO) analysis for your website, People Per Hour is ideal.

Just one rule of thumb here – know how long an SEO task should take so that you avoid any frauds who drag the project on to accrue more hours.  

All in all, People Per Hour is for clients who need a consultant for brief SEO-related tasks.

5.   Fiverr

Fiverr is another big freelancer marketplace for all sorts of professional service providers.

It’s a very diverse platform with jobs in a huge variety of areas, from online marketing strategy and building backlinks to social media marketing, PPC, and on-page SEO. 

Fiverr is known for hosting very affordable service offerings, starting from $5. If you’re looking for an SEO consultant who can work within a set marketing budget, you’re in luck.

On the other hand, this affordability often comes with a lack of understanding of modern SEO standards and basic competencies. However, if the skill level you’ll find on the Fiverr platform is exactly what you’re looking for – you have a ton of profiles to choose from.

All in all, Fiverr is your ideal source for finding an SEO consultant on a budget.

6.   Freelancer

Freelancer is a giant marketplace for independent professionals, hosting over 25 million registered freelancers.

With Freelancer, you’re guaranteed to find a professional for just about any content/digital marketing and SEO application. However, with this kind of user volume and range of skills, finding the perfect consultant for your SEO needs is like discovering a tiny needle in a massive, professional haystack.

Furthermore, most of the SEOs on there have basic skills, with very few knowing the SEO best practices of today. Don’t expect to find an effective link-building expert there.

If you’re looking for an SEO veteran with up-to-date knowledge of optimization trends, you’re better off looking elsewhere. Having said that, if you require basic SEO, such as keyword research, then your chances of finding the right consultant are a little higher.

All in all, if you’re looking for very short-term SEO consultation for basic tasks, Freelancer can be a good place to sift through.

7.   Guru

Guru is an online job board that hosts both individual and agency profiles.

The website has tons of freelancers with varying degrees of SEO knowledge. Also, as mentioned, there are a lot of marketing and SEO agencies either creating marketing agency profiles or posing as individuals. Clients can get the job done either way, but the lack of transparency in some cases may be a problem.

Guru is a global job listings board, with freelancer profiles from across the world. The resulting competition brings the overall service costs down, so you can hire SEO consultants at affordable rates.

Additionally, there is a lot of service diversity in the SEO subcategory. Basically, if it exists in the SEO industry, you can find it on Guru.

Unfortunately, all vetting and interviewing will be the client’s responsibility.

All in all, you should check Guru out if you need SEO consultants with a diverse range of skills.

How to Hire An SEO Consultant In 2023

As someone who has been recruiting freelancers and agencies for quite a few years now, I can tell you how tough it is to find the perfect fit for the task at hand.

It gets even more difficult to find a freelancer for a content marketing aspect, such as search engine optimization since it’s a field that is constantly evolving.

Furthermore, with so many websites hosting so many online freelancers, it’s difficult to find an industry expert for an SEO consultation.

SEO, as a search marketing element, has recently grown very popular – Google algorithm updates changing search engine ranking metrics have a huge hand in this.

According to one survey, 61% of marketers say that improving their SEO tactics and growing their online presence organically is their current inbound marketing priority.

With SEO at the forefront of online marketing efforts in 2023, SEO consultants are growing in number, with even your local businesses investing time and careers into the optimization side on marketing.

However, not all SEO consultants are created equal. Some may not understand your website’s SEO requirements and/or your marketing goals enough to be the right fit.

Additionally, freelancer platforms themselves have some detractors that take away from a good hiring experience.

Ideally, you want a freelancer resource who will provide actual growth and product marketers who take the time to understand your marketing goals. Once that’s done, you’ll need them to select an SEO consultant you can build a long-term professional relationship with.

The Product Company has all of these qualities.

From the initial consultation to effective implementation, we know all the components of an impactful SEO strategy that deliver better search rankings – and more business as a result.

In conclusion, it’s important to understand, evaluate, and communicate your marketing objectives clearly. Once you know exactly what your website needs in terms of optimization, you’ll have a much more rewarding consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Where do I find a top SEO consultant for my project?

Other than The Product Company, you can find a top SEO consultant on the following sites:

  • Freelancer
  • Upwork
  • Fiverr
  • People Per Hour

Check out the post above for the full list of hiring sites.

How do I hire an SEO consultant in 2023?

Here’s a step-by-step guide to hiring SEO consultants in 2023:

  1. Know the complete details and requirements of the job, including the requisite skills, total job timeline, and potential for future developments.
  2. Look for core skills such as high-level knowledge of SEO, user intent, brand strategy, etc.
  3. Consult the experts over at The Product Company (or one of the other hiring sites) to hire high-level SEO professionals.
  4. Discuss the project details with the shortlisted candidate(s).

If the candidate shows a complete understanding of your long and short-term project goals, they’re ideal for the job.

How much would it cost to hire an SEO consultant?

On average, a search engine optimization consultant could charge anywhere from $80-150 or higher, per hour. However, the overall cost depends on factors such as the size, scope, and overall project timeline.

Rest assured though – hiring a member of the Product Company community is well worth the investment.

What skills should I look for in an SEO consultant before hiring?

Any SEO consultant you hire should have the following skills, at minimum:

  • Expertise in and experience with several core digital strategy competencies such as on-page & off-page SEO, keyword research, website analysis, and more.
  • Experience in UX-based optimization, keyword analysis, etc.
  • High-level awareness of new digital marketing industry trends and tools.

Additionally, the candidate should be willing to understand the project just as deeply as the client. This will help them create exactly what the client demands.

Where can I hire an SEO consultant in 2023?

You can hire the best SEO consultant for your projects at The Product Company or any of the other sites mentioned in the full list above.

Where do I find an SEO consultant if I live outside of the US?

The Product Company hosts expert SEO consultants and marketing experts from around the world as part of their remote professional community. Other than that, you can find remote international developers on sites such as Upwork and People Per Hour.

Josh Fechter
Josh Fechter is a business strategy consultant and founder. He's written several world-recognized books on software configuration, speaks Spanish, ballroom dances, and owns The Product Company and Squibler.