What is the most effective way to work with an SEO contractor?

Question

Search Engine Optimization

Hello everyone, there is a site in a fairly competitive and semantically developed topic. Subdomains in 40 regions.
We tried different schemes of working with SEO agencies, but we just can’t choose an adequate one.
The task is trivial - increasing leads (calls, requests, orders with IM).
1. At the beginning we worked on a fixed basis - we pay a subscription, you are doing well, but the contractor was very relaxed
2. Then we worked on positions. But since we have a semantic core - it's 800-1000 queries in each region, one analytics of the dynamics of such an array took a lot of time. It was difficult to evaluate the work of the contractor because of the amount of information and it was not always clear whether we had advanced in bass and midrange because of their efforts, or we simply optimized the site (closed duplicates, etc.)
3. Now it works on traffic (positions are jumping very much now). But I see that although traffic is growing, the dynamics of targeted actions is not so rosy
4. We didn’t work on leads - we can’t find an agency that works for leads.
Advise on which scheme of work to choose?

Answer 1

I agree with Vladislav, the best option is to take a couple of people on your staff.
Of the remaining methods that have not been tested:
1) In cooperation with the agency, you hire a freelancer in parallel or another agency that monitors the quality of the work performed. It seems like a double spend, but some work much better when they know they are being checked
2) I personally have had cases where a customer offered a percentage of sales in exchange for services. The scheme is quite trustworthy and usually everyone tries with it. But how to track sales through a specific channel is a completely different story.

Answer 2

I, too, in your case for the people in the state. If you are so advanced in terms of SEO, then why do you need someone, hire a staff and set him the tasks of the goal you want. Because in your case, the amount of work is such that a remote freelancer should still receive a salary comparable to the regular one.
In terms of third-party consultations, Vladislav is also right. Here you have 1000 requests in the region, 40 regions, this is 40 thousand requests. And you say that analytics takes a lot of time. As a third-party specialist, I have technologies that allow you to check all your 40 thousand queries by region and issue position changes compared to either the previous check or some kind of control check. That's it, you have ready-made analytics, but, of course, it will not tell WHY the positions have changed and whether this is the result of the work of the SEO specialist.

Answer 3

I would suggest an iterative method.
0. If not - setting up analytics and collecting statistical data. (contractor)
1. Complex optimization works: plan and execution (You + contractor)
2. Payment (You pay the contractor for one-time analytics setup and for work on results analysis and optimization - one iteration)
3. Waiting (You, about 4 weeks )
4. Comparison with previous results (You, then the contractor)
5. Conclusions (You, then the contractor)
6. Goto 1