On any given day, there are now nearly 5.5 billion searches conducted on Google. Now, you're hoping some of them will land on your company's website. Which means they will potentially buy your products or services. This shows you just how important search engine optimization is. Businesses must maintain their relevance in such a highly competitive environment or get left behind. That means SEO is something that can't be avoided for any company that wants to grow. The only question is whether or not to handle SEO in-house or outsource the job, bringing in assistance from an expert SEO consultant. Here are the pros and cons of outsourcing SEO that you need to consider.
If you're a small business owner, one of your main priorities is probably to grow your organization. You also likely handle multiple other tasks too. Does it really make sense for you to optimize your own website, or could your time be better spent generating sales? Even if you do have the time to handle SEO, do you have the training and expertise to create compelling content? Additionally, building links, and everything else that goes into it takes even more time. Therefore you're not likely to see much of a return on investment (ROI) doing it yourself.
There's a lot more to SEO than what you probably realize. Seasoned professionals will know how to execute in a way that will be profitable. It's their full-time job which means they've been in the trenches. They'll also be aware of algorithm updates as they're constantly evolving, requiring an adjustment in strategies and processes. If you did SEO in-house, it would be difficult to get this type of expertise.
It's much less expensive to outsource SEO than to hire your own team or even an individual employee specializing in search engine optimization. Usually, one person isn't enough - it takes at least three. This means paying over $70,000 a year times three, plus benefits and taxes. With outsourcing, you'll have a much greater opportunity for a good ROI too.
When you outsource, you contract with an SEO firm. This means you'll get an entire team of professionals working on your content. You'll have experts in many different SEO fields working on your website. This can include code specialists, graphic designers, website designers, content writers, social media specialists, and more. And, it's all for much less than what you'd pay to fill all those roles. You’ll have an expert in each area handling the tasks. Whereas doing it in-house typically means having just one general specialist who does every job but might not excel at each one.
Outsourcing to an SEO firm takes time and effort, with so many different agencies to choose from. You want to make sure you choose the right one. Focus on one with a strong track record and an impeccable reputation. You don't want anyone who is going to try and take shortcuts to "game" the system. Some may work in the short term, but as soon as Google and the other search engines catch on, and they will, it will hurt your SEO ranking in the long run. These are often referred to as "black hat" tactics. Often they are offered by some shady firms that offer low pricing but little or nothing when it comes to results.
Of course, many people like to be able to oversee what work is being done and have immediate access to those doing the work. If you like to have your hands in everything, it's important to understand you'll be relinquishing some control. When it comes to process and execution, the SEO firm you hire will handle all that. This means you're giving them the leeway to process and execute marketing campaigns.
Of course, outsourcing SEO to an outstanding firm isn't going to be cheap. You're likely to have to pay a premium for quality work, but you'll get what you paid for. This gives the best odds for a high ROI. While hiring an SEO firm that provides positive results can be expensive, you should eventually start bringing in more business that justifies the cost.
