SEO marketing is something that can be very valuable to a company, but also very confusing. What often starts as a side project for an existing employee can quickly snowball into full-time work, something that can be impossible in the long run for many businesses that are short on hours and long on projects to begin with. As a top web development company, today we are going to tackle the question of, “Should I outsource my SEO marketing?” and provide our two cents.
The SEO Rabbit Hole
Search engine optimization is an interesting marketing concept in that once you dive into that hole it seems to keep growing deeper and deeper. What starts with some basic keyword usage on articles can quickly turn into hours upon hours of research into analytics, site navigation, setting up local search accounts, building links, creating relationships and more.
Generally speaking SEO is still a newer discipline and people who aren’t aware of everything that can be done don’t always understand the amount of work that can, and often needs to be done if you want to truly be effective. Basically it can be a little bit of work if you only want a little bit of a result; otherwise it can take up a lot of time, especially to those inexperienced in the field.
Should you Outsource?
If you aren’t sure what is best for your particular business, consider these factors:
- Manpower – Regardless of if you keep it in-house or outsource, someone will still be working on the SEO. For a company that outsources you will need a contact person for the firm or person doing the work and that person will need to provide direction, review work and ensure the project is going as expected which does take time. It might be a case of the person currently doing SEO on a limited basis doing this and still allocating some time in a supervisory role. Or, it could make more sense to simply make it an internal, full-time position.
- Budget – Hiring an expert at anything costs money. For SEO you will spend at least £700 per month for a reputable person or firm to handle your basic SEO needs. Costs can increase depending on how much time and energy you want them to spend. Again, is that money better spent on your own employee? You can find people willing to do the work for less, but the old axiom of “You get what you pay for,” often comes into play.
- Calendar – How urgent are your needs? Some SEO strategies work well with a slow build up, which can be a cheaper alternative, while others are more time intensive to start with which will cost more. Also if you are in a hurry then you need to devote more time and energy upfront without the benefit of taking the time to research agencies to use.
Can you Handle Success
Another consideration to the outsourcing conversation has to be handling success. This is something many people don’t consider properly but should. If you hire a firm and they put in time and energy that you haven’t had the chance to do, what happens when that campaign suddenly bears fruit?
A successful SEO campaign means more traffic and that traffic typically then results in conversions. Can you handle that increase in business? One pitfall of quick success is stress on your infrastructure to provide the same level of service to customers. Often when you keep your SEO marketing in-house it ends up growing at a similar rate as your business is, adding more leads in a rather steady pace you can handle. Outsourcing to a successful firm could spark traffic, leads and conversions that you want, but then leave you scrambling to handle that business.
The bottom line is that each business is different with diverse needs, structure and the like. Should I outsource my SEO marketing is a question you should ask in combination with questions about manpower, budget, your calendar and the affect of success, all of which should help you find your answer.
This article was originally published in 19 September 2016. It was most recently updated in November 28, 2022 by
