Outsourcing SEO: The smart thing to do

Outsourcing is never easy. Whether you are a small business or an established corporation, deciding on a partner you can trust and depend on is never easy. However, it is something most organizations do, in small and big ways. In the marketing and communication space itself, advertising agencies, press release agencies, freelance writers or designers, printers are all, technically, outsourcing partners. In many cases, we take it as the norm and don’t think twice about outsourcing, but when it comes to SEO and search engine marketing, it isn’t as yet, such a comfort zone.

Why is Outsourcing SEO an Issue?
Online marketing is relatively a young industry – SEO, even more so. With any new industry, the uncertainty is natural. It is such a rapidly changing space that things that are cutting-edge today can become obsolete tomorrow. In such a scenario, how do you know that the processes, techniques and methodologies followed by an agency or freelancer are dependable? Unfortunately, that is a judgment call you have to take. But sooner or later, you will have to outsource your SEO work.

Why is outsourcing SEO important?
Ever business starts small and then grows. With growth, comes the need to decide whether expansion is the way to go or a simple, small business operation is how you want your business to remain. If the goal is to grow, then getting right marketing expertise becomes important. Increasingly, the internet and search are becoming an integral part of decision making. Whether it is a consumer deciding on an impulse purchase or a potential business associate looking for a partner firm, you need to be visible when your target audience searches.

It becomes imperative then, to broaden your online presence. Just having a website is no longer enough. It needs to communicate and connect with the target audience, it needs to be visible in search results and it needs to draw your audience.

Your time and energy is better spent in the core business offering itself and so it makes sense to hire someone to do your online marketing. To do it right in-house would require a team of professionals with skill sets including writing, design, web development and SEO. More often than not, outsourcing is both the less expensive and the more sensible course to take, simply because you can leverage the expertise of an outsourced partner who has worked on a number of projects like yours. If you hire the right partner, the cost you incur will be lesser than hiring one full-time expert in-house! But you need to plan your outsourcing to get the most out of it.