There seems to be a trend sweeping SEO land at the moment with experts in the field firmly on one side of the fence or the other. The trend is outsourcing and in some cases, it can be frustrating and confusing, however, successful outsourcing can be a rewarding and worthwhile process.
 

The first issue when deciding whether to outsource your SEO is asking yourself what parts of the SEO process do you trust another company with. The majority of people just outsource their link building but there are companies that will do the whole lot for you. You need to choose which of the following aspects you want to outsource:
 

1. Competitive analysis – this is assessing your main competitors and deciding how to get in front of them (something which would suit outsourcing as long as they have the tools at their disposal to evaluate this)

2. Keyword research – making sure you are using the correct keywords and that when people search for those keywords they have a genuine prospect of seeing your site (e.g. who are you competing with and what resources you have is a question that you cannot answer with outsourcing)

3. Meta tag optimisation – this can be one of the easier factors for an outsourced team to work on with some direction

4. SEO copywriting - this can be problematic if there is a language barrier – so get your outsourcing company to show you examples of their work, get references (and check them) and maybe ask them to do a free trial for you

5. Link building and online PR - what you can outsource depends on what you can do yourself, your budget, the competitive gap you have to bridge and the SEO expertise of you and your team. So if you breakdown this topic, you can decide what you will and what you won’t outsource:

• Strategy - this is possible to outsource but may not work for companies at the cutting edge of SEO or in very competitive fields. Remember, these outsourcing companies work for large numbers of SEO firms worldwide, so if they are using methods that are proving successful for several clients it’s highly likely that they’ll share these methods with you to convince you to use them and to retain your business with sparkling SEO results. So outsourcing can be a good way to go if you want to tap into a network of knowledge and modern SEO techniques that you may not otherwise know.

• Article writing – this can be outsourced very successfully – but always proof read locally

• Press release writing - again, this can be outsourced very successfully, but always proof read locally

• Submission of articles and press releases - Yes, this is very easy to outsource effectively

• Directory submissions – Yes, this is easy to do. However, do consider whether it is worth the effort

• Contacting other websites with link requests – Lots of people do outsource this and I’m sure like me you get inundated with email requests daily. Personally, I think it’s tough to make this work and this is better done personally by someone in your business who has the authority to make things happen, strike mutually beneficial partnerships, provide incentives for people to link to you (this doesn’t have to be financial – it could be simply providing some really good relevant content for their audience) and so on. Also don’t always use email. Find these potential partners on Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter and so forth; target specific people who think might help your cause – think quality not quantity and form genuine relationships that are mutually beneficial

6. You can of course choose to outsource the whole SEO process – which is fine. But for heaven’s sake set some initial benchmarks covering rankings, site visits and conversions so that you have some methodology for ensuring the outsourcing provider or agency is delivering a return for you. Of course we’ve developed our SEO software tools to help you do this.

Now you don’t have to outsource them all, and as I’ve already mentioned, some of the SEO processes lend themselves to outsourcing better than others, but many companies can do all of the above whether they are based at home or abroad.

Before you choose what part of the SEO process you want to outsource and indeed, who you want to do it, let’s consider the pros and cons.

The Pros

• It saves you money – many companies (especially in the likes of India and the Philippines) will do your SEO for you for less than half of what it would cost your company to do it. Put simply, outsourcing can save you a lot of money
• It saves you time – with someone else doing all that complicated SEO stuff you can concentrate your efforts on other parts of your business
• You can benefit from someone else’s expertise – many people are great businessmen or women but haven’t got a clue about SEO which is why outsourcing can be a great way of utilising another person’s know-how. If they are sorting out your SEO, you can focus on what you do best (whatever that may be!)
• You can tap into talent all over the world – by outsourcing to another country you can plumb the depths of previously undiscovered talent abroad without breaking the bank, who knows you may even make some contacts in the process and enhance your profits even further!

The Cons

• Language barrier – if you are interested in outsourcing overseas this can be a problem. Foreign companies will save you money but their English may not be suited to SEO copywriting, article writing or keyword research. However, this can easily be tested by asking them for some samples.
• Accountability – by choosing another company to represent you, you are more open to bad experiences which can be out of your control. A lesser known company often can’t be held accountable for their mistakes like a respected large SEO firm would be. Again if you are working with a company based on the other side of the world the risk is even higher but as long as you do your research, you’ll be alright
• Time difference – again a problem which only arises when you choose to outsource your SEO to another country. Remember the time difference when trying to contact people abroad and don’t expect an instantaneous response (unless you have organised beforehand set working hours to suit both parties)
• Length of time communicating – you know your company best, but if you are outsourcing work expect to spend a lot of time trying to explain things to the people working on your SEO. They will need regular written briefings and an insight into your brand if it is to work.

So there you have it, a few issues to consider when choosing whether to outsource your SEO process or not. If you decide to do just that and are looking for the right company we can help you there too, as many of our customers outsource their SEO work to Indus Net Technologies; a large and well respected Indian based business with offices globally.

So if you are looking to outsource your SEO do give Indus Net Technologies a try. They provide all of the services I have spoken about to an extremely high standard, helping us to manage our SEO workload and keeping a smile on our faces here at Analytics SEO HQ!

Have you outsourced your SEO? Why not share your experiences here?

And, if you are interested in Indus Net’s services just get in contact with one of their team at the following numbers:

Office Phone Numbers:
Mobile & SMS: +91-98311-51614

India: +91-33-32902857/23576070
US and Canada: +1 (414) 455 1410
UK : +44 (020) 81444070

Fax : +1-760-284-6062 (USA)
Fax: +44-207-657-3078 (UK)

http://www.indusnet.co.uk/