Should you outsource SEO?

We examined the different types of search marketing firms earlier this year in our whitepaper: “The Anatomy of Search Marketing Firms”. But should a business outsource search engine optimization (aka SEO) in the first place?

The answer depends on your business. In some cases, the smart decision for a business is to outsource SEO to a marketing services company. In other cases, it makes sense to bring it in-house which could mean hiring consultants, hiring full-time staff, or asking existing engineers, copy writers and marketers to incorporate SEO into their work. Every business is unique and determining the your business’ needs, objectives and resources is the first step to answering this question.

What follows is an outline of the questions every business should ask itself before bringing SEO in-house or shipping it off to an SEO firm.

How dependent upon SEO is your business? Is SEO a core part of your business plan? Or is it but one tactic to be balanced amongst many others? If SEO is core to your business, it may make sense to have specialists in-house. However, if your SEO needs outweigh your company’s current size and capabilities, you may want to bring in an agency or hire a specialist to help grow your own competencies.

Does the project require cross-functional, specialized skill sets? Does your business need skilled SEOs to developer and deliver strategies to existing teams of engineers, content editors and marketers to implement? Or does the project require resources for both strategy and implementation? Does your business require – and want to pay for – support at different levels of seniority (ie. Entry level + Supervisor + Executive levels)?

Does your business consider SEO an ongoing activity or a one-time project? Does your business need someone to train existing staff – engineers, marketers, etc. – or does it require a full-service staff. Can your business commit to open-ended tenure of a full-time employee? Or does it need to operate on a shorter-term basis? Can your business commit to a long-term contract with an agency?

What is the budget and what will it afford? How will the budget translate into work provided by a consultant, full-time and agency? If the budget is less than what a full-time employee costs, what could it afford in terms of consulting? How would an agency allocate that budget to work completed by subject matter experts vs. administration/supervision vs. overhead? Would those allocations be acceptable to you?

Who will manage the SEO resources? If an agency is hired, is there in-house staff available to manage, support and collaborate with the agency at all levels? If you hire in-house, who would manage the hires and is there an established career path for employees?

How will decisions about SEO be made? Does your business expect close collaboration with the SEOs in day to day decisions? Will your business require extensive research, analysis, recommendations and rationale in presentations prior to evaluate options prior to making decisions? Or do you want a hands-off approach?

There is not one answer to any of these questions. Every business is different. Evaluating these questions and determining how SEO will integrate into your business’ marketing practices and processes will help you determine whether to outsource, or bring SEO in-house – or some combination of the two.

Read more from Thrivepoint about Search Engine Optimization or contact us to discuss your business’ needs.

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