Should you outsource search engine optimization (SEO) to professionals or perform these tasks in-house? CyberAtlas reported that most firms elect to optimize in-house. This may not be your best option as many corporate Web sites are improperly optimized. An iProspect study found that 97 percent of Fortune 100 companies have chosen to use some sort of technology that makes it difficult for search engines to find their sites.
CyberAtlas found that most marketers spend less than 1 percent of their budget on SEO, even though optimization can increase site traffic 75 percent or more. There is perhaps a misconception that in-house SEO saves money.
Outsourcing Saves Time and Money
An expert technician will get you better rankings faster. SEO experts spend all day submitting and maintaining listings --the result is more page-one listings for your business.
Your staff will find SEO has a steep learning curve. Outsourcing allows better time utilization by letting you focus on your core business while your tech staff concentrates on site upgrades and design issues. Many webmasters don't have specialized SEO knowledge, and those that do can't find the time to constantly update their skills. Techniques change quickly, making instructional manuals obsolete before publication.
Outsourcing is cost-effective compared to in-house efforts because SEO firms have the advantage of economies of scale after initial investment in technology, time, knowledge, and methodology development. In-house investment by individual Web sites is not only substantial, it can lack cost maximization.
SEO firms offer a range of choices in services and pricing that result in the right strategy for your Web site, product, service and industry. At Web Ignite, we just introduced an exclusive online calculator for estimating campaign costs while talking to clients on the phone.
Selecting the Right Provider
Start by defining the services you need, then survey potential vendors about pricing, customer service, experience, contractual requirements and reporting.
SERVICES
Services fall into four areas: site analysis and optimization, manual submission process, offsite optimization, and monthly reporting.
1. Site Analysis and Optimization
Keyword/Category Research: Selection of strategic keywords is critical. Keyword phrases are developed by discussing terms to be used with the client (server log file or WebTrends analysis), then performing further research and analysis on keyword popularity (Wordtracker or WordSpot). Campaign cost depends on the number of terms used. Keyword reevaluation after the initial report should be included to refine keywords if necessary. For directory submissions, category research may be required to select the best category for your listing.
Page Optimization: HTML optimization for your home and subpages (title, description, meta-tags, alt tags, keyword density and location) and general site suggestions (navigation, subpage guidelines, site map, etc.).
Copywriting and Content Review: Copywriting and editing to seed your strategic keywords throughout well-written marketing copy, including a review of content quality and placement.
Directory Compliance Review: Directories like Yahoo!, LookSmart, and ODP have very specific guidelines for good placement. This process ensures site compliance and makes any necessary changes.Dynamic Site Review: Many robot search engines still can't crawl dynamic sites. This process optimizes the homepage by suggesting site modifications (creation of a few crawlable dynamic pages). It may require creation of additional content and custom subpage submissions for specific directories.
Framed Site Review: Subpages within framed sites are difficult for search engine spiders to index. Making them search-engine friendly requires site modifications to ensure subpage indexing and to ensure that the subpage listings will call up your framed site correctly.
2. Manual Submission Process
All sites under 100 pages should be submitted manually.
Major Search Engines and Open Directory Project: Start by working with ODP editors to acquire the best possible category listing as this directory provides search results for Netscape, AOL and numerous other important indexes. Should include submission and monitoring of your home and subpages.
Paid Directory Submissions: This is a critical element of any SEO campaign. Directory submissions require very special care once each year. Requires a decision on which pay-for-inclusion search portals are advantageous for your site, product and industry. Most businesses need Yahoo! Business Express and LookSmart Express Submit.
3. Offsite Optimization
Offsite development can improve your rankings substantially. This includes the creation of customized pages and link popularity activities.
Custom Keyword Optimized Pages: High rankings can be obtained by delivering unique Web pages customized for a particular search engine's algorithm. Requires creating, submitting, monitoring, reporting, researching, and resubmitting a keyword-phrase-optimized page for each keyword phrase to individual robot engines per their algorithm preference.
Improved Link Popularity: You need relevant content links to your site from popular, content-rich Web sites. This requires a site analysis to match your content with relevant content from complementary sites, relevant online publications, and topic-focused articles.
4. Monthly Reports
Positioning Reports: These reports provide positioning data showing where your homepage, subpages, and optimized keyword pages are located, listing the page number and location (number 1 through 50) of each keyword phrase query.
Log file Analysis: These reports are produced by evaluating your server logs to identify the results of your search engine optimization campaign. Statistics are useful for many purposes, including determining ROI with search engine marketing (SEM).
PRICING
Various businesses require a different mix of services; the number of key phrases will vary because some industries require more SEO resources than others. Get itemized pricing for all the above services in a proposal that distinguishes one-time versus monthly costs. Each recommended service should be described in a technical support document explaining the need for every item in your campaign. CUSTOMER SERVICE
SEM services are complex with many nuances. Access to qualified technicians through an account manager who understands every aspect of your campaign is highly desirable for resolving unexpected issues. Ask about support services and any extra costs.
- Can you describe the customer support services provided?
- How is support provided (by phone/email) and is there a limit (hours/number of emails)? What's included and what costs extra?
- Will I have one-to-one, direct contact with an SEO specialist?
Experience and reputation are key. The following questions can help determine the proficiency of the vendors you consider.
- How many years of SEM experience do you have?
- Do you specialize in SEM or do you also provide other marketing services?
- Do you specialize in SEM for any specific industries?
- What clients have you served and can we contact several of them?
- What kind of results have you achieved for past clients?
- How soon can we expect to see results?
You should learn whether or not a minimum contract is called for and any extra charges for consulting. Ask about guarantees, traffic hosting, and reporting.
- Do you have a minimum contract requirement?
- Do you charge extra for re-optimization?
- Do you guarantee positioning or traffic?
- Does optimization impact my existing site?
- Who owns the domains used and pages created to build traffic?
- What maintenance do you provide at what monthly cost?
- What reports do you provide, how often, and at what cost?
Examining answers to the above questions and comparing vendors can help you make the right decision. While guidebooks can help, don't rely solely on someone else's judgment in rating vendors for you. It's always best to decide for yourself based on your own investigation.
