Question: Is it better to use in house web developers and technical staff, or is your business better off paying a professional SEO company?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is big business these days. SEO is on the lips of every business owner wishing to succeed online, and promote a website or sell online. All too often business owners, marketing managers and executives seeking to gain an edge using SEO services become lost in the minefield of information and misinformation that exists for SEO services, and how to get the best from SEO. Firstly, it has been proven time and time again that SEO will give you an edge over your competition.
Knowing the important fact that a successful SEO campaign will deliver results, will drive traffic to your website, and will give you access to many more clients; you are faced with the next challenge: Whether to contract a specialist SEO company or use existing in house, try to do it yourself.
This blog explores the advantages and disadvantages of using in house staff to attempt an SEO solution, or using an SEO company.
Do it yourself SEO:
Advantages: Assuming you posses the relevant knowledge and skills and understanding of SEO, and how the major search engines work, you have complete control over all aspects of your SEO. You can change anything about your campaign instantly.
Disadvantages: SEO is a highly specialised task and attempting to do it takes much longer than using an SEO company. DIY SEO gives your competition the edge, especially if they have hired an SEO company. You may end up with more problems in the future by getting it wrong or by making mistakes, not to mention the time you will spend on SEO takes away time you could & should be spending on your business. In order to manage your SEO campaign, you will need to have an intimate knowledge of your website, the programming language it is coded in, HTML and any other technologies used.
You will need to purchase commercial tools to use, such as:
WordTracker – allows you to effectively research Keywords
WebPosition – WebPosition allows you to track your websites ranking in the search results for given keyword phrases
SEO Elite – allows you to track all links to your website.
Purchasing the software above will set you back approx. $1600 AUD, however you will also need to have a lot of spare time to get your knowledge up to scratch, and maintain it at a current level, attend SEO courses, listen to SEO podcasts and read as much SEO material as you possibly can.
A decent SEO course will set you back anywhere between $3000 – $6000 AUD, and the right number and type of SEO books will be another $1000 AUD. You can expect to part with no less than $4000 AUD plus the time you will need to actually read the information and understand it all. As an SEO company will take the time required to analyse results in the search engines it is important to not only learn the required knowledge to implement SEO but also give yourself the time to make ongoing adjustments.
Hiring An SEO Company
Advantages: You don’t have to use internal resources or alter the focus of your business. Hiring a professional search engine optimisation (SEO) Company means you have instant access to SEO experts with a wealth of knowledge and resources. The SEO company will be your best chance in working towards achieving your business objectives online, and succeeding online.
Disadvantages: Partnering with a professional SEO company will cost money. In most cases, it probably won be as much as it will cost you if you try to do it yourself, but it will cost you. You need to still allocate some time to your SEO partner, as they will want to get a good understanding of your business, your goals, and what you want to achieve online and why, this will help that SEO partner market your website correctly.
So, what should you do?
The bottom line is, a search engine optimisation (SEO) company will always be better than you or your internal resources at marketing your online presence. If you want true results, then stick to what you and your staff do best – running and growing your business – and find a good SEO company to handle your online marketing.
A quality online marketing campaign with SEO will pay for itself.