How should I outsource my small business SEO needs?
-
Fellow MOZers, I run a small ecommerce business called mrpearl11.com, and I need assistance in outsourcing my SEO.
A little about us:
We sell a variety of import merchandise, but specialize in closeouts (buying merchandise at very low prices) which can translate into some real exceptional value to our customers. The buying part of the business is strong, but our online presence is weak. We have a decent high-level understanding of SEO, but I do not have the in-house skill sets necessary to truly leverage the SEO tactics and strategies that I believe we need to integrate into our processes.
Thus we have a very weak SEO presence. Basically starting from scratch.
Right now, we are focusing on content. Item-level content. Subcategory and category level content. General website content (about us, contact us, the checkout process, etc...) with the goal to provide a great user experience. We believe we have the right prices on the right merchandise, and that if we can set a strong foundation of content so that the user experience is positive, our future marketing efforts will have a better ROI.
However, keyword analysis and targeting, data-mining, A/B testing, link acquisition, etc etc etc, really don't exist as a part of our processes on a professional level. I could try to train my in-house crew, but I think that from time a time and cost perspective, we'd be better served by outsourcing.
My question to the MOZ community is how should I address my small business SEO needs?
There are probably a lot of ways to go from here, but I want to start with a person or an agency, build a relationship, and move forward taking one step at a time. I don't want to jump into some kind of commitment where we're spending big bucks out of the gate, but on the other hand if we can build a track record of proven results that have a good ROI, I'm not afraid to scale up.
Please share your thoughts, and feel welcome to ask questions
Thanks!
Adam
-
Outsourcing your SEO for a small business isn't easy. It's difficult to find one consultant or company that has the skill set you're looking for with a small business budget.
However, there are services that can make some of the SEO tasks easier for you. I recommend outsourcing your business listings/citations to Whitespark.ca. You can easily get hundreds of links though this service, but make sure you're monitoring your link diversity.
On another note, I think you would benefit from a stronger value proposition. Check out what Peep has to say about value propositions.
-
Indeed; that's the nature of every client and agency relationship. Skills are as important as the chemistry. I spend many years on the agency side and had some bad clients - mostly because they weren't willing to do the things you outlined
Since you seem well versed, pay attention to the chemistry as well as the "content" of their skills/recommendations. That's going to give you the next most important thing: how are they to work with, do they gel with your/your team? Even with the right pedigree, if their workflow or approach doesn't match up to your environment, there's going to be issues. (No different than hiring an employee.)
-
Hi Andrea, thanks for taking the time to respond. I would generally agree with everything you've said. Fortunately, I do control our site (we're using the Magento CMS) and we're able to make modifications/adjustments as needed (albeit slowly), so from a technical side we can usually fix issues provided that we can correctly identify and prioritize them (though sometimes that's the challenge).
I think what I'm looking for is an individual who can work closely with our team, and myself personally, to provide both strategic and tactical SEO advice on an ongoing basis. Someone who can take the time to learn our brand and make intelligent suggestions from a position of knowledge.
Because like you pointed out, there are many different goals (traffic, conversions, etc...) and if you simply target just one of them you fail to take into account the big picture, which, in my opinion, is increasingly important from the standpoint of SEO and inbound marketing.
I think the challenge for a small business is to find the person who can be effective in this role, but at a cost that is bearable, or even favorable..
Adam
-
My answer, and I admit it's obvious, is to start carefully. Look at the project as a complete project and not parts. Meaning, before hiring or starting and focusing on content, look at the technical side, too. Updating content may not matter if there's technical barriers to your site being user friendly or search engine friendly. For example, I've increased rankings and traffic, but because of on-site issues that were out of my control (and ownership), conversions weren't increasing.
People will try to sell you one thing and it's not always the right answer - no different from any other business. While you may not have time to train your internal staff, having the high level insight you mentioned is critical so you can be a good client and be a wise client and having a handle on if something will work or not.
Define what you expect to see - higher conversions? Higher traffic? The ultimate goal is always sales, however how does this SEO help play into that - ranking improvements? Site UI changes? To say the goal is more revenue is like saying that the sky is blue; duh. You need to be able to map SEO back to something.
Mostly, watch out for people who just want to sell one solution or suggest buying links. SEO isn't just one thing and one thing isn't going to get you great and lasting SEO. And link buying is something that I rarely see as being a good investment. Good luck!
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What Keeps In-House SEOs Up @ Night
We are writing a research summary piece on in-house seo strategies. We're not trying to solve the worlds problems - we simply want to know what problems you face and how you try and solve them. We've broken our research into three key areas (training, value, and measurement). We would greatly appreciate your insights, thoughts, and recommendations. We will share our final paper (with sources) when completed. Here are the questions we're asking: How do you train and support your seo team? How do you show SEO value in the wake of Google algo changes including (keyword not provided)? How can SEO show value to other parts of the organization including market research, product managers, channel managers, etc? What should you be measuring and who should reports go to? James Loomstein Digital Space Consulting
Industry News | | Jloomstein0 -
SEO Service Needed
Any suggestion about hiring an SEO individual? Primary focus will be proper link/relationship building. What questions would you ask them? What is a fair compensation method? Can the compensation be based on results vs. effort? Thank you, Joe
Industry News | | csamsojo0 -
Best Places to Post SEO/Marketing Jobs?
I have several colleagues in the industry (and some fellow marketers) who have asked me where the best places are to look for and post SEO job opportunities. I personally like InBound.org and LinkedIn. Where do you recommend marketeers look for job opportunities? D
Industry News | | danatanseo1 -
How to Find A SEO Guru?
How to find a SEO Guru I am a looking for a SEO to take over our SEO needs for our website.I am not interested in learning SEO and would rather leave it to the pro's.We already have great traffic 800K+ monthly but we need to take it to the next level and beyond. I have searched through SEOMOZ and read articles everywhere and done all that, I think I am more confused now than when I started on how to find a great SEO. While their are plenty of great SEO guys out their a lot of them I don't feel comfortable putting our business in their hands.Their are some smaller SEO's and some shady SEO's that won't work for us.Then some just don't have the credentials or background for us to hand over our hard earned money and have the future of our businesses in their hands. We want someone who has worked on big projects and had great success and is a industry leader but is willing to work with me and be hands on just not send me reports and suggestions. I am Trying to find SEO guru who knows his stuff and knows it well.I know i will pay good money for this but would like to find some up and comers so I don't have to sell unborn children to afford their services. What would be a good way to a great seo maybe even a guru? Finding the right SEO has become a daunting task.
Industry News | | chrisyak0 -
How to handle spam SEO companies soliciting your clients?
My clients keep getting spam email or messages in the contact form, about how they could be ranking better, they're not hitting keywords they should be, etc. Typical scare tactics trying to solicit new clients. How do you deal with this?
Industry News | | CFSSEO0 -
SEO hosting (EU/Spanish IP's) any1?
Hello all, I'm currently trying to find a great hosting company which can offer a fast and stable service and more important, with the possibility of geolocalizing IP's of Europe and concretely for Spain. I've found Ixwebhosting but they only offer US Ip's, as their datacenters are there. I don't know if it's the same thing outside spain, but here the hosting companies only use to have a single "C-class" range so even buying them different IP's doesn't help that much, and it isn't cheap (2€/month/ip...). So if you know someone offering what I'm looking for (or really close to it) drop a line, I'll appreciate your help! 🙂
Industry News | | PabloGV0 -
Hire single SEO & SEM person or hire separate people?
I've been moved to a busines development part of the business but I'm still in charge of all of our SEO and SEM. I was only an advanced beginner to begin with but our needs have grown. I'm not sure whether to contract with one or two people. Can someone be extremely well versed in all things SEO and SEM or is it better to get two people on board that might serve as a better sounding board? While they certainly work together, both are a constant moving target and it requires us to stay on top of trends and white hat policies of all the major players. My worst nightmare is to get someone that tries to game the system and screws up our rankings long term.
Industry News | | thenorrisgroup0 -
What is the best SEO Seminar/Training option in the US?
I have 3 years of SEO experience and am an SEO Manager. I am well versed, though much room for growth and education. I want to find an SEO Seminar or training program that best suits my needs. It seems most are a one size fits all seminars. Any recommendations, thoughts or ideas?
Industry News | | dkamen0