As more businesses are going online and many are entirely relying on their online sales after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, SEO is becoming a vital part of marketing strategy more than ever to survive and get ahead of the race.
You can do SEO yourself but it requires you to have expert knowledge as well as outside-in perspective to achieve greater results. On the other hand, when you outsource SEO, you will benefit from the ongoing SEO management and expertise of SEO pros. Besides, you will save money on hiring and on-boarding costs.
But so many SEO companies are there and most claim to offer cheap SEO packages or the best SEO services that leave businesses wondering which SEO company is right for them. Thus, to help you determine that, we have enlisted some questions here that you should find answers to.
1. How much will it cost to outsource SEO?
First, you should know how much it will cost to outsource SEO.
SEO does not come cheap when done correctly using the best practices and it needs you to show patience to produce better results. And the best SEO practices means using only white hat SEO techniques and no spammy tricks.
While businesses are expected to pay $3,000 per month for quality SEO services in some countries, businesses can also afford quality SEO services at affordable rates varying from $149 to $1299 (monthly) in countries where talents and resources are available at a lower cost. Take India for example.
2. How will SEO impact your marketing strategies?
SEO is a self-sufficient strategy; however, if you already use other means of marketing and advertising, it will complement and increase their effectiveness by multiple folds. In either case, SEO is going to benefit you. But to be well-informed, you should figure out how much of your business marketing and advertising rely on SEO and what stage your SEO program is currently at.
Based on whether it is your first time to implement SEO or you have already seen results and want to reap more benefits, choose a plan that caters to your advertising needs and fulfill your marketing goals. Discuss how your marketing strategy can improve, what types of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and initiatives are important to you, and how they will impact your SEO strategy as well as the marketing strategy.
3. What are your goals and requirements that SEO can help with?
To achieve successful SEO results, know your goals, and needs very well. You should have an idea about whether you need to outsource just one part of SEO or all of it. Consult with SEO experts to know whether your goals and needs can be translated into SEO results at all or you need something else. Discuss whether they are ready to undertake your special needs or will consider only a comprehensive SEO program that covers everything right from content creation and keyword research to on-page and technical SEO.
4. Will SEO-related initiatives align with your brand identity and goals?
When you are outsourcing SEO, you will be dealing with new people who don’t know your particular business and goals. However, dealing with an SEO company that has already worked with clients like you is a great way to ensure that they will easily understand what you do, what you want, and what types of goals and challenges your business will present to them.
Of course, this most likely means communicating through emails and conference calls so that they can understand your business properly and in-depth. As a business owner, you should be ready to share your brand guidelines, what your business is about, what your business goals are, how you think your business is different from your competitors, who your competitors are, what vision, mission, and values you have, and what your success metrics are especially when your business industry is a niche.
Asking questions like these will help you narrow down your options and find an SEO company that truly brings growth to your business through higher searchability and visibility of your business on different search engines, including Google and Bing and/or improve particular KPIs in case you have any specific goals.
