Would you trust someone with no previous experience to trade your stocks in the stock market? Probably not.
So why do you think that once you have a little bit of understanding of a marketing concept, that you will be able to do it effectively?
Like many things professionals do, the end result looks simple. Simple but not easy. What isn’t easy, nor seen are the years learning, mistakes made and skills honed to create the simple end result.
So as a business owner or division lead, or vice president, should you be working on your own SEO in-house or outsource it to professionals? If you need a primer on what SEO is and why it matters, we wrote a blog on how SEO can help your sales.
Here are the most significant reasons why a business should consider outsourcing SEO to professionals:
Better Use of Time
SEO is a constantly changing formula. What was popular with SEO tactics a couple of years ago are now obsolete due to changing algorithms and technology innovation. This ever-changing industry requires folks with a vast knowledge of all things SEO-related to be calling the shots. Taking the time to train and educate an employee to know the ins and outs of SEO is a poor use of time, especially when that employee could be doing other things to benefit your business.
Working with SEO professionals gives you quick access to an expert team who can help your business grow and move with the changing SEO standards. Since SEO practices are always evolving, your online content and keyword strategy needs to be reviewed, tracked and adjusted for performance. This is much easier done by someone who already has skills and knowledge in the field.
Outsourcing is Cost-Effective
Outsourcing is an upfront cost that pays for itself when the work is done correctly. Quality SEO work over time will help improve your online rankings and protect your website against de-indexation and other harmful search engine penalties that can harm your brand and impact your sales.
The return on investment that you get from investing in quality work pays for itself. Even if you already have a skilled team in your marketing department, it pays to outsource for key areas. Chances are, your marketing team has their hands full and would benefit from some outside help in this select area.
A Customer Perspective
While you are the expert in your own field, a third party is always helpful, another set of eyes. There may be times when you are blind to an opportunity or challenge because of how close you are to the business. For example, when asking a company for a list of keywords or terms they think customers will type into Google in order to find a product or service like theirs, most people will provide a list that looks something like this:
- “product name”
- a variation on “product name”
- best “product name”
- best “generic name”
The problem with this list is that it assumes your potential customer already knows about your product/company. What if they don’t know about you yet? What if they don’t know there is a product created to solve the problem they have? You’ve taken yourself out of the consideration pile just because of the keywords you’ve chosen.
In this case, we’d recommend listing the problems that your product solves, questions your salespeople hear as objections to your product, and scenarios where your product may be helpful. As you can see this is an entirely different perspective than those in the company so close to the product have.
Of course, it is not just what we think vs what our client thinks are good keywords, we both brainstorm then send the list to research so we can find actual search volumes. This means we find out what words or phrases people are actually using to search for products like yours.
When we get the research back, we reevaluate our keyword list, choose the ones that both make sense to what the company can offer AND have search volume, and we plan out the content calendar from there.
The is no value on being page 1 for a term no one is searching for.
An external perspective is able to provide fresh research and insights that you may have overlooked. With new research, SEO experts can determine the best keyword and SEO strategies to get your website ranking higher in search engines. This helps your company get found earlier during the buyer’s journey and get into your potential customer’s head for discovery and consideration. Which leads to a better chance for a sale.
Jen Kelly is a marketing consultant in Toronto running New Initiatives Marketing Inc. (NIM) serving clients in Canada and the USA. NIM is the team to call for marketing execution excellence. Contact us today for a no-obligation conversation about how SEO can bring in the sales for your company.
