Hiring professional SEO consultants
In efforts to increase sales and profitability, more and more companies are turning to online marketing initiatives – specifically, search engine optimization. Even a Graphic Design Birmingham company might do their designs with search engine optimization in mind. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art and science of the mixture of technical and marketing into a finely tuned website that is both search engine friendly, ranks well for certain keywords and phrases, and suits your audience.
According to a recent American study, only 20% of all businesses outsource search engine optimization to professional SEO Consultants. The remaining 80% believe they have all the resources and skills to do it in-house. Of this 80%, it is likely that 90% of these companies can not be found on the Web – they do not exist. In order to generate a significant amount of Web visibility, brand consultants recommend your website rank in the top-30 results.
So, the question boils down to what is in the best interests of the business?
Make your SEO program in-house or subcontract. To answer this question we will first focus on the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to implement and maintain a good program for search engine optimization.
SEO knowledge and skills
1) Basic understanding of how search engines and directories.
This may seem too obvious, but you would be surprised the number of people do not understand how they actually work. This knowledge is the basis of your SEO program.
2) Website design
Although SEO is not completely a technical marketing process, it requires a fair amount of technical knowledge of what constitutes search engine-friendly web design. Some elements of web design can help your search engine rankings or hurt them. Simply knowing what is what. Hiring a web design or creative design agency may help with this.
3) The experience
This is the most important and most difficult to obtain. If you have never implemented a programme of SEO, then you are in for a big surprise. Search engine optimization programs require a lot of research and are extremely tedious. More importantly, they need real SEO experience. That means knowing what strategies and tactics work and what does not.
In-house vs. out-sourced programmes SEO
If your company is considering conducting your search engine optimization in-house, here are some questions to consider.
• Who will be responsible for the analysis, design, implementation and measure the success of your SEO?
• Is this considered the role of your department, marketing or other service (s) in your company?
• Do they have the time, knowledge and resources to successfully implement and maintain your search engine optimization? And do they really care if it works or not?
IT Department
Typically your IT department handles multiple tasks, daily troubleshooting your company’s LAN or WAN to fixing the sales department laptop. What priority and focus do you think they will commit to your listing? And even if your IT department has some skills in web design or development, these skills represent only a small percentage of the knowledge required for successful search engine optimization.
Marketing Department
Typically, your marketing department juggles many marketing projects. From handling new campaigns for print collateral to preparing to launch new products or services, marketing personnel’s time is spread very thin. Do they have the time to become well-versed in the skills required? Do they have sufficient internal resources? Often, the answer to both questions is no, they do not.
Other individual (s) within your company
If the responsibility falls on someone outside or your marketing department. Who’s are they and why are they responsible for your SEO? To give interested parties a new “project of the month,” usually results in another tick off their monthly to-do list and frustration by senior management while their website is still not producing results.
Summary
From a business standpoint, it makes sense to try to mobilize domestic resources to maximize your company’s productivity and profitability – whenever possible. However, there must be a line drawn in the sand between what your organization’s capabilities are and what they are not.
As you can see, there is more to search engine optimization than meets the eye. In order to implement and maintain a SEO program, you must acquire the knowledge, skills and resources. This can be done by hiring professional SEO Consultants. Professional SEO Companys have devoted their resources and experience to support your company’s web marketing initiatives. Building on their experience and know-how, your company can quickly and more effectively implement their SEO.