When You Can’t do it All Yourself

Top six questions about outsourcing

Sometimes you don’t have the time or expertise to do it all yourself, especially when it comes to marketing and optimization. Here are the top questions about hiring out, and a few tips on making the process smoother.

1) Do you hire an SEO, or an SEM firm?

Actually, most good firms do both – the two are really intertwined and you should always be optimizing in tandem with marketing.

2) How big of a firm should you hire?

You should hire one that is big enough to give you all the resources you need, but small enough to give you all the attention you need. Pick one that guarantees quick response to your calls or emails when you have questions – a good way to test drive a firm is to send them an email and see what happens. Of course, some firms will court you assiduously to get you in as a client, then ignore you except for payday, so make your query not too obviously related to becoming a client. If they respond in a prompt helpful manner, you have found a good one.

3) How much should this cost you?

Of course, we have to trot out the ‘it depends’ line – but you can normally select which services you need the most, or work out a monthly fee. This enables you to keep in budget.

4) What should the campaign include?

‘It depends’ again – a full service campaign will combine content, linking, social networking and marketing strategies. You can decide where you want your focus and plan accordingly.

5) How soon should you see results?

‘It depends (see a pattern, here?) If you are an established, indexed site, improvement will show up in increased rankings, traffic and conversions. If you are a new site, the process will be slower, but even more dramatic.

6) Can you expect returns if you veto recommendations?

Maybe, maybe not. The biggest gripe you see on SEO firm’s private blogs and forums is that customers refuse to follow directions, then blame the firm they hired for not providing results. You are hiring them to help you – so take their help and you will be more likely to see lasting results.

SEO/SEM firms are like anything else – there are good ones and bad ones. You want a firm you can trust to look out for your best interests.