There are a number of influencing factors to consider when deciding whether to outsource or assign in-house expertise to a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) campaign.

Firstly, it is important to understand that Search Engine Optimisation is a task requiring a unique mix of expertise in general marketing, web marketing specifics and technology.

It’s not a ‘bits and bytes’ problem that you can solve with some magical code. It’s not a traditional marketing activity that can be left to your marketing people either (although their contribution in areas like buyer behaviour analysis will be important).

Company size and available budget are often key factors in deciding whether to carry out SEO campaigns in-house or out-sourced.

Micro businesses

Unless you have a niche and primarily online business, the cost of an SEO project will probably be a primary factor in the decision making process.

For small businesses, return on investment (ROI) maybe difficult to achieve from an SEO project. The costs of carrying out an SEO campaign can be prohibitive. If you choose to outsource, the fees can be high. If you do it in-house the time cost, and the effort involved to successfully carry out an SEO should not be underestimated.

Regardless of which option you choose, the SEO team needs to be up to the job. And it is important to remember that online you are still up against with your real world competitors: many have considerable budgets for such activities.

Use this website as an educational resource for exploring the benefits and potential of SEO and for helping you make an informed decision. It will also save you from making some common errors if you decide to experiment with SEO. Before you trial SEO, you may wish to call in an expert for a Q&A session. Many companies including LCubed offer this type of service.

Small-Medium businesses

SMEs are likely to be in the ideal position to benefit from outsourcing SEO. Most medium sized businesses understand the benefits of undertaking an SEO project. However, many lack internal staff with the relevant skill sets and do not have the budget to employ full time expertise. Traditional marketing and advertising agencies often also struggle to provide the specialist expertise required. Therefore, consider the following benefits of outsourcing:

• An expert web marketeer understands that effective SEO needs to focus on audience analysis and buyer behaviour (refer to ‘Getting Started with Search Engine Optimisation’) to select key target groups and keywords.
• SEO is a fast-moving field and experts stay up-to-date this (to deliver consistent results, they have to!)
• You can save money by accessing a specialist’s experience with the entire web arena in Australia. You will save time that would have otherwise been spent on costly trial and error, trying to answer questions such as:
  • Should you use Google, Yahoo or MSN?
  • What keywords should you target (and which ones should you not try)?
  • How to analyse competition.
• You can save considerable amounts of money and staff training time that would otherwise be needed to purchase, install and use the relevant reporting software. Experts utilise their own software to provide you with reports containing vital information on SEO activity and the benefits you are receiving.
• An expert’s ‘fresh eyes’ can provide valuable insight and direction to your marketing activities.

Larger Businesses

Well established corporations often have the resources to acquire effective in-house expertise, although they may not yet have a dedicated resource. The complexity of large business IT systems, corporate procedures, and constant changing requirements may demand the full-time attention of specialist staff. The complexity of large businesses can make the job of an external consultant more difficult. But larger businesses can benefit from the objective outside assistance, especially when initiating SEO activities.

Before you get started

Finally, whether you choose in-house expertise or outsourced specialists, before you put in place SEO strategies, it is crucial to ensure that your website is upgraded to capture and benefit from the additional visitors. Be sure to have in place clear targets and conversion strategies. Your website needs to have clear calls to action in place, and offer the increased interactivity and functionality needed to convert sales. (Please refer to the Website Conversion article).