July 9, 2007

The Value of Using a SEO Consultant

I don’t know about you, but I have studied the most current SEO principles and practices quite extensively over the last many months and I still find it mind-boggling as to the evolving activities and analysis required to keeping our SEO efforts at an optimal level! I am a busy web entrepreneur with multiple things on the go, so it is virtually impossible for myself to continually implement new SEO initiatives.

As you also know, I am a HUGE proponent of outsourcing and the reality is even if I decided I wanted to try to hire an SEO guru in house, the likelihood of being able to find them and afford them for that matter would be rather challenging!

So, I firmly believe in having a team of consultants that tweak the various aspects of our SEO efforts as well as other areas. For example, I like to enlist a Website Analytics specialist, Affilate Marketing Consultant, Social Media Consultant and others that provide ongoing advice and strategies that help to leverage the potential of my web marketing efforts.

Lee Odden had a great post last  week on the Advantages of Ongoing SEO Consulting which I concur wholeheartedly - a good read!

The bottomline for me is that the the Internet Marketing Space is evolving at such a rapid pace that is easy to get lost in the shuffle and lose ground on your competitors. I believe Outsourcing is one of the remedies to keeping your Web marketing efforts as current and competitive as possible. This is one of the big reasons why we decided to create ESalesGuru.com, which is slated to go live this summer!

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January 5, 2007

Be in the “Know” when recruiting an SEO Company.

Well, I wanted to hold off on publishing today’s post until after the Canada/Russia World Junior Hockey Final, so I could say a BIG “YIPPEE” for Canada’s Gold Medal Win today! Great job guys - Way to make your country proud!

As you can probably tell, I am a bit of a hockey nut being a Canadian and all eh?:)

I digress….On to the topic of the day.  A couple weeks ago, you might remember a post I wrote titled, Red Flags To Watch For When Recruiting a Search Engine Marketing Specialist of Firm. Well, I came across a very informative ebook that certainly compliments my initial post… More

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December 15, 2006

The Practice of Out-tasking in your Search Engine Marketing Endeavors

Well, I have to say I am growing weary of shovelling snow here on the west coast of Canada! It is cutting into my early morning blogging time:)

In finishing out our “mini-series” on Outsourcing in the Search Marketing Realm, I would like to discuss the important practice of “Out-tasking” in your Search Marketing Endeavors. Now, quick definition: Out-tasking involves the outsourcing of certain tasks within a particular business process. So, Out-tasking your Search Marketing endeavors would involve contracting out certain elements of your Search Marketing Platform, while retaining core tasks in-house.

For those new to the “Outsourcing Game”, I actually highly recommend that you begin with Out-tasking a non-core task or two and closely evaluate the success before ramping up to a Full-Service Outsourcing program. This gradual process enables you to test out the potential of outsourcing without having to make many adjustments to your in-house roles and functions.

Now, Out-tasking is becoming a very common practice for many ebusinesses give the wide range of current SEO activities and development of niche firms that specialize in specific SEO functions. These emerging niche firms might concentrate on such tasks as:

  • One-way Link Building Partnerships
  • Website Page and Copy Optimization
  • Pay Per Click Management
  • Blog Content Writing and SEO Optimization (Credible Blogging and Pinging Strategies)
  • Keyword Rich Articles and Press Releases
  • RSS Feeds

Of course, there are also many reputable full service SEO firms that could provide one or all of these services as well. Personally, I believe that the practice of “Out-tasking” is a sensible way to keep your Search Marketing Platform fresh and competitive in a cost-effective fashion.

It is evident the SEO trends are moving at a meteoric pace and it is hard to keep up, so out-tasking certain functions to those experts “ahead of the innovation curve” might give your ebusiness an edge over some of your competitors. Out-tasking will also free up internal resources to invest more time on the core-competencies of your SEM platform (ie. PPC Management).

In my own experiences, I have enjoyed working with a small group of niche SEO specialists that I can continue to add certain tasks to the mix as my confidence grows in the outsourcing partnership. There is some wisdom in diversifying your SEO outsourcing endeavors to at least a couple different companies, so that you don’t hold all your SEO initiatives with one firm.  There might be some differences of opinion on that one, but that has been my experience!

Have a great weekend everyone!

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