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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