SEO – Should You Outsource or Manage In House?

In a recent survey run by MarketingSherpa, the question was asked:

How does your organization manage and execute its SEO campaigns?

You may, or may not, be surprised by the statistic that 35% of marketers outsource their SEO / inbound marketing needs and campaigns to firms or specialized consultants. Is this the best idea for your company’s search needs?

Speaking from personal, first-hand experience, there are obvious benefits on both sides. I’ll give you some food for thought, and then let you decide.

Having overseen many in-house search engine marketing teams, the benefit is that they are part of the company and can assist in simple, day-to-day routines. But at what cost? With in-house, what you’re really doing is building an SEO agency internally. There are challenges in maintaining current standards and keeping abreast of the constant changes. In addition, assessing how many people to hire, at what skill level, and then dealing with turnover are real concerns. For a small company, it’s typical to have an SEO manager with 3 SEO strategists. The salary range for a team of four can get very costly. Factor in the ongoing concern of staying on top of the latest, newest rules and regulations and continual education required. All of these elements, along with performance and budget assessment, are critical to making the decision for an in-house team.

So why are 35% of companies outsourcing? These companies realize that outsourcing will get them the best SEO skills around. The top SEO marketers are usually working as consultants or for a top search or Revenue Marketing ™ agency already. The benefit of outsourcing means you are (or should be) getting the latest updates, the newest technologies, and tests that have been implemented around real life scenarios. Outsourcing means no worries about paying for benefits or training, or trying to figure how to keep employees busy after the first tasks are accomplished. Good SEO / Revenue Marketing agencies will constantly be looking for ways to improve user engagement and interaction to retain traffic and increase conversions.

So which option is right for you? Do you have clear insight into which marketing campaigns are converting into revenue? If not, then contact us to see how your current inbound SEO marketing strategy can be improved, and to find out what your competitors are up to.

via Business 2 Community http://www.business2community.com/seo/seo-outsource-manage-house-0600413?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=seo-outsource-manage-house