The steps and costs necessary to outsource SEO are different for each company. Although, if you’re looking to outsource your SEO strategy to a third party, there are some basic steps you can follow. These include:
- Set initial objectives for what you want to achieve from your campaign
- Look at the SEO providers that are available on the market and what services they offer (what tools they have to manage, track and maintain your SEO strategy)
- Communicate with your agency of choice (agree on goals and KPIs to measure performance)
- Monitor your campaign’s performance
1. Identify what marketing services you want to outsource
The first step toward outsourcing your SEO strategy is to identify what marketing services you want to outsource. Now’s the time to decide whether you want to outsource your overall SEO strategy or just certain segments of it.
As mentioned above, segments you could outsource include keyword and market research, content creation, link building, off-page SEO, on-page SEO, local SEO, international SEO and technical SEO.
2. Set your initial objectives
Once you know what services you want to outsource, it’s time to define your objectives for your campaign. As part of this, you’ll want to identify individual metrics and KPIs you want to increase, and how much you want to increase them.
Types of KPIs you could use to guide your objective include organic visibility, conversions, customer lifetime value, cost per acquisition, return on investment, user engagement, click-through rate, sessions, backlinks and keyword rankings.
3. Research SEO providers
Now that you have an idea of what services you need and your initial objectives, it’s time to start searching for third-party providers that offer the services you’re looking for.
At a minimum, you’ll want to look for freelancers and agencies who are certified under courses such as the Ahrefs Certification Course, Google SEO Fundamentals, HubSpot’s SEO Certification Course, Yoast’s All-Around SEO Training and LinkedIn’s SEO Foundations, which also have a proven record of helping other companies improve their ranking.
We recommend evaluating multiple providers and discussing your goals/expectations before deciding to make a purchase to find the right service for your needs.
4. Communicate with your agency or freelancer
After you’ve agreed to work with your chosen agency or freelancer, you’ll need to establish long-term communication over your SEO strategy. For example, set a monthly meeting to discuss progress on ongoing projects and campaigns, and to provide feedback on the results so far.
Ensuring regular communication between the in-house team and external service provider is critical for making sure that all individuals are in alignment over the campaign.
5. Monitor your campaign’s performance
Now that you have an established framework for communicating, you’ll want to track your campaign’s performance. You can do this by monitoring KPIs such as organic traffic, conversions, customer lifetime value, cost per acquisition, return on investment, number of backlinks and bounce rate.
Remember that it can take as much as six months before seeing improvements as a result of your strategy.
What’s the Cost of Outsourcing SEO?
The cost of outsourcing your SEO strategy will depend on the overall scope of work, the type of services you outsource and the third-party provider’s rate. Most freelancers and agencies will price SEO services in packages, although there are a range of other options from hourly rates to fixed fees, retainers and pay-for-performance arrangements.
While there’s no one-size-fits-all price tag for SEO services, according to a Backlinko survey of 1,200 business owners and decision makers, the average small business owner spends $500 per month on SEO, but small businesses can spend anywhere between $100 and $5,000 per month on SEO services.
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