Using a SEO company + doing in house SEO?

[cappuccino89]

This post is deleted!

[RyanKent]

We recently took on an established Australian SEO company with a top 5 ranking on topseos.com.au...

I am afraid to share that topseos.com is not a credible place to go for a reference related to SEO. In short, any SEO can pay money, jump through a few hoops and buy a top ranking there. Here is a link to one of many articles which discuss the problem: http://searchmarketingwisdom.com/2010/06/topseos-continues-deceptive-practices/

My first question is what do you think about using these SEO contractors as our in house SEO team.

I have mixed feedback to share. I have used oDesk in the past. The only task I consider using it for in the future is content creation. Writing an article has a very clear beginning and end. The process can be monitored closely. In most cases, the worst that can happen is a bad article. That is not the case with most other SEO tasks.

If you received a referral from someone you trust, that is outstanding. To me, nothing beats a trusted referral. If you have a solid understanding of the parameters surrounding the referral, I would take it for sure.

My second question is whether its a good idea to use a SEO company and in house SEO team together?

An excellent solution. I have provided SEO services using this approach on numerous occasions. Often the company has resources which can perform various tasks under guidance. It is important to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the SEO. Do you expect them to train your employees? If so, be sure the SEO is aware of this expectation. The level of effort to train others is significantly higher then simply performing the work.

A few closing thoughts:

• Hiring an SEO is like hiring any other professional. Would you simply open the phone book to look for a doctor or car mechanic? Referrals are ideal. When you cannot find a referral from someone you trust, the next best practice is research. In your case, you have a good amount of industry knowledge and it sounds like you can separate an authentic SEO vs one of lesser quality.

Be sure to ask who exactly will be performing the work. Many companies "sell" SEO services but then outsource the work, often to individuals that you would not hire first hand.

• Be clear on your goals. As a business owner I had one clear goal: profit. All the rest of the terms you will hear: ranking, traffic, PR, DA, conversion rates, etc. are all a means to an end. That end is profit. The goal is to grow your site in a profitable manner.

• Have reasonable expectations. When I begin working with a new client, it generally takes a minimum of 90 days before results can be seen. Many companies will share it takes 6 - 12 months. Either way, white hat SEO takes time, but it is built to last.

• You specifically mentioned "off-site optimisation" which I presume you mean mostly link building. You need to be exceptionally cautious in this area. In my experience most links built are either low quality or black hat. Free directories, blog commenting, etc. rarely offer any value and often are deemed by Google as "inorganic". A penalty for "inorganic" links is the most severe penalty a site can earn. Google has a clear expectation the bad links are to be removed which is very hard, very time consuming and often impossible. It is the most expensive penalty a site can receive. It is my strongest recommendation be sure you only build authentic links.

Good Luck.

[cappuccino89]

I am using quantumlinx.com.au --- Interesting info about topseos.com, I did take it with a grain of salt, didn't think it would be that much salt. None the less, I did check out the company based on existing clients, and creditable sources such as business magazines and first hand accounts from clients. they seemed fine. --- though, i found it annoying that quantumlinx.com.au is not disclosing the links created: http://www.seomoz.org/q/what-are-typical-backlink-disclosure-policies-for-seo-companies --- they have been working on our account for a month, and i understand it takes at least 90days if not 6 - 12 months to get first page ranking. Sudden ranking increase flag something dodgy happening, so far our rankings are improving, but bit by bit, so i dont think i need to be concerned. your opinions? --- no one can understand your business like yourself, thankfully, i know what keywords convert best and gave our seo company the ones to work on. --- i am very cautious about offsite optimisation, which is why i always asked our shortlist of seo companies their link building policies, that blackhat techiques was not to be used, and checked if the company has been reported as using blackhat tehciques via google, forums, and client accounts. though the fact they are not disclosing links, has me concerned. --- because of this, what do you think about odesk contractors via a referral doing offsite work? i feel its more risky than a seo company as if a seo company was busted doing it, the company would not be operating for long. where as contractors are harder to vet. interesting you mentioned your expreience with this, could you expand on what went wrong?

[theLotter]

I am work as an in-house SEO person, and we use as external SEO consulting company to help with more complicated and technical issues.

It seems to work well, and helps with the lack of team/collaboration which can be a problem for people working in-house.

[RyanKent]

I noticed your other thread and responded to it.

Regarding SEO companies to work with, there are two companies I could recommend speaking with:

Dejan SEO 

That's IT - Alan Mosley

Both companies are in Australia and have a strong presence here on SEOmoz which is a solid white hat community.

I have not nor would I ever use oDesk for link building nor most SEO work. With that said, you are hiring individuals and the quality of any one individual can always be impressive or disappointing. I have worked with clients who attempted to outsource work via oDesk to save money and the end result was always terminating the use of the oDesk employees.

If you wish to save money, I would recommend what I refer to as the "Intelligent Life Form" approach. Find college students or recent college graduates who are looking to get started in SEO, then hire them directly. Ask your SEO company to offer training and guidelines so they can perform various tasks. This approach requires a lot of care. Be sure you understand the skills desirable for performing these tasks prior to offering a position to someone.

You seem focused on link building. I view SEO as three major areas: website architecture, content, and site promotion (link building + social). Prior to doing any link building I strongly recommend going through your existing web platform thoroughly and ensuring the site is solid. Building links with gaps in your website architecture is like going fishing with a net that has holes in it. You will have to work harder and achieve lower results.

Next, it's all about content. You have likely heard "content is king". There is a lot of truth to that statement. The recent Google updates of Panda and Penguin are helping enforce that idea. You want to create FANTASTIC content which is engaging. That is the best way to EARN links.

Finally we come down to link building. First let's talk about what link building is not. It is not paying for links, begging for links nor hiring oDesk workers to locate blogs and forums which do not add the "nofollow" tag to their sites.

A proper link building strategy involves embedding yourself as a respected member within the community of your niche. It is about establishing relationships with "influencers" who can drive traffic in your direction. It is about closely monitoring your industry's keywords for any bursts in activity. You should monitor your competitor's sites as well. You should look at the majority of links to your site and know they offer real value even if Google did not exist because they may drive direct traffic.

[cappuccino89]

This post is deleted!

[RyanKent]

Their website states they are the biggest in Australia. Other then that, I can't tell too much. If I were in your situation, the question I would ask is who can meet my needs on price and quality, without a commitment (i.e. contract).

There is not any reasonable means to tell solely by their website if they will offer you quality service at a fair price.

Best Regards.

[cappuccino89]

Thanks for the good points, we are going to trial out building our own in-house SEO team with local staff + outsource staff, but under careful management, I will implement a strong approval, auditing and monitoring process. I think the problems arise when you just let people go free and do anything, by setting them what task to be performed in details, what to do and what not to do with local or outsource staff who are referred, I think that would remove most of the risk of blackhat SEO occurring. - At the same time, I am going to dump our SEO company for someone who is transparent with their work without a commitment. I think your right about contracts, whatever these guys say, you wont know if they are good at their work until you get started. And you need that option to drop (like I am about to with our current SEO). I will check out the companies featured on SEOmoz community and your recommendations, I think a SEO community referral is much more objective than the crap out their on topseos.com and the web in general. If you have anymore recommendations for SEO companies, I would love it.