Successfully navigating the complex and ever-changing landscape of search engine optimization can be tough for a small business owner who is already using up most of their bandwidth to run a business. 

Why not outsource to someone who specializes in SEO (search engine optimization) and has the expertise to deliver routine results and continuous quality traffic to your website at a low cost?

Do You Really Need SEO?

SEO is the practice of optimizing your online properties and content to rank high in search engine results for queries that are relevant for your business. Local SEO is a higher level of optimization that ensures people in your area know that you are close and available to supply the services and products they want right now. 

Do you have a business that serves one or several local areas? Then you’ll want to know these statistics:

• 72% of consumers who perform a local search visit a store within 5 miles of their current location. – Wordstream
• 86% of people look up the location of a business on Google Maps. – Go-Globe
• 78% of location-based mobile searches result in an offline purchase. – SearchEngineLand

Search engines and search engine users knowing exactly where you are located, being able to see customer reviews, and easily being able to find all the ways to get in touch with you is vital to beating out the competition in your area. 

Your run-of-the-mill website SEO won’t bring the impactful results of local search engine optimization. And local SEO is what you need to be found by new customers in your area. It is what connects your business with real-life customers in your community. 

The desired result of your investment in SEO is that everyone in your area sees your business at the top of page one of search engine results or map search results when they are looking right now to make a purchase of the type of services or products you provide.

Outsourcing Your SEO

Outsourcing your SEO simply means you are engaging a contractor or agency to manage your website’s on-page and off-page search engine optimization. SEO services could include activities such as the creation and execution of SEO strategies, Google My Business listing optimization, content marketing, link building, local SEO, and web design.

There are two ways you could take care of SEO in-house: Either hire an employee to do it, or you do it yourself. If hiring a full-time or part-time marketing whiz with SEO skills as an employee with benefits was in the budget, chances are you would have done that already. And if you have never sat down and figured out how much an hour of your time is worth, go do that and then come back agreeing that DIY SEO is equally, if not more, a waste of money.

If you’re thinking of hiring an SEO specialist for your business, take a look at the average salary, according to Indeed.com. You’ll need to be prepared to set aside $50k in salary each year and then add to that the taxes and benefits employees require. 

That means hiring an in-house SEO specialist would cost you well over $4,000 a month when you could retain the services of a full team of SEO strategists for a fraction of the cost (and never have to worry about sick days or Workers Comp). When you weigh the cost against the benefits, it’s an easy decision to make for your business. 

Retaining Outside SEO Help Actually Saves You Money

The same way a business would contract out maintenance of the landscaping or the janitorial services of their office, you can contract out the setup and continued maintenance of your businesses search engine optimization needs.