#1 Return on Investment
High keyword ranking is most likely the number one thing a business can do to increase opportunities for direct sales. At the same time high rankings are the best way to gain credibility and brand awareness among industry insiders and industry consumers. High SERP rankings automatically represent authority in a subject. This can lead to a snowball effect of new referrals from the new traffic. The traffic on the first page of Google search results recieve 90% more traffic than the results on page 2. Top rankings come with a myriad of lucrative benefits which almost always exceed even extravagant expenses.
In-House costs can include not only the workers time spent on the computer, but the opportunity cost of the worker, the cost of payroll and taxes, the lunches, brainstorming sessions and reporting.
Usually SEO outsourcing is the quicker method of achieving good returns because the seo reseller will have a process in place to quickly do all the keyword research, competitive research, long tail analysis and reporting (even white label SEO reporting which can create reports with customized logo and branding).
#2 Return on Time
Staying on top of Google rankings is not a onetime thing. Google is constantly updating it’s algorithms and shuffling results. Panda, hummingbird, Phantom, Pigeon, Pirate, these are all recent upgrades which had drastic effects on some businesses. Recently Hubpages (formerly Squiddo), a network of “cheaper” style blogs built on an advertising platform saw it’s traffic decrease by almost one third when Google updated it’s search algorithms to place less emphasis on hubpage style links. Experts say it can take 9 months before seeing a benefit from your SEO. Consistent application of techniques is crucial and will most likely come from an established SEO specialist or SEO reseller vs an in-house newbie which may or may not be with your company another 6 months. Overall the lesson is if SEO makes money, make progress as fast as possible.
#3 Multi-Task Facilitation
Entrepreneurs should be worried about keeping the entire ship afloat, not the micromanaging a good SEO program takes. Creating backlinks, finding high PR links, web 2.0 and social backlinks, linking to industry authorities, on page SEO, meta tags and keyword stuffing but not too much stuffing just the right amount…On and on SEO can overburden even the most tech savvy individual, let alone anyone who has to juggle executive tasks outside of the internet. This even applies to the independent marketer who wants to focus more on strategy then tactics. The solution to these problems can be found in SEO outsourcing or white label SEO (for the marketer acting as a seo reseller).
#4 Executive Focus Should be on Creativity, Not Distribution.
This model of distinguishing production from distribution is in vogue. One reason for this is that entrepreneurs and executives have a limited “mind share” of which they can only do a few things really well. Their focus should be on the most vital aspects of the business. The 80/20 Rule dictates that a few vital moves will facilitate the majority of SERP (Search Engine Results Page) growth. When executive decision maker is bogged down in the nitty-gritty of SEO then they are often too close to the forest to see the trees. If however they focus on the main KPI’s (key performance indicators) such as main keyword page rank, then meetings can be about whether there is progress towards a goal and not a somewhat arbitrary set of tasks such as how many backlinks where created last week.
#5 Reporting and Accountability
Psychologically there is one huge benefit of outsourcing seo and that is failure is always easier to observe in others rather than seeing it in ourselves. SEO is a huge never-ending project. It is quite natural for humans to get caught up and attached to their own projects. When money and opportunity cost are involved this over-attachment can lead to epic fails. However, when we have a demand upon others, we suddenly are able to expect results or actively seek change. Reiteration is key to success in SEO, where the market share is quickly eaten up by first movers. Firing an SEO outsourcer is much easier then firing oneself or family member or misguided employee. Trying a different strategy is the key to success and successful brands are often engaged in multiple SEO content and distribution strategies at once. Split testing SEO efforts can be a great way to find the most beneficial technique that should be more heavily invested in. With SEO being such a broad set of techniques; video, backlinks, social connections, on page coding, content production etc. it is very hard to specialize in all aspects, a more likely scenario is making a few key strategic decisions about channel priority, and then finding experts specialized in that channel.