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Managing SEO: Internally or Through An Agency?

Forget the raging debate about whether SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is dead. It’s not, and it’s important. If you want to dominate your niche, you must get it right. It’s a complicated subject with a lot of different parts, and the rules of the game frequently change.

SEO is going to be an investment, whether you decide to handle it yourself or hire an expert. It’s not particularly difficult, just time consuming and hard to stay abreast of.

If you or an employee has the time to learn everything and a talent for analytics, it might be worth doing your SEO in-house.

What Makes SEO Complicated?

SEO components are on every page of your website, woven into your text, and part of your marketing strategy. SEO experts have a deep understanding of everything from page structure to how keywords shape your blog content. They are tasked with knowing everything there is to know, and understanding how each minute change to the Google algorithm will affect your rank.

SEO Basics

Before you can decide whether to outsource, you’ll need to know what you’re up against. Here’s a brief overview of what an effective SEO expert does.

High quality content – SEO professionals have an innate understanding of what constitutes high quality content. It’s important to know what defines quality. Without specific knowledge, you can pay for a whole lot of useless content.

Keyword research – The use of keywords has changed considerably, but are still a major component of SEO. They represent the words and phrases your customer searches for – how customers are likely to find your search.

Backlink profile– The backlinks leading to your website are important and tricky. If you offer the right kind of content, other sites will be happy to link to it. That will take quality and promotion. SEOs know what good backlinks are, and how to avoid bad links.

Analytics and tracking – SEO can take months to start producing results. If you aren’t moving the needle in 3 to 6 months, you may need a new strategy. A good SEO will be tracking the analytics to see how well the campaign is doing.

On-page SEO – HTML tags, including titles, headers, and descriptions are all important SEO values.

Web layout – The way your pages are arranged can affect your sales, signup, or donation rates. Your SEO will track what visitors do on your page – where they come from, how long they remain, and what they do after they land. This will help you refine your content to keep visitors happy, interested, and engaged.

Competitor research – How do you stack up against your competitors and why? An SEO expert will be able to tell you what your site lacks in a competitive landscape.

Integrate with marketing – Your marketing campaigns will be enhanced and aided by SEO strategy. Copy and specialized landing pages should be optimized along with everything on (and off) your site.

Cost Considerations

Now that you know what you’re up against, you should have an idea about what’s at stake and what the job entails.

Outsourcing can be pricey, and, if you don’t know what questions to ask, ineffective. To make sure you’re getting the most for your money, choose a well-respected company with plenty of references and a proven track record. Before you interview, familiarize yourself with the basic language, and ask the right questions.

While outsourcing may seem expensive, effective SEO can keep your traffic flowing at a fast-enough pace to make it more than worthwhile, and hiring a full-time employee will likely be more expensive. Glassdoor puts the national average salary for an SEO manager at $61,933.

You can outsource all or part of your SEO based on your budget. Some SEO companies offer full service strategy – from assessing your site to creating your content. Others will hand you a periodic report and walk away. Most do some hybrid. Make sure you know exactly what you’re getting and what your responsibilities are before you hire.

 

 

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3 Lucky Irish Marketing Lessons

Lucky-Irish
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

 

Top ‘o the sales charts to ya! Every March, leprechaun marketers bounce around in search of their pot of gold. They follow rainbow trails in hopes they’ll discover a shiny black cauldron of coins on the other side. They pick clovers searching for that perfect four-leaf one to bring them good luck.

It’s all about the green during the month of March. From must-wear emerald hues on the 17th to the highly anticipated meals of corned beef, cabbage and green pints of beer, the Irish the know how to put on a good show. While St. Patrick’s day has come and gone, there are a few bits of saintly wisdom every savvy marketer should know.

The Person Behind the Holiday

Despite popular belief, St. Patrick’s Day isn’t all about leprechauns and hearty meals. St. Patrick didn’t have it easy from the get-go. He was born into a well-to-do British aristocratic Christian family in A.D. 390. The family had a country villa, a townhouse, and a host of slaves.

He didn’t always take to Christianity. Then, when he turned 16, he was kidnapped.

Patrick was sent overseas to work as a slave in Ireland. The roles were reversed. Instead of living with slaves at his disposal, he became a slave. He worked as a sheep herder in the cold countryside of Ireland. While there, he converted to Christianity.

One night, he heard a voice telling him to escape. He jumped on a pirate ship and made his way back to his family in Britain. He spent the rest of his life trying to convert the Irish to Christianity. The color green is synonymous with St. Patrick because of the many parades held in the 19th century when everyone wore green to support Ireland.

Now, as St. Patrick’s legend has grown over the years, he’s become known as the patron saint of Ireland.

As you prepare to wear your green, pinch a few non-festive folk on the 17th and down a hearty meal in celebration of St. Patrick, remember this. There are many lucky Irish lessons marketers can learn from this holiday.

  1. It’s Not All About Good Luck

St. Patrick lived a very difficult life in the beginning. He wasn’t well-educated because of his captivity. Instead, he was constantly beaten down and harassed.

Marketers often feel this same struggle in the beginning stages of a new product launch or campaign. Although you try to get to know the outside world, it’s challenging. You’re not sure what messages will resonate or how to communicate with your target market. You can guess, but you won’t know with certainty until you make your voice heard.

The market is ruthless. One bad campaign and your budget will be beaten down with a lack of results. One wrong message and the market will respond by harassing your brand for poor execution.

But you don’t need to have the luck of the Irish on your side to do well. Data-driven campaigns with a/b testing, analytics and other abstract information can guide you to the pot of gold and show you the message you’re meant to send.

  1. Yes, You Can Reach the Masses in a Personal Way

When St. Patrick returned to Ireland, he didn’t have the luxury of reaching the masses to spread his gospel. Instead, he had to go from town to village gathering people together to share his message.

Marketers today are lucky. By integrating marketing tools, you can reach your customers faster. Combining apps, such as your accounting, customer support, email, and documents in one makes reaching your customers easier and more effective. Imagine what St. Patrick could have done with the marketing tools of today!

  1. The Color Green is Symbolic

The color green didn’t become synonymous with St. Patrick from the start. It developed over time as people adorned this color to celebrate their country and how this patron saint changed their lives.

But the color green is symbolic in other ways too. Money is often associated with green and it’s money marketers need to bring in and reinvest to keep healthy sales numbers.

Once you have captured your pot of gold, continue to market the benefit of buying from your business. The vast majority of businesses have a healthy amount of competition. To keep your customers coming back to you, it’s vital to remind them of why you’re the best choice. Continue honing your message. Continue targeting your customers long after the purchase. Keep the marketing going so you can keep the green flowing.

Slainte!

As you forge ahead in 2016, we wish you good health in your marketing and many pots of lucky Irish gold.

 

 

At Insightly, we offer a CRM used by small and mid-sized businesses from a huge variety of verticals. Learn about all of Insightly’s features and plans on our pricing page or sign up for a free trial.

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