Managing SEO in-house is a full-time job in itself. From managing optimizations and content demands to juggling between regular algorithm updates and technical activities, it demands a dedicated team, to say the least.
This is why modern-day brands are considering outsourcing SEO to agencies. The SEO outsourcing model can offer Streamlined access to top SEO professionals and eliminate the headache of building and managing an internal team.
With many companies believing that it significantly helps reduce their internal costs by 30%-70%, outsourcing SEO has become a strategic initiative rather than merely a cost-cutting decision.
Let’s explore why it makes great sense, the benefits that come along, the types of SEO outsourcing services you can opt for, mistakes to avoid while outsourcing agencies, and other key elements.
What is SEO Outsourcing?
SEO outsourcing refers to the process of hiring an external agency, consultant, freelancer, or white-label SEO outsourcing company to manage your entire SEO activities instead of hiring an in-house team.
By partnering, you simply collaborate with experts who are already familiar with the right tools, systems, and patterns and leverage their past experiences to drive ROI from SEO efforts.
Out of the many activities they perform, the most common include technical SEO, content optimization, link building, content marketing, local SEO, SEM campaigns, etc.
Why Outsource SEO?
SEO dynamics have changed drastically in the past 5-7 years. Gone are the days when marketers used to do keyword stuffing, bulk link building, publishing content like there’s no tomorrow, etc.
Today, brands require a more strategic and multi-layered approach that ensures their brand ranks on SERPs and is visible in AI overviews.
This is where outsourcing becomes important.
Here are a few benefits/reasons why you should outsource SEO:
1. Cost efficiency in the AI Era
AI integration in search results has transformed how visitors interact with search engines. Outsourcing SEO allows businesses to bank on expert resources and attract quality output-driven activities.
Since SEO agencies or freelancers are already equipped with ongoing AI-driven processes and tools, offloading your SEO tasks to them can be a worthy decision that too, at a fraction of the cost.
2. Leverage professional expertise
While the latest updates, such as Google’s AI Overviews, have presented brands with the opportunity to improve their brand awareness, they also pose significant challenges from the SEO perspective.
Looking at how agencies are always up and going about AI development and possess a deep understanding of how AI interprets content, outsourcing to them can help your content remain optimized for AI-driven search results.
3. SEO scalability
SEO outsourcing companies usually deal with multiple businesses at once, allowing them to gather diversified industry knowledge at multiple touchpoints.
By outsourcing, you can experience the agility to scale your existing SEO efforts in response to past, current, and upcoming algorithm updates and market trends.
Having this flexibility will allow you to concentrate on your other business growth efforts while the SEO vendor continues to ensure your SEO strategy remains responsive to the changes.
4. Time savings through dedicated efforts
Managing an internal SEO team demands significant time and resources, plus the increased complexity of AI-focused activities.
So, while you completely delegate your activities and let them handle the intricacies of SEO, your internal team can be left free to focus on other activities, thus ensuring your SEO strategy is managed efficiently.
5. Access to advanced tools & technologies
To stay competitive, SEO agencies regularly invest in AI technologies and tools like Ahrefs, SemRush, AirOps, etc., which help optimize content.
When you outsource SEO, you automatically gain access to this advanced set of tools without directly investing in them.
Also, leveraging these tools will enable you to generate AI-driven insights and search behaviors, enabling more measurable SEO results that align with Google’s guidelines.
What Types of SEO Services to Outsource?
Partnering with an agency for your SEO tasks can be an excellent choice to generate long-term, measurable, and revenue-driven results.
While there are multiple types of SEO services, below are a few that SEO outsourcing companies usually offer to their clients:
1. Technical SEO
Technical SEO refers to optimizing the backend elements of a website and improving its performance, indexability, and crawlability.
The common items under technical SEO include:
- Site speed optimization
- Schema Markup/Structured Data Markup
- Core Web Vitals
- Mobile Responsiveness
- XML Sitemaps
2. On-Page SEO
On-page SEO involves internal activities on the website that consist of optimizing and enhancing on-page elements on individual pages to improve search engine rankings and attract web traffic.
It includes:
- Title Tags
- Meta Descriptions
- Breadcrumbs
- Content/Heading Structure
- Internal Linking
3. Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO involves activities that take place outside your website. These include efforts related to establishing and strengthening your site’s authority across digital channels that contribute to overall brand awareness.
This includes:
- Link Building Campaigns
- Guest Blogging
- Digital PR Campaigns
- Social Media Engagement
- Forum Discussions
- Webinars or Seminars
4. Local SEO
Local SEO refers to optimizing and maintaining a website’s presence to attract customers in a local area or region.
Now, this has become more important because, with AI-generated local search summaries surfacing in the form of AI overviews, businesses need localized content more than ever to send signals across the web.
Through local SEO outsourcing, you can ensure your business shows up whenever users or customers search for you from a specific location.
It generally includes:
- Google Business Profile Optimization
- Mentions in local citations, magazines, listicles, etc.
- Publishing hyper-local content
- Managing reviews and customer engagement
5. E-Commerce SEO
E-commerce SEO refers to optimizing your e-commerce store to boost its products’ visibility when anyone searches for the products listed on your store’s website.
It includes:
- Product Page Optimization
- Schema Markup for Rich Snippets
- Internal Product Linking
- Marketplace SEO Optimization
How to Outsource the Right SEO Company
Outsourcing isn’t just handing away responsibilities. It’s about choosing a strategic growth partner who has relevant experience in managing complex SEO accounts and promises real results.
Designing an SEO strategy isn’t a cakewalk. The agency you’re evaluating must hold a rich understanding of how Google goes about its search engines, content evaluation framework, technical factor importance, SEO aspects holding maximum value, etc.
Before you pick the right SEO outsourcing company for your organization, it’s necessary to consider a few points to derive the best possible output and avoid wasting resources.
Check out the points below:
1. Clarify your SEO objectives
Before talking to any SEO agency, make sure you’ve got a thorough understanding of what you aim to achieve out of your SEO efforts.
Are you aiming to boost organic traffic, improve rankings or CTR, improve visibility in local results, or generate leads?
For instance, if you plan to improve rankings, you can pick agencies that are great at content marketing and strategic planning that can help boost your content pieces on the SERP.
Defining your objectives will help you pick SEO companies that hold a relevant hold in those areas.
Choosing SEO agencies that specialize in areas that align with your goals will be easier once you define your objectives.
2. Perform thorough agency research
Blindly selecting any SEO company based on its attractive packages or online reviews is not recommended. Look for detailed client testimonials, case studies, and SEO processes to evaluate their credibility.
Plus, watch out if they follow any unethical or outdated SEO practices. Since following any practice that is against Google’s guidelines may result in a site penalty or even worse, a site ban.
Book a discovery call with their representative and assess how they approach SEO.
3. Assess agency expertise
A promising and competitive SEO outsourcing company should demonstrate streamlined processes and proficiency in keyword research, on-page optimization, link-building, and related SEO activities.
Feel free to ask questions about their SEO techniques, how they would hypothetically approach your industry problems, and their potential plan for generating results.
If they fail to provide concrete and balanced answers, move to the next one.
4. Prefer transparency & open communication
In any SEO partnership, transparency is a critical element that can affect the final output.
A good SEO agency should be responsive, open, and constructive regarding its strategies, processes, and reporting methods.
Transparent and detailed reporting on keyword performance, search rankings, traffic, and conversion rates can foster openness, build trust, and enable informed decision-making throughout the SEO campaign.
5. Avoid generic and template-driven approaches
Beware of agencies pitching generic SEO packages. When it comes to SEO, you cannot work on the one-size-fits-all model.
Effective SEO strategies should be and are always customized to align with the business requirements, objectives, industry patterns, and target audience.
Therefore, always invest time and effort in consulting agencies that take the time to fully understand your business, develop a tailored & detailed SEO plan, and address your unique challenges.
5 Mistakes to Avoid While Outsourcing SEO
Outsourcing SEO could prove a great bet if done right. As Google continues to roll out timely algorithm updates and strengthens its grip on Helpful Content, traditional SEO strategies are now a thing of the past.
So before selecting any agency, here are a few mistakes or red flags that you must keep an eye out for:
1. Chasing cheap packages & unrealistic results
Ever come across those “Rank #1 on Google within 28 days” or “Generate 500 Leads in 21 days” claims on the internet?
Firstly, SEO isn’t your one-off race or sprint—it’s a marathon.
That low-priced package[s] may sound tempting in the short-run but it might prove to be a costly and zero-value investment.
And you would want to keep your site miles away from black-hat SEO tactics, plagiarized or creamy AI-generated content, and link-farming techniques that hold no real value.
2. Not defining clear SEO goals
Without defining the goals to achieve, your SEO partner won’t be able to analyze and understand what SEO success looks like.
Therefore, it’s important to know that your agency keeps you updated about real metrics like leads, conversion rates, rankings, and revenue instead of vanity metrics like page views and impressions.
So, while talking to your agency, ask them to align their success objectives with the strategies to your sales funnel.
3. Overlooking Industry Experience
An SEO strategy isn’t a mass-market solution. Every industry has its technical nuances, expectations, and challenges.
For instance, the approach for a SaaS brand is largely different from that of an E-commerce or D2C company.
Therefore, choosing generalist SEO agencies that claim to have worked with every industry but hold negligible understanding of your space isn’t recommended.
4. Lack of transparency and reporting
Many agencies often keep their clients in the dark by not reporting actual figures and sharing reports filled with vanity metrics.
So if your agency seems pretty unclear on their work and lacks transparency during weekly or monthly discussions, it’s time to switch!
Always ensure you ask them for real-time reports, custom dashboards, keyword movements, etc., to always stay updated with what’s happening behind the scenes.
5. Sidelining the importance of Content Strategies
SEO is not just fixing technical elements and calling it done. Content strategy is an equally important element of your overall SEO strategy.
Plus, today, when AI-generated content is ruling our digital screens, the importance of well-researched and strategic content that engages visitors has only risen.
Therefore, always choose agencies that take content as a priority, understand user intent, and how search engine algorithms work, and build content with a purpose—and not just stuff keywords in every paragraph.
What Are The Questions to Ask Before Outsourcing SEO Services?
There are thousands of SEO agencies out there, but finding the one that fits the bill is a process that requires a thorough background check and analysis.
And having a pre-planned list of questions can help you assess their capabilities and figure out whether they perfectly match your expectations and working style.
The following questions will help you prepare your communication:
1. What does your SEO process look like?
A credible and process-oriented agency will always be willing to explain their SEO process, the tools it use, the techniques they apply, their frameworks, and their thoughts behind taking certain decisions.
Always look for an organized approach and not thin air.
2. What industries do you specialize in?
Knowing what projects and industries they’ve worked on previously is beneficial for you to understand whether they’re a good fit or not for your business.
If they have worked on SEO accounts in your industry, they can be the frontrunners in your selection list. If not, you can still keep them in the loop by evaluating their case studies and work processes.
3. How do you adapt to Google Algorithm Updates?
Look out for dynamic answers, especially on this question. With recent AI updates like AI overviews and greater search accessibility, agencies must become agile and adaptable to technological advancements.
This calls for inclusive leaders at SEO companies who are quick, flexible, and open to new but calculated SEO experiments.
4. What KPIs do you generally track?
Vanity metrics hold minor value when it comes to tracking real data happening behind the scenes.
Therefore, your agency must be strategically inclined toward measuring real metrics like rankings, events, conversions, and revenue as they truly reflect any SEO campaign’s success.
5. What does your Content Strategy look like?
Inquire if the agency understands user intent and effective SERP analysis. Is their content strategy aligned with natural language optimization principles? What practices do they follow to ensure their content stands out against AI-generated content?
6. Do you offer customized SEO packages?
Every business is different, and so should be its SEO strategy.
Having a customized SEO strategy in place is beneficial as it will be perfectly designed keeping in mind the business’s requirements.
Also, many agencies offer affordable SEO services in exchange for custom packages and tangible results. If cost is a concern for you, you can explore these agencies that suit your budget best.
Outsource Your SEO to a Results-Driven Agency
So if you’re still thinking that “whether I should outsource SEO or not”, the answer is simple – Yes, you should.
If you want to improve your SEO rankings, generate traffic, and attract leads, MotionGility is ready to help.
Our SEO services are strategically designed by our in-house experts, keeping in mind the current market dynamics.
Discuss your requirements over a Free 30-minute call with our expert, and let’s begin your website’s transformation.
