Just because you do your own SEO or have an in-house SEO team in place doesn’t mean that you couldn’t benefit from having an agency too. In all of my in-house roles, I have always used agencies to get the most from my SEO efforts. Here are 5 things that you should be using an agency for if you’re not already:
1. Link building
No matter how many link builders you have on staff, there’s always more you can do, and agencies have ongoing long term relationships which often enable them to build faster and better links. Having this agility is essential when it comes to launching new sites or going after new markets, and can help breath new life into a campaign that is flat lining.
2. Strategy
A strong SEO strategy is the foundation of great SEO, having a road map, determining the most profitable changes and understanding the most efficient way to get there can significantly improve the success of your SEO efforts. An external SEO strategist can help to steer your team in the right direction, and provide an essential sounding board for ideas and new initiatives.
3. Auditing
No matter how great your in-house team is, a fresh pair of eyes is always a great way to breath new life into an SEO campaign, whether it’s highlighting changes in best practice that may have been missed, taking a fresh look at problem campaign areas, or just having them cover your ass and validate your ideas. Because agencies regularly look at numerous sites across multiple niches, they are often aware of changes or new opportunities much quicker, and their observation of trends can help you to move quickly on any emerging opportunities. A 6 monthly third party health check of your site is an absolute must.
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4. Training
Training is an essential ongoing part of SEO, ans as SEO professionals we can never stop learning. Providing structured training for your team can help not only improve your campaigns but generate new ideas and enthusiasm. Look for opportunities to train in new areas, such as mobile technologies or social media, and invite an agency you respect in to help your team understand the big picture, then watch as a hundred new ideas fly your way.
5. Data analysis
Data analyis is a very specialized area of SEO, it’s value can be beyond measure, with SEO data analysts often finding opportunities, or seeing patterns in your traffic and keyword referrals that can help you to quickly optimize the traffic you’re getting and generate new opportunities. They can also identify data points that you may be missing, providing you with better ways to understand customer behaviour and provide content that is going to target the most highly converting users. If you don’t have a data specialist in your team, most SEO agencies do.
Ultimately the choice is yours, do you want to be vanilla, safe and steady, or do you want to roll the dice for the opportunity to become the next major player?
About Scott Polk
Scott Polk has built his expertise as a knowledgeable and experienced Search Engine Optimization/Internet Marketing strategist for more than a decade.
He concentrates his resourcefulness and skills on the diversified aspects of Search Engine Optimization for clients, where he’s earned the distinction of consistent top rankings in all major search engines. Scott is consistently involved in technologies that maximize Conversion, Usability and Accessibility when optimizing & developing large web sites as well as identifying problems/solutions that result in major cost saving strategies.
Currently he is the Co-Founder of ObsidianEdge Marketing – a full service internet marketing agency specializing in SEO, Social Media, Link Building and PPC. Scott frequently speaks at professional internet marketing conferences world-wide on SEO (PubCon, Affiliate Summit, iGaming and others).