Making outsourcing decisions in a digital marketing world can be fraught with land mines. The only thing that is without question is that SEO complexities have made it virtually impossible for small to mid-size businesses to employ their own experts.
Yet experts are exactly what is needed to maximize website visibility and traffic. Today, simply producing valuable content will not suffice -- You must shine a spotlight on it.
Businesses decide to hire expert SEO services because when Google updates its ranking algorithms, they have an adapt or perish approach.
This approach leaves many unskilled, inexperienced website owners unsure of what to do.
SEO agencies offer many services and typically have the expertise and experience necessary for high-quality results. However, hiring an SEO agency comes at a cost.
Agency cost is the most prevalent problem when it comes to Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Furthermore, the interests of the SEO agency and its clients often clash once payment is complete.
How does it all work?
Before we explain why, we need you to have a better understanding of backlinks.
Backlinks are links to your site from other websites. There are three main types of links to consider
- Natural links – You gain a natural link when other sites find your content on their own and link to it.
- Built links – You gain built links when promoting your content to someone, and they link to it.
- Created links – These are links you place on other pages like directories or press releases. However, this tactic is not recommended because search engines may consider it spammy.
Backlinks exist in Off-Page SEO and are outside of a website’s owners’ direct control. Backlinks occur when one website links to another website.
Backlinks make their connection through external websites, and these links from outside domains point to pages on your website’s domain.
Whenever backlinks occur, particularly quality backlinks, it’s like receiving a vote for a webpage. The more votes you get from sites with authority, the more positive an effect on a site’s SEO resulting in higher rankings and improved search visibility.
Backlinks help search engines determine how authoritative and relevant your site is on the keyword or topic for which you rank.
Additionally, backlinks to your website are a signal to search engines (Google) that other external websites are endorsing your content raising your website’s SERP position and improving its visibility.
So, here’s why SEO agencies and their clients can sometimes clash.
You see, once payment is received, many SEO agencies de-activate the links, which at one time accelerated website traffic and website visibility.
Why would an SEO agency de-activate these once valuable links? Well, they do this to prevent their own ranking metrics from being lowered as the purchased links stay active for a short period of time.
Thus, webmasters start removing older links to reduce the number of outgoing links from their domain.
This is in direct conflict with their client, and the client is typically unaware of the link de-activation over time. Essentially, this means that they pay for a service that is not actually beneficial in the long run.
Next problem
Another agency problem occurs when links are created from comments in blog posts and new blog posts in such platforms, by automated bots create content by article spinning.
Manual creation of content is time and effort-intensive, which is replaced by the usage of automated software.
These result in spam generation, which often penalizes the principal’s website after a few months of search engine due to a violation of webmaster’s guidelines surrounding quality content and natural link building.
For example, Google’s Panda and Penguin updates for ranking web pages penalizes such blogs massively due to the generation of spam comments with exact keywords and spun content.
The blog discussions on such e-market places highlight similar issues about being banned from search engines, website delisting, and links being removed from private blog networks (PBN’s) after payments.
Nevertheless, some say an SEO agency is a great option.
However, the fact is that not all companies can afford to hire an excellent in-house marketing team. And, because the rules of the game are ever-changing, in order to stay relevant, SEO agencies have no choice but to keep up with the latest trends.
Looking for help with SEO
On the other hand, many businesses explore hiring a freelance SEO expert.
Freelance SEO experts aren’t associated with any organization or agency. They work independently, so they work on only a handful of projects at any given time.
They will take on a client’s SEO project and make sure to put in their best to deliver premium results when it comes to rankings, traffic, and branding.
Small to mid-size businesses with budget constraints want less expensive SEO services so, hiring a freelance SEO expert is ideal.
Freelancers will also be more accessible and amenable to working one-on-one with clients.
Lastly, freelance SEO experts work on a job-by-job, project-by-project basis. Once the task is complete, you can part ways until your next project.
The benefits of hiring a freelance SEO expert are:
1- Cost-Effectiveness – Hired on a pay as you go basis
2- Flexibility – Their work schedules are flexible
3- 24/7 Availability – The vast majority of freelancers can adjust to your time zone
4- Worldwide Reach – This benefit allows for a more diverse expert
Since freelancers are often sole workers, the hiring process is a bit different.
When hiring a freelancer, you’ll need to be more engaged in strategic choices while safeguarding your investments.
- Be aware of your requirements. Whether it’s on-page optimization or off-page optimization, each entails a slew of micro tasks
- Don’t forget to check your portfolio. You’ll find many freelancers promising 5,00 backlinks for small bucks. So, be an intelligent service consumer.
- Keep away from scams by using a freelance marketplace rather than directly paying your freelancer in advance.
You may discover that not all freelancers are overseas. They are everywhere. Usually, they only need their computers for work, and some don’t even have a residence. As long as they have an internet connection, they are happy.
We’ve provided you with all the information you need to hire an SEO expert. It’s up to you to determine whether an SEO agency works for you.
