As your business grows, the question becomes: “should you do SEO in-house or should you outsource SEO?”

We strongly believe that outsourcing SEO tops in-house SEO. Yes, in-house SEO has its advantages.

• You know your business like no one does
• YOu will have full control of every step that is taken (do you really want that responsibility?)
• And a few others, which I can’t think of right now

So what are the benefits of Outsourcing SEO? Consider the following:

• You need an SEO expert! Gaining this hands on knowledge of the industry takes time and effort. A lot of time. In that period you could have focused on a lot of equally high priority tasks and projects. Outsourcing SEO is faster and easier.
• You need expert tools. SEO Tools of the trade cost money that you can spend better elsewhere. There are also such a wide variety of tools available that are not up to scratch and won’t deliver the results they promise. A good SEO company already has them on board.
• You might know stuff about SEO. Outsourcing SEO gives you the opportunity to look over the shoulder of an SEO expert. You might learn a thing or two.
• You can set deadlines and install performance-based triggers to motivate your SEO partner. It’s much easier than screening your in-house SEO. It’s about doing things effectively and efficiently.
• You can get an outsiders’ opinion on your business strategy. It’s a good idea to have someone verify your online marketing strategy and can benchmark it to other success stories.
• Even the costs of outsourcing SEO belongs on the pro’s list. Doing labor intensive SEO in-house is more expensive than outsourcing it to a team of specialists that have the knowledge and tools of trade on a long term base.

A word of caution! Select your SEO partner wisely. Make sure you have a party that is credible, accountable and efficient.

A Few things to check and implement:

• Check SEO case studies;
• Reward on performance;
• Verify the tools they use;
• Meet with your Project/SEO Account Manager.

So watch out for dodgy SEO firms. Yes, there are a lot of them out there. Always verify the work they do. Team up with a great SEO company and your online business can grow exponentially!

Meet the Author

Jacob Eeckhout is one of our good friends at an Antwerp-based SEO company; iValue.be. He’s SEO analyst and founder with a background in marketing. He shares his view on “Outsourcing vs. in-house SEO” in this blog post.

Over the last 2 years or so, so much have changed in the interactive world; the way we find and share information, communicate with individuals and groups of people, the way we find prospective business partners and clients, not to mention the opportunities we have to start and run our own businesses.

All of this and more was made possible by the evolution of the web by means of Social Media. Social Media has absolutely revolutionized the way the world communicates and does business. The world is, quite literally, your oyster.

Social Media has become a vital element of Marketing and Advertising online. The rules still all apply, get your brand and products or services noticed and deliver a unique or superior product/service. If that isn’t possible, find a different element that you are the best at, like customer service for example.

Social Media is your modern day opportunity to market yourself to the world, and the best part – it’s FREE. Marketing hasn’t changed, only the medium. However, being a good or even just decent online marketer and user of social media means you have to follow a few guidelines. To explain, here are a few things that Social Media is and is not:

Social Media Is Not…

• A Quick Fix – It takes long term commitment, work and creativity to participate, listen, learn, strategize and implement an effective social media campaign.
• A Magic Wand – Social Media will not fix a flawed business plan and strategy.
• Social Media will not hide the inferior or low quality product.
• Social Media will not fix your poor customer service.

Social Media Is …

• A business resource if used correctly
• A Social interaction medium to build relationships and leads
• A  way to get exposure
• A Reputation building and management platform
• FREE

These are only a few of the reasons why you should be considering Online Marketing and Social Media as a means of brand exposure and generating leads for your business.

In order to effectively show the benefits of marketing your business and products and/or services online, we will need to compare online marketing with conventional marketing such as TV, radio, print, and outdoor advertising (billboards, flyers etc.)

The Consumer

Targeted Marketing – Shotgun vs. Sniper

The Shotgun Approach

Conventional marketing relies on a shotgun approach where ads are placed randomly without knowing whether the viewer will be interested in your product or service at any one specific point in time. Let’s take billboard advertising as an example.

You might be on your way to work or town using whatever means of transport, and you become vaguely aware of a huge billboard, advertising short term- or business insurance. Chances are you already have an insurance provider with which you are happy (this is assuming that anyone is ever happy with paying insurance). In all probability this means that you are not in the market for a new insurance policy and the advertisement passes you by without converting you to action. We could say that this would be the case with an average of 50% of all viewers of the ad.

This means of advertising would have a very low strike rate, compared to Online marketing which follows the sniper approach.

The Sniper Approach

Target Marketing focuses on a specific audience you want to target to sell your product or service to. The fact of the matter is the majority of people don’t need your product right now, so why would you target those individuals? Instead you should be targeting those consumers who do need your product right now. Target marketing saves you time and money by targeting smaller groups of people. Don’t target everyone and hope they want your product, rather target those who you know want your products. This ensures a much higher rate of conversion from mere browser to buyer.

You just bought your dream car which puts you in the market for short term insurance. You decide to go online to find some quotes from some of the insurance companies that are advertising online i.e. those insurance companies that use a targeted approach to marketing. You find the best policy that suits your needs and budget, and contact the company to write it up. You have just been converted from a browser to a buyer.

Can you see how the strike rate will increase by a very large percentage?

Availability & Information

Conventional Marketing

In traditional marketing the consumer has to rely on the available adverts to make a decision whether to buy this brand or that. If the brand is not actively being advertised the options diminish. Unfortunately, very few businesses have the budget to advertise actively by means of traditional marketing.

Online Marketing

Consumers today are very knowledgeable and research their options when considering a product or service.

• 95% of purchasing consumers use the web to research products and services – B2B Magazine Survey.
• 85% of internet users are also internet shoppers – The Interactive Consumer.

The consumer is able to find a much wider variety of brands and products online.

Convenience

Customers can shop 24 hours a day from anywhere without going to a physical store. Buying online is also interactive & immediate. Consumers can interact with the seller’s site to find information on products or services that they desire and order straight away.

The Marketer

Online Marketing and Advertising hold huge advantages for the marketer such as:

Cost

Marketing your business online can be much more cost effective when compared to the traditional means of marketing and advertising. By merely targeting your market effectively online you will cut costs.

Measurable

There is a multitude of site analysis tools that will accurately measure your site performance by means of traffic statistics; conversion rates, geographical data to target locally and a whole bunch other metrics.

Analysis and Decision Making (Real Time Data)

Analysis tools allow you to track:

• How visitors found your site
• How visitors use your site
• What is the most popular sections or areas on your site
• What conversion funnels work best

Using this data and other stats you will be able to make on the spot decisions and also test what works and what doesn’t and then make the necessary changes.

Constant

Conventional Marketing mediums have a limited shelf life (30 seconds per TV ad, printed ads get thrown away, etc.) On the other hand, Online Ads and Marketing is always present when the user needs it or wants to research possible products. Potential Customer can find you and your products and services at any time, day or night. The Search Engines will funnel the right prospects to your site if Online marketing is done correctly.

Social Media

The web has gone social with users, business owners, and consumers alike are turning to online platforms like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to get their message out and to build relationships which drive more traffic.

1. Google
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
   

And then I found a few really nice ones and decided to add those too, just for fun Without any further adu, here the are.

How Google Works

This fantastic Infographic on How Google Works really makes the process simple enough for everyone to understand how the Google Powerhouse works.

For Online Marketers just starting out, this would be great place to get a better view and understanding of Google.

The Google Story

This is a brilliant Video about the Google Story and shows how the Giant started and evolved over the years.

Google Real Time Search

Quite some time ago Google struck a deal with Twitter to get access to their Tweet database. This lead to Google being able to display real time results of topical tweets in the search engine results.

For those who don’t yet know how to access these real time results:

• Search in Google as normal
• In the new left hand options menu – click on “more”
• select “Updates”

Here is the video that Google created for the launch of the functionality – mind boggling how we are so connected to the world in real time through this feature!

The Social Media Effect

Below we have a graphical representation of the Social Media effect that can be created with your site content to generate hype and traffic to your brilliant content.

Google Search Story – Parisian Love

Google launched a brilliant Video creator with YouTube where users can create their own little short story with a few well selected search queries. Below is one of my favorites – such a romantic.

The History of Facebook

Below is a representation of the history of the Facebook evolution. This is a fantastic piece of information for research purposes. Maybe you have the next best thing in Social Media?!

The Rise of Twitter

Here we have a graphic showing the immense growth of original and best Micro-blogging platform – Twitter.

The growth that twitter experienced over such a short period of time is staggering to say the least!

The Evolution of Email

The infographic below shows how email works, some stats and also how email evolved.

What BP Could buy with all that Money

This is quite a large graphic. It scrolls from left to right.

The graphic shows what BP would’ve been able to buy with all the cash they are using to clean up their oil mess.

If you want to be a successful online marketer there are certain skills that you need to acquire. Onsite SEO is a very good way of getting your online marketing campaign off to a good start, but this should not be the only element to master. Onsite SEO alone won’t get you very far at all.

But what if you work for an Online Marketing company and you have a designer, coder, copywriter, PPC expert and Social Media marketer on hand. Does this mean you should only limit yourself to one element of the online marketing process?

The truth is, in order to be a successful online marketer you can’t focus on one skill only, you need to develop and nurture all the necessary skills.

Web Design

All of us aren’t web designers, but you need to know what works on a website and what does not. What works for your product review site or blog and what works for your ecommerce site is definitely not the same thing. However, there are certain elements that need to be incorporated into every design:

• Effective use of Conversion elements
• Ease of navigation
• Web Optimized Imagery
• Thoughtful and effective user interface
• Effective display of your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

Having the knowledge of what works in web design can go a long way in distinguishing your site from all the ‘noise’ out there.

Content Creation

All your online marketing efforts rely on content. SEO, PPC, Social Media etc. Just writing for the sake of adding more content to your site or blog is useless. Creativity and originality is the key when creating content for your site. No one wants to read the same old story just with a different angle or a little extra icing on top. In this day and age where the latest information and breaking news are available in real time as it happens, you need to be the first to get the attention of the world in a unique and engaging way. A good idea is to stay up-to-date with all current news, events and developments in your field or industry. Use social media, RSS Feeds and Google Alerts to do so.

PPC

Setting up a PPC campaign is probably one of the quickest and easiest things you can do, but just setting up your PPC campaign and writing a few one liner ads won’t necessarily bring you those clicks and more importantly the conversions.

• Keywords – In depth analysis and research must be done to ensure that you use the correct keywords. Remember that long tail keywords are used by searchers that have already done their research and are ready to buy.
• Product/Service Specific landing pages – Point your ads to the page where the browser can find exactly what you are advertising in you ads.
• Budget bids – If your bid is too high you might run out of money after only a few clicks. If your bid is too low, your ad won’t be displayed.
• Your site – you can spend all the money you have on your PPC campaign, but if your site does not instill a sense of quality and trust in the user, you won’t get anywhere
• Know when to stop – PPC is extremely effective in generating traffic and sales when your site is still new and does not yet have any organic rankings in the Search Engines.

SEO

A recent user poll done by TopRankBlog, shows that SEO is still seen by many as the most valuable online marketing strategy to be used. SEO in itself is a multi faceted strategy that includes Onsite SEO and Offsite SEO or link acquisition. Onsite SEO is quick and easy. It’s getting the votes in the form of links or references to your site that is the backbreaker.

It used to be that building some unnatural links from blog comments, forums, directories and other “free for all” link sources would do quite a bit in getting your search engine rankings up there. With Google’s update of their ranking algorithm named “Google Caffeine”, the value of link sources have been re-evaluated big time. The most valuable link sources are those that are moderated like news publications and high authority editorial sites or authoritative industry blogs.

Research shows that Google’s new algorithm definitely devalues certain types of links. Links from comments, blog rolls, links pages, and footer links just to name a few, mean very little for your site.

Using your brilliant content, industry tools and resources to create something that people want to link to (link bait) is the way to go.

Social media

Social Media can play a huge roll in your online marketing campaign if you use it right. Social Media is NOT quick and easy to get into. It involves a lot of research and work on your part. If utilized effectively, your social media campaign can boost your site traffic to incredible heights.

A recently launched viral video campaign by Old Spice, crippled YouTube with the amount of traffic it generated.  Be creative and unique with your Social Media campaigns and you will reap the rewards.

As you can see Online Marketing consists of many elements that need to be utilized and catered to your specific needs. Online marketing is not a quick fix that will generate huge amounts of traffic straight away; it takes time, effort and oodles of creativity.

Why are we so reluctant to link out from our own sites, and if we do, why do we so often link to the homepage of a site and not a deep link to a page that is more specific? A quick answer will be that most of us strongly believe that linking out to other sites is a bad thing and that we will lose some of our precious ranking power or Page Rank, if you will.

Let’s think about this for a second. When asking some of the best SEO’s in the industry how to effectively implement a SEO strategy and with it, all the other facets of online marketing, the majority of them will tell you: “Optimize for the user, not for the Search Engines”.

In the world of Onsite SEO this means making your site user friendly  and easy to read with sensible Meta data, Headings, great content and ease of access to your conversion elements, just to name a few basic elements.

The question is, how do you ‘build’ links with the user in mind?

Getting links to your site is more than likely done to improve the rankings of your site and to gain traffic. Linking from your site can compliment your product or service offering as it adds value to the user’s experience.

In my book this means you are optimizing for the user and not for the SE’s.

Also consider that this act might also contribute to your rankings because when you link out, you are networking with other webmasters – an act that could just score you a link for you trouble.

Google and other Search Engine algorithms take many factors into consideration when determining the value of a reference or link to your site. Is it possible that Google will reward you for linking OUT? If it’s a good quality link that is relevant to your site and industry, and it adds value to your users’ experience, regardless of the PR you shall be rewarded.

Many website and blog owners believe that linking out to other sites may cost you Search Engine rankings and lower your website’s reputation. That is simply what most of us have heard or read. The point is that the web is one large network of information that is joined to each other via links. Links ARE the internet. When you contribute to the accessibility and information infrastructure of the Internet effectively, providing that you are not linking to crap, it can do a lot for your rankings and reputation.

Another misconception in the industry is that we create exit signs for our site users when linking out. There is ample evidence out there that contradicts this philosophy. Google, Reddit, Digg, Twitter & Delicious are just a few examples that try to get users off their site as quick possible.  Yet they keep coming back again and again.

A survey of major newspapers on the web found that sites that actually link out, tend to perform better than those who don’t. Don’t you think it is worth incorporating this into your strategy?

So there you have it. Give freely to those who are worthy of your valued vote and therefore ensure that browsers to your site have the best possible experience.

The rest of 2010 promises to be a big one in the history of South Africa and the world! Not only have we successfully hosted the 2010 Soccer World Cup, but with advances in online business in South Africa, this year could and should be a year of enormous growth for our economy and for each and every individual.

Let’s take a look how you can drive your online business to new heights in 2010.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The importance of good SEO has become apparent throughout the last decade and will continue to have an enormous influence on your online success in 2010 and beyond. The good news is that good SEO will continue to be cost-effective to small business but are sure to become more expensive as the market gets more competitive. It is therefore essential that you make room for SEO in your online advertising budget in 2010.

2. Twitter Marketing

Twitter has taken off big time in 2009 and will continue to be a huge entity in 2010. The importance of Twitter Marketing lies in the fact that average business can capitalise on Twitter for top exposure as it is a viable marketing channel. There is also some speculation that Twitter will implement some form of paid advertising model, much like Facebook is offering at the moment.

3. Facebook Marketing

Facebook has become part of 29% of Internet users’ daily web activity. As a business owner advertising on the net, it is imperative for you to realize the benefit of Facebook marketing. This year will see more and more people joining this phenomenon and Facebook’s paid advertising offering will continue to give businesses the opportunity to advertise to a targeting market.

4. Mobile Marketing

Using mobile phones as a medium for advertising has endless possibilities in South Africa. The challenge in 2010 is not only to make your site visible to those accessing the Internet via their cell phones but also to use SMS message to communicate you services of products.

5. Bing

Although some believe that Bing, Microsoft answer to Google, will not reach its full potential in 2010 it is definitely worth implementing into your SEO campaign.

6. Video Marketing

With the promise of faster and cheaper Internet coming to South Africa, more and more local business owner will look to video marketing to advertise their product and service and to increase their conversion rate.

7. Pay-Per-Click Ads

As discuss before, sites like Facebook and possibly Twitter, will offer a good alternative to Google Ads but 2010 will continue to be a popular advertising strategy. Bing is also likely to start offering PPC ads which will offer just another way to increase your Internet exposure.

8. Online Business Networking

Connecting with other business owners and industry leaders on the Web became an effective way to build business contacts and leads in 2009. Prepare to take this to the next level as more and more social media sites are looking to cater for online business networking. Some believe that 2010 will see face-to-face networking opportunities within online business networks , and face-to-face networks will begin to integrate online networking more effectively into their programs.

9. Top Content

You don’t need a crystal ball to figure out that content will continue to be king in 2010. You can guarantee that the marketing of you good content will be just as significant as the quality of your content.

10. Innovative Design

Staying ahead of the curve in 2010 is extremely important for any successful online business. No matter how good your content is or how high you are ranking in the search engines, the appeal of your site as well as its functionality will contribute a great deal to your conversion rate.

Search Engine Marketing or SEM is divided into two major elements namely, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay per Click) or paid advertising.

Using these elements, either individually or in conjunction with one another, is crucial – especially for new businesses or existing businesses looking to expand into the online world.

As a new website, or a website that has not implemented any online marketing strategies, your products, services or solutions will not rank for any of the valuable industry keywords that your potential customers are searching for in the major Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc). This of course means that traffic to your site will be low and that ultimately you will achieve less conversions, sales and revenues without a proper online marketing strategy for your business.

PPC

Many consider PPC to be the easier strategy of the two. This may be true from an implementation point of view, but there is a lot to know in order to run an effective PPC campaign. Considerable research would need to be done, but with a little insight and savvy you will be able to find all the tools and knowledge you need from Google’s Adwords support system.

PPC is very effective in quickly attracting targeted traffic, depending on your budget.

Advantages of PPC

* Your PPC campaign can be up and running in minutes.

* No modifications to your website are necessary.

* You pay only when users click your ads.

* You can choose exactly how much you spend on the campaign.

* You control who sees your ads by use of keyword targeting.

* You can choose the language and geographic target that your ads are displayed in.

* Your campaign can be effectively tracked and monitored for optimum results.

Search Engine Optimization

SEO as a whole consists of a myriad of elements that will be used to analyse your business and business needs, create a strategy, and to implement and Optimize that strategy to maximize results.

The following Questions are the Answers to your perfect strategy:

1. What does your target market want? And where are they from? (Keyword research and Geo Targeting)

2. Who are your competitors, and what will it take to beat them? (Competitor Analysis)

3. Does your website facilitate competing with these competitors? (Web layout and structure)

4. What are the most suitable online strategies for your business?

5. How long will it take to implement the strategies, and what results are achievable?

6. How can we improve your strategy to improve your performance?

Improved SEO rankings take time. Although you may see improvements in both rankings and traffic within 3 months it generally takes between 3 and 6 months to see a noticeable increase in performance.

The reason for this delay is that Google and other search engines have to crawl millions of sites daily and this takes a little bit of time. Google has large scale updates where the number and quality of inbound links toward your site, as well as the quality of resources and information that appears on your site, is ‘weighed and measured’ and then will add or subtract from your online authority and credibility – this determines whether or not your rankings improve.

Social Media Marketing

Another online marketing strategy is Web2.0 and Social media. Social bookmarking, blogging and networking can facilitate an influx of traffic and links from other sites that will add to your online reputation and credibility. But we delve deeper into social media and viral marketing at a later stage.

So as you can see, there are quite a few things to consider when starting your Online Marketing campaign. To get the results you are after you will either have to learn the ins and outs of online marketing and the online world, or you’ll have to find the right people who know the right stuff about what your business requires.

Unfortunately most business owners have no idea what makes a successful and effective business website that brings feet through the doors of your business, virtually speaking of course, and making the sales. The only difference is that online, each visitor is highly susceptive and much more likely to buy.

What are your Goals?

What is your goal for your website?  Getting leads and generating an income through effective conversion most probably. If this is what you require, then your website should be designed to accomplish the following:

* Get as many searchers as possible to click through to your site for whatever they’re looking for in the Search Engines. (Search Engine friendly design)

* Provide the shoppers with the info that they need to make an educated decision on which product they will buy in the end.

* Calls to Action! There are way too many online businesses out there that do not entice and encourage the browser to load that product in the cart and take it to the checkout. Also for businesses that provide a service, browsers have to search were to enquire or get a quote. You need those calls to action!

* Now you need to keep those new customers coming and existing ones returning. Market that business through great resources, like reviews, articles and tips. Social Media Marketing can be extremely effective if you have some of the best info and resources to link to.

Know your Market

Who will you target online, students, young adults, business men? All of these targets will have to be approached differently for effective marketing, lead generation and sales.

Your physical design of the site must be catered for the market that you target, for example, students and younger people will need hip and happening funky design that is more complex and open for exploration. Business men will probably want to be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily to facilitate information sharing.

Your site content will also need to be targeted according to what the market wants. Give them information and great resources to be able to assist in the decision making process of buying or signing up for the product or service that you offer.

DIY or Using the Professionals

Some may feel that they can save money by designing and creating their own business website. This may be true if you are up to date with the latest techniques, search engine friendly design, professional web structuring and oodles of other elements that determine the efficacy of your website. The bottom line is that most of us do not have the necessary knowledge and experience to take on such an important project and unfortunately unprofessional websites contribute to 50% of all low converting websites.

Taking this into account, may I suggest consulting with the people in the know? You may have to spend a bit more initially, but the rewards and returns will be much higher in the long run.

If it’s stale and outdated, no one wants to use it – Google included.

A good website will provide it’s users with all the most up to date and fresh information out there. Keeping your website and the resources within the site up to date takes work. Show me one successful business out there that doesn’t put time and effort in keeping with the times and updating their clients along the way.

Keep those clients coming back by adding something unique to your site like adding real time enquiry or consultation features. Don’t just say that you provide the best service in the industry, do it!

Monitor your Business

Use website tracking software to see what visitors and customers are doing on your site. This will help you to identify possible areas for improvement. Why are potential customers leaving your site without buying or enquiring? Do you have sufficient calls to action? Are you targeting the best pages for entry into your site from the search engines for a specific search phrase or keyword? What route are browsers taking to find what they are looking for on your site?

All of these and countless other elements determine how effective your site is in converting mere browsers to buyers.

Hopefully this has helped you to understand how you CAN be the best out there and what is needed to get the sales and income that you desire. We will keep on providing you with the  answers to many of the online business questions you may have.

Perfect Timing

South Africa is in the beginning stages of a virtual birth of new and exciting opportunities. With internet access costs being halved and more and more small, medium and large businesses stepping into the world of online trade, surely now is the time to make your move to super efficient and cost effective business strategy.

Targeted Marketing

Internet users are buyers. They look for the product or service they want and then choose the best one. Being the best in your industry relies heavily on effective marketing, whether you opt for the conventional or online strategy. However, for the online marketer the conversion from browser to buyer online is much higher than that of the conventional marketer.

Build Relationships

Business to business marketing and liaison is key to creating affiliations with others in the industry. By using your client base to market your work even further, generating referrals from this, become one of your main lead acquisition opportunities.

Opportunity Knocks

South Africa is in the birthing stages of online business. This means that there is ample opportunity out there for those who choose to make the switch from conventional business to Online. Markets are far from saturated as it stands and you have the chance to reap the rewards now. Many, if not most of your competitors have made massive cuts in their marketing activities because of the economic times. Suddenly, the cost of raising your profile and acquiring new clients is a tiny fraction of what it was only a few months ago.

In life we all have to make choices that will determine the path that will take you either to ruin or riches.

A good business man always looks at all the options, considers the consequences of every possibility and then chooses what makes him the best in the business!