Getting found online should be a priority for any modern business - not just for online service businesses. And if you've just decided that your business needs to build its web presence, you'll need the help of an SEO agency.
The thing with SEO is that, theoretically, anyone can do it for you. SEO is mostly done online through the use of web-based tools (free or paid) available to anyone. Because of this, you'll find countless options when it comes to choosing SEO agencies. Interestingly, however, being a business owner you'll undoubtedly receive emails from foreign SEO agencies claiming to do top-quality work for low prices.
So, should you hire a local SEO agency or outsource your SEO strategy to an overseas firm? Let's investigate.
Hiring a Local SEO Company vs. Outsourcing Overseas
1. Quality, Speed and Price
Quality, speed and price: you can only choose to have 2 of these when hiring an SEO agency, or availing any service for that matter. If a firm delivers great quality SEO at a good pace, it's going to be costly. If a firm is cheap and promises fast results, you're going to compromise (a lot) on quality.
The whole point of outsourcing your SEO work to overseas agencies is to keep costs lower. But bear in mind that when you're working on a low budget, you can't expect quality results. Overseas agencies work on two principles: offer the lowest price and deliver as fast as possible. This will, of course, come at the expense of your reputation, the quality of your content and your website. As a business, this should be reason enough to steer clear.
2. Communication and Cultural Differences
At the core of a great SEO strategy lies excellent content. Its user engagement levels characterize great content and how much it resonates with your audience. A reputable local SEO agency will be well-versed with the cultural norms of your society. Thus, it can understand the culture and create content specifically geared towards it.An overseas agency might have capable writers, but they won't know the nuance of your local culture. As such, they won't be able to create content that resonates quite as much as a local agency.
What's more, communicating with a foreign agency can frequently be a tall order. Language barriers aside, there are also time zone differences which can matter when there are time-sensitive matters to be considered.
3. Client-Agency Relationship
What sort of relationship are you looking from an SEO agency? If you're looking to build your SEO strategy from scratch, and are willing to spend time and money for it, the chances are that you'll want a long-term relationship, says An outsourced SEO agency as we mentioned earlier, wants to get as much money as possible in the shortest period. The quantity of work is what matters, and as such their client relationships are often short. A.P. Web Solutions, a local SEO agency based in Melbourne with a loyal and local client base.
However, if you partner with a local SEO agency, they will do their utmost into making sure that it's a long-term relation/partnership. Why? Because it will only do them well. If you have a pleasant experience with them, you'll likely refer others to their service. An SEO agency depends a lot on reputation because there are just too many bad ones around.
4. Black Hat Methods
Black hat methods for SEO, commonly known as ' black hat SEO,' is a set of tactics used to trick Google into giving your website better rankings. Many agencies used these methods in the past. Lately, however, Google has seriously improved its search algorithms to detect such methods. And if your website is found to be using them, Google will add your name to its blacklist as well. What does that mean? You will disappear from its search engine and will lose probably all of your organic traffic.
Off-shore outsourcing companies will often resort to black hat SEO techniques to gain quick rankings. Remember, they're in it for fast results. A local SEO agency knows that it needs to build a long-term relationship with its clients, and will not use black hat SEO.
Perhaps the biggest concern you should have if you're considering an off-shore SEO agency is security. In the case of a dispute mid-project, the SEO agency can simply choose to stop all your SEO work without any consequences. Because of the geographical differences, the chances are that you will be out of any legal options as well.
What's more, a rogue agency can even cause damage to your business. Because they'll have access to your website, you risk it being taken down. They can also spam low-quality backlinks to your business, which can cause a serious danger to your search rankings as well.
