When Should I Outsource My SEM Project?
- by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, September 10, 2009
Outsourcing search engine marketing (SEM) tasks could help companies on tight budgets gain access to top talent that might be difficult or impossible to bring in-house. That tip is from Search Engine Land's Chris Sherman during Search Marketing Now's "When to Outsource Your Search Engine Marketing: Making The Decision," which provided the foundation for Thursday's Webinar.
But spending money to outsource SEM may become more cost-effective because an agency can streamline functions and take less time for both search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, Sherman says.
When it comes to SEO, it's not just about the simple process of tweaking a few tags and repeating a few keywords. Planning out an effective SEO strategy takes into account many variables that search engines rely on. These might include linguistics, site design, usability, linking patterns and Web servers.
Marketers may want to consider targeting campaigns through a variety of options other than behavior, such as by demographics, time, region and device. Or they may want to consult an outside search agency to work within ad-quality guidelines when they are not completely clear.
Sherman says SEO experts can provide insight into services, such as paid inclusion, that marketers may not have heard about on their own. For example, paid inclusion -- which means paying a search engine to guarantee that certain pages get included in a Web index.
About 87% of all ecommerce-oriented clicks come from organic listings, Sherman says, citing JupiterResearch metrics. Yahoo is the only engine that offers a paid inclusion program. It's unclear how long Search Submit will run. Yahoo's deal with Microsoft might end the program after the two companies fully integrate backend systems, which could drag out for another two-and-a-half years.
Yahoo Search Submit requires an annual and pay-per-click fee, explains Sherman.
Still, 57.5% of the Webinar attendees indicate that the inability to determine the exact return on investment is the major obstacle to outsourcing SEO or PPC campaigns. The complexity of researching and selecting an agency came in at No. 2 with 51.5%. The loss of total control for the campaign followed with 45.4%; a concern over job security, 24.2%; and an inability to convince senior management to outsource, 15.1%. Participants selected all that applied.
Before outsourcing, Sherman says to take inventory within the company to determine whether it can take on additional roles. Marketers may just want to outsource specific tasks, such as bid management or keyword research. Some need an agency to keep up with the changes, which can range from changes that Google and Microsoft make to their algorithms to privacy and governmental shifts.
Regardless of the amount that companies outsource, training is important to achieve successful SEM campaigns because marketers should have some sort of insight into the process. Marketers should continually keep up with training to keep informed of change.
How very true. Outsourcing can be a great way to maximise return on investment.
Thank you for addressing this topic! SEM and SEO are complex entities best left to the specialists who are in this line of work. I love how this article addresses both of these topics as the co-dependents that they are. The understanding and fine-tuning that goes into making SEM and SEO successful require people who have honed skills in this area.
Good article.
I was intrigued by the fact that more than half of the participants (51.5%) were daunted by "the complexity of researching and selecting an agency."
Why is it so difficult for people to separate the winning SEM agencies from the turkeys? A couple of phone calls to present and former clients should be sufficient to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Or have people forgotten how to use the phone?