We’ll admit that we’re biased on this topic, being that our main business directive here at Top Source Media is helping clients improve search engine rankings through a variety of methods. But the question posed in this title is one that is frequently asked, especially by smaller businesses that must carefully determine how to utilize limited marketing budgets. So today we thought we would dedicate our blog post to answering it as honestly and transparently as possible.

First, let’s make something clear: You could handle search engine optimization in-house, on your own, if you want to. But it will consume a substantial amount of your time and, unless you have employees who are extremely well versed in the intricacies of digital marketing, your approach probably won’t be very effective.

So what are the specific benefits to using a third-party agency for SEO? Let us count the ways:

Search engine optimization is extremely important

This speaks more to the general need for a sound SEO strategy spearheaded by experts. Here are just a few statistics that illustrate the indispensable value:

• Search and email are the two most popular internet activities (Source)
• 75% of Web users never scroll past the first page of search results (Source)
• Search is the No. 1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300% (Source)
• Inbound marketing costs 61% less than outbound (Source)
• 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine (Source)
• That includes 44% of online shoppers (Source)
• SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to 1.7% for traditional advertising methods (Source)
• 88% of consumers use search engines for purchase decisions, and 71% of business purchase decisions start with a search engine (Source)

Keywords are a tricky animal

Selecting keywords to build around isn’t as simple as listing out your products or services and plugging them in. In order to succeed and make the most of your investments, you’ll need to determine which keywords have lower competition and better ROI. You’ll need to pinpoint long-tail keywords that can set you apart from the competition and bring in more targeted traffic. You need to be familiar with the concept of commercial intent keywords and how to capitalize on them. Sure, there are tools out there that can help brainstorm keywords, but narrowing down the best choices and implementing them properly can only come with extensive experience and expertise.

It is imperative to stay in line with rules and regulations

You don’t want to run afoul with Google, because the repercussions can have a drastically negative impact on your SEO rankings and overall online presence. The do-it-yourself approach often leads to the use of black-hat techniques and other prohibited tactics. Remaining in the good standing of major search engines is highly important to any business seeking to grow online, so you’ll want to put this critical task in the hands of people you can trust.

There’s more to SEO than optimizing page content

When most people think of search engine optimization, they think of customizing on-page copy — as well as meta descriptions, title tags and alt text — on their site to prominently feature select keywords. To be sure, that’s a big part of it. But more and more, search engines gravitate toward websites that regularly update with fresh, relevant content. And it’s not just search engines, it’s the Web at large: websites with blogs get 97 percent more inbound links than those without. In order for your blog to deliver a maximized impact, you’ll want to enlist writers who can produce content that is informative, entertaining, search-optimized, and strategically targeted at a specific audience.

Maintaining an active and professional presence on social media networks is also critical to almost any brand in today’s environment.

 

A strong SEO campaign requires constant attention

Search engine optimization isn’t a one-off task. In order to achieve the desired results, you’ll need to constantly monitor your campaigns to see what’s working and what’s not, making tweaks and adjustments as you go. Web analytics offer a wealth of information about every aspect of your site’s performance, and with the proper know-how, those insights can be leveraged to continually improve your strategy. Knowing which metrics to read, how to read them, and how to turn them into actionable takeaways are all initiatives that a good agency will specialize in.

In summary…

We hope you find the above points to be compelling evidence that hiring a reputable outside company to handle your SEO strategy is the way to go. And while there are many such agencies available for you to choose from, we humbly believe we stack up with the best of them here at Top Source with our competitive rates, uber-talented team members and countless satisfied clients. Take a look at our services and contact us for a free quote!