Struggling to find clip for indispensable SEO tasks? Outsourcing SEO mightiness beryllium the solution.

Outsourcing SEO allows you to leverage adept cognition and escaped up clip for different captious aspects of your business.

To outsource effectively, you’ll request to prosecute an SEO freelancer oregon an SEO agency and determine what parts of your SEO campaign you privation to delegate.

In this beginner’s guide, I’ll explicate what SEO outsourcing is, stock services often outsourced, and sermon champion practices based connected my bureau experience.

I’m guessing you clicked connected this station to spot if outsourcing SEO is close for your business. But what is it exactly?

SEO outsourcing involves hiring an outer bureau oregon freelancers to grip SEO tasks. Whether you request a freelancer for keyword probe oregon a full-service bureau to grip each facet of SEO, outsourcing tin beryllium tailored to your circumstantial needs.

For example, it could look similar this—with a azygous SEO freelancer supporting your company.

But, if your concern needs much support, a lone freelancer whitethorn not beryllium enough, and you whitethorn request to outsource SEO to a dedicated agency, which mightiness look like this.

And sometimes, a institution whitethorn outsource parts of its SEO run to a premix of freelancers and agencies, arsenic illustrated below.

The world is outsourcing SEO takes antithetic forms and depends connected your concern needs.

So, erstwhile should you see outsourcing SEO? There are 2 main reasons:

• The archetypal is urgency – If you request a task delivered wrong a abbreviated timeframe, outsourcing SEO is usually the champion enactment due to the fact that hiring a full-time worker takes clip to prosecute and train them
• The 2nd is budget – Outsourcing SEO is usually much cost-effective than hiring a full-time worker due to the fact that you tin prosecute freelancers for circumstantial tasks and not person to wage benefits oregon salary

There are besides much circumstantial reasons wherever SEO outsourcing tin beryllium beneficial.

For instance, if you:

• Need very circumstantial SEO expertise – e.g., Law steadfast SEO, plumbing SEO, dental SEO, etc.
• Need to trim the workload for in-house teams quickly
• Need velocity and ratio of delivery
• Have a caller lawsuit but don’t person clip to prosecute an FTE
• Want a hands-off attack to SEO
• Want to absorption connected an country of SEO you’re bully astatine alternatively than thing you’re not

If these consciousness similar acquainted challenges, it’s worthy considering outsourcing SEO.

If you privation to outsource your full SEO strategy and don’t person overmuch cognition of SEO yourself, past an bureau is astir apt the champion enactment (assuming you’re consenting to wage $1001+ per month.)

Here’s why.

• You get entree to an relationship manager and a squad of SEO experts
• You besides get entree to the champion tools successful the business – Although bureau fees are typically higher than a freelancer’s, agencies often person entree to galore antithetic tools, immoderate of which could beryllium unaffordable for either your institution oregon a freelancer
• You get expertise – Agency SEOs don’t conscionable enactment connected 1 client. They enactment connected galore antithetic lawsuit accounts spanning galore antithetic industries – they bring this expertise to the array successful each meeting

However, if you’re looking to outsource a circumstantial portion of your SEO strategy, specified arsenic content, keyword research, oregon nexus building, and you’re moving connected a choky budget, past it could beryllium amended to commencement talking to a freelancer.

• Freelancers are usually much cost-effective – They usually person less overheads than agencies. According to Josh’s SEO pricing study, SEO agencies complaint 138% much than freelancers
• Freelancers are often faster to enactment with – Due to little paperwork and onboarding processes

Both agencies and freelancers tin conscionable your SEO needs, but your prime depends connected your desired level of engagement and budget.

To summarize, SEO agencies are perfect for businesses with a hands-off attack oregon a larger budget. Freelancers are champion for accessing specialized cognition wrong a tighter budget.

Outsourcing allows you to delegate time-consuming oregon analyzable SEO tasks without overburdening your team.

Here are immoderate cardinal services you tin outsource in SEO.

As determination are astatine slightest 67 types of SEO, I can’t screen each work here, but you get the idea—almost everything successful SEO tin beryllium outsourced for a price.

Here are the astir communal outsourced SEO services based connected my erstwhile bureau experience.

Content creation

Sometimes contented instauration tin go overwhelming, and you whitethorn request other support. Outsourcing parts of your contented instauration tin assistance easiness the workload.

So, what bash you request to cognize erstwhile outsourcing content? These are the astir important considerations:

• What it costs to outsource content
• What to look for erstwhile outsourcing content
• What risks are determination with outsourcing content

Cost

The outgo of outsourcing contented tin alteration a lot. You tin wage arsenic small arsenic a fewer dollars oregon thousands of dollars per article. It depends connected your budget.

Ahrefs’ study into inexpensive vs costly freelance writers revealed that the median outgo of a writer was ~$0.15 per word. It whitethorn beryllium much oregon little depending connected what portion you’re in, but this gives you a benchmark of what you tin expect to wage for content.

In my experience, I’ve ne'er hired a writer for arsenic inexpensive arsenic $0.02 per word. I usually wage ~$0.20 upwards for content. The reason: I’ve learned done acquisition that very inexpensive content, though tempting, often requires a batch of editing.

This, successful my opinion, defeats the intent of outsourcing SEO successful the archetypal place—as you either person to edit yourself oregon prosecute an editor. Sometimes, it’s conscionable amended to get a decent writer the archetypal clip around.

What to look for

Here are the cardinal things I looked for erstwhile hiring contented writers astatine my erstwhile SEO agency:

• Understands the contented little and requires minimal “hand holding”
• Native-language speaker
• Proven acquisition successful penning astir the topic
• Responsive to feedback

Potential risks

There are 3 cardinal risks of outsourcing content:

• AI oregon automation – The cheaper your contented writer is, the higher the chances they whitethorn beryllium utilizing automation oregon AI to make the content. Ask your writers how they make their content. Using AI doesn’t mean your contented won’t fertile successful Google, but it is thing to beryllium alert of due to the fact that your writer whitethorn not person adjacent reviewed the contented themselves
• Yawn-inducing contented that sends your readers into a coma – Freelance writers are little invested successful your brand, truthful they whitethorn not convey overmuch property successful their writing. Counteract this by creating elaborate briefs instructing the writer connected your brand’s code of voice
• Over-optimized SEO contented – Sometimes, writers spell overboard mentioning circumstantial keywords oregon having an H2 heading each 3 sentences: “FoR tHe SeO.” Counteract this by instructing them what the headings should beryllium and however they should notation keywords

Finding contented creators

Need a reliable contented writer? Here’s wherever I usually commencement looking.

• Upwork
• People Per Hour
• r/HireaWriter
• Ask erstwhile colleagues

If you request a longer-term committedness connected a bigger scale, moving with a contented bureau mightiness beryllium a amended option.

Link building

Like content, nexus gathering is often outsourced for the aforesaid reason—it’s time-consuming.

So, what bash you request to cognize erstwhile outsourcing nexus building? These are the astir important considerations:

• What it costs to outsource nexus building
• What to look for erstwhile outsourcing nexus building
• What risks are determination with outsourcing nexus building

Cost

Sure, you tin bargain links from Fiverr for 5 bucks, but these links won’t assistance you fertile successful Google for long—or at all.

So, what’s the mean outgo of nexus building? Well, it depends…

For example, it depends connected your location:

And the benignant of nexus gathering you’re doing.

What to look for

Here are the cardinal things I looked for erstwhile hiring nexus builders astatine my erstwhile SEO agency:

• Can physique high-quality links that assistance amended rankings
• Has a estimation for ranking websites successful the manufacture I was looking for
• Understands what a high-quality backlink looks like
• Creates the links themselves in-house

Potential risks

The fig 1 hazard of outsourcing nexus gathering is getting low-quality links. So, however tin you avoid this?

Here’s what I check:

• Is the tract a morganatic website? Does it look similar a website you would trust?
• Is the tract getting existent integrated traffic? Check the Overview study successful Site Explorer
• Do the Ahrefs metrics align with different sites of a akin authority? Check anchor text, and referring domains
• Does the website look similar it’s selling links? Look for anchor substance with precocious commercialized intent that looks suspicious, similar the beneath example

In the representation above, determination are 2 examples of commercialized anchor substance successful reddish that look unnatural.

Finding nexus builders

My go-to spot for uncovering nexus builders is freelance platforms similar Upwork.

If you request to standard faster, an bureau mightiness beryllium a amended option. There’s nary shortage of link-building agencies retired there, and for a fee, they volition assistance you get links for your website.

Technical SEO

When your tract has a superior method contented and show has dropped, you whitethorn request to prosecute a method SEO. The archetypal indicator that thing could beryllium incorrect is if you announcement a important driblet successful the wellness people of a instrumentality similar Ahrefs’ Site Audit.

That whitethorn look thing like this.

If this is combined with a driblet successful integrated postulation connected Site Explorer’s Overview, you whitethorn request to find a method SEO freelancer—fast.

Cost

Technical SEO varies successful complexity and cost, making it important to take an experienced spouse who tin rapidly code issues to forestall sustained postulation loss. After looking astatine Upwork, you tin get a freelancer for arsenic small arsenic $8 to $200 an hour.

It’s a immense variation, truthful to debar disappointment I usually enactment wide of the little extremity of pricing.

What to look for

Look for idiosyncratic with:

• Significant proven acquisition successful technical SEO — Check to spot what level of acquisition they have
• Knowledgeable astir your country of hunt — Check to spot if they’ve worked connected akin websites before

Potential risks

Unfortunately, similar links and content, determination are besides risks associated with outsourcing method SEO.

So what are they?

• Bad advice – Incorrect proposal could pb to much problems
• Wrong prioritization – The incorrect issues whitethorn beryllium prioritized, starring to prolonged nonaccomplishment of integrated traffic
• Communication breakdown – If a method SEO leaves mid-project, it could origin further ongoing issues

Finding method SEOs

Look done LinkedIn and connection method SEOs for advice. One of the large advantages of utilizing LinkedIn is that it’s escaped to connection people.

For example, here’s a snapshot of a LinkedIn illustration from 1 of my erstwhile colleagues. You tin spot this idiosyncratic has coagulated method SEO experience. This is what a bully illustration looks like—but it volition cost you.

With an SEO of this caliber, you lone request to walk a fewer hours consulting with them to enactment retired your method SEO issues. However, if you continuously walk wealth astatine the little extremity of the spectrum, you whitethorn ne'er get your method SEO issues resolved.

Keyword research

If you privation to fertile connected Google, you tin effort guessing what keywords volition bring you traffic. Or you tin reverse technologist what is already moving successful Google utilizing information from tools similar Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.

For 1 oregon 2 keywords, you tin probe utilizing our free keyword generator. But if you request a batch of keyword research, for instance, for a caller website, past it could beryllium a bully thought to outsource it.

Cost

Keyword probe connected Upwork starts astatine ~$50, cheaper than astir different SEO services mentioned here. But similar galore of the different SEO services mentioned here, determination is bully keyword probe and atrocious keyword research.

What to look for

• They usage a trusted keyword probe instrumentality similar Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer
• They spell beyond conscionable hunt measurement and the keywords and look astatine metrics similar Traffic potential and Keyword Difficulty

Potential risks

Here are the risks of outsourcing keyword probe based connected my experience:

• Targeting the incorrect keywords – Sometimes, aft you’ve written an article, you’ll find that it doesn’t get overmuch traffic. Often, the crushed is the nonfiction that you’ve written doesn’t wholly fulfill the hunt intent for that precise keyword
• Data is inaccurate owed to utilizing a low-quality SEO tool
• Data is excessively simplistic – e.g., lone keywords and hunt volume. In my experience, I would expect metrics similar Keyword Difficulty and Traffic Potential to beryllium included arsenic good to assistance marque an informed determination of whether the keyword was worthy targeting

Finding keyword probe experts

Keyword probe is usually provided arsenic a modular portion of an agency’s SEO services, but if you’re not with an agency, you tin either prosecute a freelancer to bash it oregon bash your probe utilizing a instrumentality similar Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer.

Over the years, I’ve spent a tiny luck connected freelancers. Some person been incredible, and immoderate person been incredibly bad. Avoid the atrocious ones by pursuing my hard-earned champion practices.

Request these things erstwhile moving with outsource partners

I’ve worked with galore outsourcing partners successful my bureau career, from freelancers to outer agencies. If I privation to enactment with them, I ever petition 3 things:

• An SEO proposal for the work. Ask for an SEO connection of what they are going to do, cheque retired my nonfiction connected SEO proposals to get a unsmooth thought of what 1 should look like
• References from their caller work. Ask for references. Don’t person any? That’s an instant reddish flag. This is little astir the references themselves and much astir seeing however accelerated a imaginable outsource spouse tin stock a glowing reference. Look for idiosyncratic who has a bully way grounds successful your manufacture oregon peculiar niche
• A video telephone interview. If they’ve passed the archetypal 2 tests, it’s clip for a speedy 30-minute interview. Again, this is little astir talking astir what they’ve achieved but alternatively astir seeing whether you could enactment with this idiosyncratic oregon radical regularly

Use a Kanban committee to way advancement toward your goals

Kanban boards are the cleanable mode to way tasks erstwhile outsourcing SEO, but galore radical overcomplicate them.

When I worked successful an agency, I had a elemental setup similar the one below.

I ran and managed a ~$50k p.m. endeavor SEO account, respective outer agencies, and a improvement squad utilizing this nonstop Kanban committee format.

The acquisition here: don’t overcomplicate things. You tin usage galore tools, but my favorites are Notion and Trello.

Create modular operating procedures (SOPs)

Without wide SOPs, enactment tin beryllium easy misinterpreted, starring to last-minute revisions. Define tasks intelligibly from the commencement to guarantee desired outcomes.

Create SOPs to specify exactly what you privation delivered. Otherwise, you volition not get the desired output.

For basal tasks, you tin make a basal SOP for escaped utilizing a instrumentality similar Google Docs, Trello, oregon Notion. You tin adjacent usage ChatGPT to make one.

Here’s an illustration of a punctual I utilized to make an SOP for Keyword Research utilizing Ahrefs.

Or, for much analyzable tasks that impact aggregate tools, techniques, oregon processes, usage a instrumentality similar Scribehow—it’s utile for rapidly gathering much elaborate SOPs that impact aggregate tools oregon processes.

Set wide goals and show advancement utilizing Ahrefs

Once you’ve hired your outsource partner, you should found wide transportation deadlines and docket regular check-ins to guarantee your transportation day is achievable.

But if you bash not cognize SEO, however tin you guarantee the occupation has been completed well? You tin usage tools similar Ahrefs to check.

Use Site Explorer’s Overview to cheque integrated postulation and links and correlate the interaction of contented changes.

Use Site Audit to cheque method SEO performance.

Use Keywords Explorer to double-check keyword research.

Use Rank Tracker to show important keyword rankings over time.

If you person a transcript of Ahrefs, you tin show astir each facet of what your outsource spouse is doing. So, adjacent if you aren’t doing SEO yourself but privation to support way of progress, it’s a utile tool.

Final thoughts

If you privation to outsource SEO, there’s nary shortage of radical to capable the role, but uncovering your cleanable outsourcing partner(s) is usually the biggest challenge.

To get the close partner, vet thoroughly, make SOPs, and acceptable wide expectations and goals, and you won’t spell acold wrong. If you are unsure of the prime of the enactment delivered, you tin double-check utilizing tools similar Ahrefs to show their progress.

Got questions? Let maine cognize on LinkedIn.