How to Select an Effective SEO Partner for Your Business

Doing SEO In-House Vs. Outsourcing

In-house SEO involves handling search engine optimization activities yourself or hiring an internal team to do it for you. In contrast, outsourcing involves partnering with external agencies or consultants to handle your SEO tasks. Both have their pros and cons, but in terms of efficiency and cost-effectiveness, outsourcing tends to be the smarter choice. 

While both in-house and outsourced SEO can help you attract more clients and drive business growth, they have different levels of success.

In-house SEO requires you to invest in hiring and managing various SEO personnel, which can be very costly. There’s also no guarantee that these hires will fit well into your company’s culture or deliver the results you’re looking for, making business growth less certain. 

SEO partners, on the other hand, come with proven strategies, a track record of delivering results, and a team ready to dive in and get things done. Plus, team hiring costs are out of the way. So, as long as you choose the right partner, you won’t need to break the bank or sweat to achieve maximum business growth. 

What is an SEO Partner?

An SEO partner is a firm or professional that provides services to help you improve your website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results. These services often include onsite SEO, offsite SEO, and technical SEO.

Most small businesses have worked with at least one SEO partner. This raises the question: Why are so many businesses outsourcing their SEO needs? You’ll find out in the next section. 

Why Should You Outsource SEO to Trusted Partners?

There are various reasons why an SEO partnership makes so much sense. Let’s take a closer look. 

• Expertise

SEO partners, especially SEO agencies and consultants, eat, sleep, and breathe SEO. If they’re not analyzing search engine updates, they’re researching new strategies to boost their clients’s rankings.

They’ve also worked with numerous clients. So, from experience, they understand the risks to avoid and strategies that deliver results. Having this level of expertise in your corner naturally gives you a better shot at SEO success. 

• Flexibility and Scalability

Your business’s SEO needs aren’t set in stone. Sometimes, you might need a complete website overhaul, while other times, your focus could be on ongoing content creation and link building. SEO partners have the expertise, resources, and tools to adapt to your changing needs. 

Even when you need to scale—say, increase your SEO content production to drive more organic traffic—they can step in and make things easier for you. 

• Cost-Effectiveness

Managing a full-time SEO specialist team can be expensive. You have to pay for things like salaries, software subscriptions, and even ongoing training. But with an SEO partner, you skip all these extra costs. This makes partnerships a nice way to save money on SEO.  

• Focus on Core Competencies

When you hand off your SEO to a trusted partner, you free up your time and energy to focus on other core business strengths. For instance, you’d have more time to explore other marketing channels to bring in more clients, serve those clients better, and grow your business. 

3 Top Options to Serve as Your SEO Service Partners

Who exactly are these “SEO partners,” you might be wondering? Here are the most common options:

SEO Agencies

SEO agencies are firms dedicated primarily to search engine optimization. They typically have a team that’s well-versed in various SEO areas like keyword research, technical SEO, and content creation. So, they have what it takes to handle every aspect of your SEO with excellence and maximize your ROI. 

If you’re opting for an SEO agency, the amount you’ll spend may vary. For a lawyer SEO agency, you’ll spend anything between $3000 and $15000 monthly.  

Freelance SEO Consultants

Freelance SEO consultants are individual professionals who offer SEO guidance, training, and services. These experts often charge less than agencies.

As per an Ahrefs study, 73.3% of SEO agencies command $1,001+ per project, compared to only 64% of consultants and 40.68% of freelancers.

So, if you’re seeking an SEO-focused partner but don’t have the budget for an SEO agency, a consultant might work, too. 

But mind you, consultants typically just provide you with advice and strategies in most cases; they don’t handle execution. This means you may still need to invest in people or tools to execute their strategies. For example, you might need to hire a content writer or invest in an enterprise generative AI writing tool to scale your production of content suggestions. 

Digital Marketing Agencies

Digital marketing agencies offer multiple online marketing services, with SEO campaigns being just one of them. So, they might be okay for comprehensive marketing needs. But with so many services offered, SEO might not receive the attention it deserves. So, they might not be the best for maximizing your SEO budget. 

Role of an effective SEO partner

By now, you already have an idea of the SEO service that fits your budget and business needs. With that settled, let’s examine some essential services you can expect from a good SEO partner: 

• Discovery 

An effective SEO partnership starts with a discovery phase. This is where your partner sits down with you to understand your business, target audience, competitors, and website’s SEO health.

This phase often involves a series of meetings and SEO audits. By the end, the partner would have enough information to tailor their SEO strategy to your specific needs.  

• Clear and Actionable Suggestions

Once your SEO partner understands your SEO health, they’ll translate their findings into actionable recommendations. Make sure you don’t settle for an agency that gives vague suggestions like: “You need more backlinks.” 

Instead, ask for a clear and prioritized plan that outlines the specific tactics they’ll implement. Do they plan to use an email finder to look for addresses of high-authority websites’ editors and reach out to seek guest posting opportunities? Or will they prioritize HARO and directory listings? 

This level of detail keeps you informed and helps you track their activities better.  

• Efficient Execution of Recommended SEO Tactics

Again, a consultant may not always want to handle execution. But if you choose an agency, you can count on them to execute their recommendations efficiently. 

However, don’t just leave it all to your partner. You don’t need to be hands-on, but make sure to guide them to align with your overall branding and marketing strategy. For example, if your brand voice on Instagram is laid-back, ensure it translates to your SEO blogs.

• Ongoing Support

Google keeps updating its algorithm, and your competitors are likely working on their SEO as well. With ongoing support, your chosen partner can ensure that your SEO strategy stays current and effective. 

This support could involve content refreshment, ongoing keyword research, regular reports, and constant monitoring of search engine algorithm changes. 

• As-Needed Assistance

Anything can happen in SEO. Your website might accidentally face penalties or get hit with toxic backlinks. Your partner should have the expertise to provide additional services beyond the initial strategy. For example, they should be able to handle manual penalty fixes and remove harmful backlinks as needed in this case. 

Just keep in mind that these extra services may come with additional costs.

How to Find the Best Google SEO Partner for Your Business

If you’re ready to find the right SEO partner for your business, here are five simple steps to follow: 

1. Define Your SEO Goals

Before searching for any SEO company or consultant, it’s important to clearly understand what you want to achieve with your SEO efforts. This way, you can just narrow down your search to partners who can help you reach those goals.

Let’s assume your goal is to expand your service to a new location. Knowing this goal, you’ll realize that the best partner for you would be one with experience in local SEO. 

Also, goal-setting helps you identify the metrics you’ll track to measure the partnership’s success. This way, you’ll know when to ask your partner to adjust strategies or consider switching partners.

Following the goal mentioned above, your metrics will then focus on local keyword rankings, website visits from the targeted location, and leads generated through local searches. 

2. Research Potential Partners and Assess their Expertise 

After setting your goals, proceed to find partners who can help you achieve them. There are a few ways to go about this.

First up, conduct a simple Google search for top SEO services in your industry or location. See, for instance: 

Your search will return results from various directories and articles, listing SEO partners you can check out. 

Another good idea is to ask your personal and professional networks for recommendations. They may have worked with a partner who delivered positive results.

After finding these partners, compile a list and do some research. Go through their customer reviews, case studies, and services to find one that aligns best with your needs. This narrows down your list to a few promising candidates. 

You may then schedule an initial consultation with some of these options to get a better sense of their approach. 

3. Inquire About Their Strategy

During your meeting with these partners, don’t hesitate to ask them about their strategy. You never know; they might be using black-hat or quick-win tactics that could harm your website in the long run. So, by asking about their strategy upfront, you can avoid any potential risks.

Also, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification. If you don’t understand a specific aspect of their strategy, ask them to explain it in simpler terms. A good partner will be happy to do that.

4. Prioritize Communication and Transparency

The most obvious red flag in SEO partnerships is a partner that goes silent on you. This completely leaves you in the dark about where your SEO budget is being spent, whether you’re making progress, or if adjustments are needed. It’s a situation you definitely want to avoid.

So, when selecting a partner, discuss your communication expectations upfront. Establish clear channels for receiving reports, and set up regular check-ins to discuss progress for transparency’s sake. Also, ensure that the agency provides someone you can reach out to any time you have concerns or questions.

5. Look for Tailored Solutions

Finally, always look for a partner who will take the time to understand your unique business SEO needs and create a strategy that addresses them accordingly. That’s how to generate results without wasting money on unnecessary services.

That’s why, for one, you should go for a partner who takes the time to understand your business via a discovery session. It’s also a good idea to consider partners who have SEO experience in your industry. They’ll better understand the challenges and opportunities you face, allowing them to come up with an even more tailored solution for you. 

How About On The Map Marketing Become Your SEO Partner?

Why bother searching far and wide for the best SEO partner when you can just opt for On The Map Marketing? Their team has a proven track record of creating custom SEO strategies that deliver results, especially for lawyers, HVAC contractors, and Ecommerce companies. Simply contact us today for a free quote and we’ll discuss how to dominate search engine results and get more clients.

Author Bio: Owen Baker is a content marketer for Voila Norbert, an online email verification tool. He has spent most of the last decade working online for a range of marketing companies. When he’s not busy writing, you can find him in the kitchen mastering new dishes.