A reader of my blog got in touch with me recently through my Facebook fan page and we began exchanging notes about SEO. One of his questions really made me think and it’s something that is on the mind of a lot of people these days. His question was this: Would you recommend hiring those expensive SEO companies that charge $150-500/ month? Is it worth doing and would it be faster?
My initial reaction was “why not hire an SEO virtual assistant? That’s the virtual assistant in me talking. But on further consideration, I realized that this is not the right response. I have something else I want to say. I ended up giving him a more thoughtful answer but I fear that it’s still not enough. Thus, I will try to give a better answer through this blog post.
Define your ultimate goal
Just like in life, you do SEO because you have a certain goal in mind. Your goal is primarily dependent on what kind of web site you are building. Are you building an authority site or an affiliate marketing site? Are you building a brand or do you just want to drive traffic to your web site? Are you building a web site you’d be proud to call your own or is it something that you won’t want your name to be associated with?
I believe that your approach to SEO will vary depending on your answer to these questions. I’ve had several prospects who just wanted to drive traffic to affiliate niche sites. One of them was building a dog training site featuring products from Clickbank and Amazon. The web site had no picture of him, nor does it carry his name. He’s posting low-quality content to eZines and Build My Rank in order create backlinks to his site. He is also doing web directory submission because he wanted to amass as many backlinks as possible in a short amount of time as possible and hired an SEO agency to do just that. How that worked out for him is not something I’m privy to but I’m guessing he’s not too happy with the Panda and Penguin updates by Google. I know those updates were tough for a truck toolbox web site owner I know.
On the other hand, I have a couple of clients who work in very specialized niches and want to build their personal as well as commercial brand. One of them is a doula and has a web site focused on natural sound birth. She’s more about establishing herself as the leading sound birth professional in her country and wants to increase sales of musical instruments for mothers and babies. We’re taking a slow and steady approach to her SEO that incorporates social media, newsletters, guest blogging and becoming an affiliate for other birthing professionals like her. We’re also heavy on on-site optimization since we want traffic to increase naturally. Another tactic that I’m suggesting we use is blog commenting of the white hand kind.
Use the sorting hat
So just like in the Harry Potter books (and movies), you’ve got put your web site under the Sorting Hat and figure out which house it belongs to. It is spammy? Is it an affiliate site? Is it an authority site? When you have done this, then you can start planning your SEO strategy. That includes deciding whether you should go for an SEO agency or an SEO assistant.
When should you hire an SEO virtual assistant?
I hope that by now you have an idea of when should you use an SEO agency or an SEO virtual assistant. Essentially, you should hire an SEO assistant if you want to be involved in your own SEO and need help with planning and executing your strategy. SEO help will come in handy if you:
- Decide to build an authority web site loved by search engines.
- Want to have a blog that’s the envy of other professionals in your industry.
- Realize you need to use social media to optimize your web site.
- Want to build your credibility through blog commenting.
- Desire to have a branded web site.
Please watch out for my next post where I would enumerate some tasks that you can delegate to your SEO virtual assistant.
I do agree with your opinion.
I had several website and it all in different niche and different goal. One I want hide my identity, but in other site I want to show off my identity.
Hiring seo VA or throw it all seo task to agency its really depend on our goal.
In a past when seo VA not very well known, all people using seo agency service, now a day, many under develop country citizen like Philippine, india, and even afghanistan offering seo service in retail way.
Its helping us, the website owner to easily our promoting task.
In my opinion, if we still in newbie level, try to link building yourself,. If you had no time, and willing to spend money to hire people to do the task you can’t do, so hire VA.
I believe agency credibility will be more better than personal VA, but its all depend. We can generalize all.
Hello,
I am please by reviewing your post. I am and wanna to work as a virtual assistant for seo/smo/online marketing projects. Please get back to me for any seo/smo projects.
Great post! Thanks to the tips. Yes! It’s all true. Hiring an SEO and especially a VA is such a help for any sites. Well, we are a offering Virtual Assistance, and we’ll assure that it’s worth paying for.
The Office Escape recently posted..The Office Escape Team Sends Love to Habagat Victims
Great tips! As we move forward, it’s going to be a necessity to get help from someone who could move towards the goal that we set for our career.
Pinay WAHM Blogger recently posted..Mother’s Day Celebration
Thanks for dropping by @Meann!
Having an SEO and a virtual assistant in one is really a huge help for your site. It will save you time and it will also save you money because you don’t have to make an actual office. What you need is a virtual workspace. It’s something that will make your communication easier without spending so much money for bricks and mortar.
For someone who’s looking for a great SEO Virtual Assistant; one small tip on hiring, you might want to choose to hire someone from a lower income country like the Philippines. On some online job sites like staff.com, you could hire someone skilled for as low as $3 an hour. Personally, it’s a very smart way to cut cost.
Thank you for promoting Filipino VAs Pudge! You rock!
its my first here and i like your style of writing
i will come again for sure : )
Thank you Farouk! I look forward to reading more of your work, too.
Well done, and you may have picked up a prospect with this . . . I don’t know of any agencies doing SEO for less than $1K+ per month and I know enough to be dangerous but lack time to implement. I’m a fellow buzz club member, get in touch.
Melissa Galt recently posted..Marketing Strategies: Why Winging It, Isn’t Working!
Hi Melissa! I will get in touch. Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment.
Great blog – timing is everything! Thank you.
Great tips! I look forward to learning more about virtual assistants for SEO thru your blog posts. Thanks!
Louise Myers Graphic Design recently posted..How to Get Facebook Shares that Go Viral!
Thanks Louise! It really means a lot coming from a fellow social buzz club member.