Struggling to find time for essential SEO tasks? Outsourcing SEO might be the solution.

Outsourcing SEO allows you to leverage expert knowledge and free up time for other critical aspects of your business.

To outsource effectively, you’ll need to hire an SEO freelancer or an SEO agency and decide what parts of your SEO campaign you want to delegate.

In this beginner’s guide, I’ll explain what SEO outsourcing is, share services often outsourced, and discuss best practices based on my agency experience.

I’m guessing you clicked on this post to see if outsourcing SEO is right for your business. But what is it exactly?

SEO outsourcing involves hiring an external agency or freelancers to handle SEO tasks. Whether you need a freelancer for keyword research or a full-service agency to handle every aspect of SEO, outsourcing can be tailored to your specific needs.

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

Company Outsourcing It's SEO Strategy to an SEO Freelancer Illustration

But, if your business needs more support, a lone freelancer may not be enough, and you may need to outsource SEO to a dedicated agency, which might look like this.

Company Outsourcing Parts of Its SEO Campaign to an SEO Agency IllustrationCompany Outsourcing Parts of Its SEO Campaign to an SEO Agency Illustration

And sometimes, a company may outsource parts of its SEO campaign to a mix of freelancers and agencies, as illustrated below.

Company Outsourcing SEO Campaign to Mix of Freelancers and Agencies IllustrationCompany Outsourcing SEO Campaign to Mix of Freelancers and Agencies Illustration

The reality is outsourcing SEO takes different forms and depends on your business needs.

So, when should you consider outsourcing SEO? There are two main reasons:

  • The first is urgency – If you need a project delivered within a short timeframe, outsourcing SEO is usually the best option because hiring a full-time employee takes time to hire and train them
  • The second is budget – Outsourcing SEO is usually more cost-effective than hiring a full-time employee because you can hire freelancers for specific tasks and not have to pay benefits or salary

There are also more specific reasons where SEO outsourcing can be beneficial.

For instance, if you:

If these feel like familiar challenges, it’s worth considering outsourcing SEO.

If you want to outsource your entire SEO strategy and don’t have much knowledge of SEO yourself, then an agency is probably the best option (assuming you’re willing to pay $1001+ per month.)

Here’s why.

  • You get access to an account manager and a team of SEO experts
  • You also get access to the best tools in the business – Although agency fees are typically higher than a freelancer’s, agencies often have access to many different tools, some of which could be unaffordable for either your company or a freelancer
  • You get expertise – Agency SEOs don’t just work on one client. They work on many different client accounts spanning many different industries – they bring this expertise to the table in every meeting

However, if you’re looking to outsource a specific part of your SEO strategy, such as content, keyword research, or link building, and you’re working on a tight budget, then it could be better to start talking to a freelancer.

  • Freelancers are usually more cost-effective – They usually have fewer overheads than agencies. According to Josh’s SEO pricing study, SEO agencies charge 138% more than freelancers
  • Freelancers are often faster to work with – Due to less paperwork and onboarding processes

Both agencies and freelancers can meet your SEO needs, but your choice depends on your desired level of involvement and budget.

To summarize, SEO agencies are ideal for businesses with a hands-off approach or a larger budget. Freelancers are best for accessing specialized knowledge within a tighter budget.

Outsourcing allows you to delegate time-consuming or complex SEO tasks without overburdening your team.

Here are some key services you can outsource in SEO.

SEO Outsourcing Examples IllustrationSEO Outsourcing Examples Illustration

As there are at least 67 types of SEO, I can’t cover every service here, but you get the idea—almost everything in SEO can be outsourced for a price.

Here are the most common outsourced SEO services based on my previous agency experience.

Content creation

Sometimes content creation can become overwhelming, and you may need extra support. Outsourcing parts of your content creation can help ease the workload.

So, what do you need to know when outsourcing content? These are the most important considerations:

  • What it costs to outsource content
  • What to look for when outsourcing content
  • What risks are there with outsourcing content

Cost

The cost of outsourcing content can vary a lot. You can pay as little as a few dollars or thousands of dollars per article. It depends on your budget.

Ahrefs’ study into cheap vs expensive freelance writers revealed that the median cost of a writer was ~$0.15 per word. It may be more or less depending on what region you’re in, but this gives you a benchmark of what you can expect to pay for content.

Cost Of A Content Writer IllustrationCost Of A Content Writer Illustration

In my experience, I’ve never hired a writer for as cheap as $0.02 per word. I usually pay ~$0.20 upwards for content. The reason: I’ve learned through experience that very cheap content, although tempting, often requires a lot of editing.

This, in my opinion, defeats the purpose of outsourcing SEO in the first place—as you either have to edit yourself or hire an editor. Sometimes, it’s just better to get a decent writer the first time around.

What to look for

Here are the key things I looked for when hiring content writers at my previous SEO agency:

  • Understands the content brief and requires minimal “hand holding”
  • Native-language speaker
  • Proven experience in writing about the topic
  • Responsive to feedback

Potential risks

There are three key risks of outsourcing content:

  • AI or automation – The cheaper your content writer is, the higher the chances they may be using automation or AI to create the content. Ask your writers how they create their content. Using AI doesn’t mean your content won’t rank in Google, but it is something to be aware of because your writer may not have even reviewed the content themselves
  • Yawn-inducing content that sends your readers into a coma – Freelance writers are less invested in your brand, so they may not convey much personality in their writing. Counteract this by creating detailed briefs instructing the writer on your brand’s tone of voice
  • Over-optimized SEO content – Sometimes, writers go overboard mentioning specific keywords or having an H2 heading every three sentences: “FoR tHe SeO.” Counteract this by instructing them what the headings should be and how they should mention keywords

Finding content creators

Need a reliable content writer? Here’s where I usually start looking.

If you need a longer-term commitment on a bigger scale, working with a content agency might be a better option.

Tip

Keep a spreadsheet of your favorite freelance writers and agencies, including their rates, your review, and their specialization.

Content Writers Spreadsheet ExampleContent Writers Spreadsheet Example

Link building

Like content, link building is often outsourced for the same reason—it’s time-consuming.

So, what do you need to know when outsourcing link building? These are the most important considerations:

  • What it costs to outsource link building
  • What to look for when outsourcing link building
  • What risks are there with outsourcing link building

Cost

Sure, you can buy links from Fiverr for five bucks, but these links won’t help you rank in Google for long—or at all.

So, what’s the average cost of link building? Well, it depends…

For example, it depends on your location:

Average Price of Links Across Europe IllustrationAverage Price of Links Across Europe Illustration

And the type of link building you’re doing.

Most Popular Link Building Tactics IllustrationMost Popular Link Building Tactics Illustration

What to look for

Here are the key things I looked for when hiring link builders at my previous SEO agency:

Potential risks

The number one risk of outsourcing link building is getting low-quality links. So, how can you avoid this?

Here’s what I check:

Example Of Suspicious Anchor TextExample Of Suspicious Anchor Text

In the image above, there are two examples of commercial anchor text in red that look unnatural.

Finding link builders

My go-to place for finding link builders is freelance platforms like Upwork.

If you need to scale faster, an agency might be a better option. There’s no shortage of link-building agencies out there, and for a fee, they will help you get links for your website.

Technical SEO

When your site has a serious technical issue and performance has dropped, you may need to hire a technical SEO. The first indicator that something could be wrong is if you notice a significant drop in the health score of a tool like Ahrefs’ Site Audit.

That may look something like this.

Technical SEO Health Score, via Ahrefs' Site AuditTechnical SEO Health Score, via Ahrefs' Site Audit

If this is combined with a drop in organic traffic on Site Explorer’s Overview, you may need to find a technical SEO freelancer—fast.

Site Overview Performance Decline ExampleSite Overview Performance Decline Example

Cost

Technical SEO varies in complexity and cost, making it crucial to choose an experienced partner who can quickly address issues to prevent sustained traffic loss. After looking at Upwork, you can get a freelancer for as little as $8 to $200 an hour.

Upwork Technical SEO Cost ScreenshotUpwork Technical SEO Cost Screenshot

It’s a huge variation, so to avoid disappointment I normally stay clear of the lower end of pricing.

What to look for

Look for someone with:

  • Significant proven experience in technical SEO — Check to see what level of experience they have
  • Knowledgeable about your area of search — Check to see if they’ve worked on similar websites before

Potential risks

Unfortunately, like links and content, there are also risks associated with outsourcing technical SEO.

So what are they?

  • Bad advice – Incorrect advice could lead to more problems
  • Wrong prioritization – The wrong issues may be prioritized, leading to prolonged loss of organic traffic
  • Communication breakdown – If a technical SEO leaves mid-project, it could cause further ongoing issues

Finding technical SEOs

Look through LinkedIn and message technical SEOs for advice. One of the big advantages of using LinkedIn is that it’s free to message people.

For example, here’s a snapshot of a LinkedIn profile from one of my former colleagues. You can see this person has solid technical SEO experience. This is what a good profile looks like—but it will cost you.

LinkedIn Resume Example For Technical SEO SpecialistLinkedIn Resume Example For Technical SEO Specialist

With an SEO of this caliber, you only need to spend a few hours consulting with them to work out your technical SEO issues. However, if you continuously spend money at the lower end of the spectrum, you may never get your technical SEO issues resolved.

Keyword research

If you want to rank on Google, you can try guessing what keywords will bring you traffic. Or you can reverse engineer what is already working in Google using data from tools like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.

For one or two keywords, you can research using our free keyword generator. But if you need a lot of keyword research, for instance, for a new website, then it could be a good idea to outsource it.

Cost

Keyword research on Upwork starts at ~$50, cheaper than most other SEO services mentioned here. But like many of the other SEO services mentioned here, there is good keyword research and bad keyword research.

What to look for

Potential risks

Here are the risks of outsourcing keyword research based on my experience:

Finding keyword research experts

Keyword research is usually provided as a standard part of an agency’s SEO services, but if you’re not with an agency, you can either hire a freelancer to do it or do your research using a tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer.

Over the years, I’ve spent a small fortune on freelancers. Some have been incredible, and some have been incredibly bad. Avoid the bad ones by following my hard-earned best practices.

Request these things when working with outsource partners

I’ve worked with many outsourcing partners in my agency career, from freelancers to external agencies. If I want to work with them, I always request three things:

Use a Kanban board to track progress toward your goals

Kanban boards are the perfect way to track tasks when outsourcing SEO, but many people overcomplicate them.

When I worked in an agency, I had a simple setup like the one below.

Kanban Board Example From AgencyKanban Board Example From Agency

I ran and managed a ~$50k pm enterprise SEO account, several external agencies, and a development team using this exact Kanban board format.

The lesson here: don’t overcomplicate things. You can use many tools, but my favorites are Notion and Trello.

Tip

Combine a Kanban board with a tool like Slack to quickly resolve queries from external agencies and freelancers.

Create standard operating procedures (SOPs)

Without clear SOPs, work can be easily misinterpreted, leading to last-minute revisions. Define tasks clearly from the start to ensure desired outcomes.

Create SOPs to define exactly what you want delivered. Otherwise, you will not get the desired output.

For basic tasks, you can create a basic SOP for free using a tool like Google Docs, Trello, or Notion. You can even use ChatGPT to create one.

Here’s an example of a prompt I used to create an SOP for Keyword Research using Ahrefs.

Using ChatGPT To Create Keyword Research SOPUsing ChatGPT To Create Keyword Research SOP

Or, for more complicated tasks that involve multiple tools, techniques, or processes, use a tool like Scribehow—it’s useful for quickly building more detailed SOPs that involve multiple tools or processes.

Using Scribehow To Create A Detailed SOPUsing Scribehow To Create A Detailed SOP

Set clear goals and monitor progress using Ahrefs

Once you’ve hired your outsource partner, you should establish clear delivery deadlines and schedule regular check-ins to ensure your delivery date is achievable.

But if you do not know SEO, how can you ensure the job has been completed well? You can use tools like Ahrefs to check.

Use Site Explorer’s Overview to check organic traffic and links and correlate the impact of content changes.

SEO Performance Increase, Via Ahrefs' Site ExplorerSEO Performance Increase, Via Ahrefs' Site Explorer

Use Site Audit to check technical SEO performance.

Site Audit Example ScreenshotSite Audit Example Screenshot

Use Keywords Explorer to double-check keyword research.

Keywords Explorer ScreenshotKeywords Explorer Screenshot

Use Rank Tracker to monitor important keyword rankings over time.

Rank Tracker ScreenshotRank Tracker Screenshot

If you have a copy of Ahrefs, you can monitor almost every aspect of what your outsource partner is doing. So, even if you aren’t doing SEO yourself but want to keep track of progress, it’s a useful tool.

Final thoughts

If you want to outsource SEO, there’s no shortage of people to fill the role, but finding your perfect outsourcing partner(s) is usually the biggest challenge.

To get the right partner, vet thoroughly, create SOPs, and set clear expectations and goals, and you won’t go far wrong. If you are unsure of the quality of the work delivered, you can double-check using tools like Ahrefs to monitor their progress.

Got questions? Let me know on LinkedIn.

 



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By Ryan Bullet

I am interested in SEO and IT, launching new projects and administering a webmasters forum.

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