Search engine optimization remains a standard part of every ecommerce business owners marketing package. The question becomes how do you make it happen?
SEO is not a one size fits all kind of strategy. It is possible to be a do it yourselfer or a fully hands-off client of an SEO firm...or fit somewhere in the middle. The best approach for your company depends on a variety of factors.
Turn Key
Turn key is the luxury approach to SEO. The turn key approach means that you essentially turn over the day to day operation of the search engine optimization function to an SEO company. Typically you meet with the company initially establish the goals for your website undergo an analysis of the site to identify the issues then the company recommends a plan that may include site changes keyword changes and so on. You and the company negotiate a fee for the company to make the appropriate changes conduct website analysis and carry out SEO campaigns as necessary. You evaluate their work based on your sites metrics such as traffic bounce rate conversions and so on.
Sounds great and it can be as long as you can afford this level of vendor attention. On the other hand if the SEO services provided work as effectively as the SEO company says that they should you should be seeing sufficient return for your investment that the turn key approach pays for itself and provides a comfortable return on top of that.
So why does not everyone do it? There is a base cost associated with any sort of functional outsourcing. If you can not afford to underwrite the base cost that is don not have the cash flow then you can not get started. Secondly if your overall business does not generate enough revenue to cover base costs it simply is not a good investment to use a turnkey operation. You are relegated to an alternative strategy.
By the slice services
If you can not afford the entire enchilada you may be able to make a by the slice approach work. In this case you undergo the analysis usually to understand what your site needs. Then you pay for those services that will give you the most bang for the buck. For example you might like to do social media marketing but that provides a longer term return where link building is more likely to improve conversions more quickly so you buy link building service now then invest in other services as you can afford them. The key here is to understand the value of each service and prioritize based on greatest return.
Guru service
Sometimes all you need is to be pointed in the right direction. You have the manpower or the skill within the organization to make the changes exsampal write content or make website changes but you don not have enough in depth knowledge of SEO to know what makes the most sense to do. In that case you hire a consultant who advises you on the best approach and you operationalize the strategies yourself. This approach can be very effective because you are paying for expertise but not hands.
DIY SEO
DIY SEO is toughest because it means that you have to stay on top of the techniques by reading articles visiting forums etc and then do the work yourself as well. Obviously it is the least expensive because it is your time and as you know you often use you time in lieu of having the money to pay for an expert. This strategy can work and certainly keeps you intimately involved in your marketing but it is a big demand on your time.
The choice of approach is really driven by your financial situation and the personnel resources you have available to do the work.