So you’re convinced that outsourcing your SEO activities is the best course to take for your business. I think that this is a good decision – especially if you really don’t have the expertise to carry out your SEO. Yet you also have to realize that not all SEO services are the same. There are countless companies that offer their services with regard to SEO out there, how do you decide on which one to deal with? Here are some questions that you may want to ask potential SEO service providers.

What is your track record?
This actually applies to most any service that you outsource. You can begin with the background of the company and the businesses they have worked for. For SEO companies, in particular, they should be able to show several web sites that they have serviced and the results they got. Four to six web sites at the tops of SERPs should be good enough.

Can you provide customer testimonials?
Ask if they can provide you with the contact information of some of their customers and if you can get in touch with the directly so that you can ask them specific questions about the SEO company’s services. If they have nothing to hide, then they should be able to do this. On your part, ensure that the customers are real and not fabricated.

What is their proposed strategy?
Even if you are not well-versed in SEO, you should at least have an idea as to what path the SEO company is going to take to achieve your goals. You may even give your own input as you see fit. This is also a good way to determine that their service is legitimate.

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Three days ago, I talked about how outsourcing can help search marketers. Today I’ll give some places where you can find workers.

Craigslist

Most everyone knows about Craigslist. Craigslist is the biggest classifieds in the whole world, offline and online. It’s one of the most trafficked sites, so you should get a lot of applicants for your job offer.

The Craiglist domain has multiple subdomains. Each subdomain is for a city. To reach the most people, you need to post in multiple cities. Some cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco charge a fee, but most of the cities offer free job postings.

With all the traffic Craigslist attracts, you need a good way to evaluate many applicants. Here’s a blog post filled with good advice: Finding Good Writers For Your Blogs. The author talks about Craiglist in the second half of his post. The post is about hiring bloggers, but you can use some of the principles to evaluate other workers.

Constant Content

This is my favorite place to get content. You can buy content that’s already written or make requests for content. If you make a request, you don’t have to buy the requested article unless you like it. Also, you’ll get articles from different writers for each request. I like having multiple articles to choose from.

Constant Content requires every writer to publish at least 33% of their content. For example, if you request a 300 word article, you’ll be able to see at least 100 words before you decide to buy it or not. Most writers post 75% while some will publish 100%.

If you’re used to $5 writers, this site is not for you. The writers at Constant Content are used to making at least $15 for a 400 word article. However, they’re usually better than the writers I’ve found at freelance sites like ScriptLance.

Freelance Sites

Elance, Guru, ScriptLance, and RentACoder are 4 of the most well-known freelance sites. You can find writers, programmers, and web designers. Elance and Guru even have administrative workers, marketers, and accountants.

The thing to look for in these sites is the worker’s feedback. You can try contacting the people they’ve worked for if you want more information about them. Also, if I’m working with someone new, I like to start off with a small project to test out their skills.

Direct Contact

If you need a social media marketer, find a Digg or Netscape member with multiple front page stories. If you like a web app, hire the coder who wrote it. If you see a site design you like, contact the webmaster and ask for the designer’s email address. If you like the writing style of a blogger, see if they would work for you.

References

Just like the real world, this is an excellent way to find quality workers. Ask your friends if they know of any freelancers looking for a job. Ask your business contacts for recommendations.

Your Turn

These tips and sites are by no means comprehensive. If you have other tips and sites to add to the list, please leave them in the comments.

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Yesterday I talked about the increasing skillset of search marketers. I wrote about the importance of writing and networking. These two tasks already add to the search marketer’s many responsibilities. The average search marketer may find himself doing many tasks like keyword research, directory submission, on-page optimization, buying links, and social media marketing. Luckily, you can outsource all these tasks and save yourself a lot of headache. Outsourcing saves time and allows you to focus on your strengths.

It’s hard to find a search marketer who’s good at all the SEO tasks. And even if you’re good at all the tasks, you can increase your ROI by outsourcing tasks to someone who’s better than you at those tasks.

Think of the SEO tasks you like to do and are good at. Outsource the rest of the tasks. If you don’t have the cash to outsource, start saving money. Outsourcing allows to you enjoy your work more because you’re only doing what you want to do.

For example, I like doing keyword research. It’s one of my favorite SEO activities. I like finding a low competition keyword that has a good click value or relates to a good affiliate offer. Some of you may think I’m crazy for enjoying keyword research, but this task fits my personality.

However, I don’t like to write unless I’m writing about a subject I’m familiar with. Also, I’m a pretty slow writer. So, whenever I work on a site in an unfamiliar niche, I hire someone else to do the writing.

I have a client that wanted SEO work done on his skin care site. I don’t know anything about skin care. To save time, I hired someone to write the content. This cut into my profits, but it saved me a lot of time. I used that time to find other clients and work on my own sites.

If you don’t like to submit to directories, go to Digital Point and find someone to do it for you.

If you struggle with your affiliate conversions, hire someone to optimize your landing pages.

If you want to leverage social media but are not creative enough to write linkbait, find a right-brainer who writes interesting content.

My point is that everything can be outsourced. And the more you outsource, the more you can work in your areas of strength. This focus on your strengths will lead to increased efficiency, effectiveness, and enjoyment.

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