SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a web marketing strategy designed to improve search rankings and attract customers, thereby boosting sales and branding. However, the scope of SEO tasks is quite broad, and it is not practical for a company to cover everything in-house. Thus, outsourcing becomes necessary. However, the cost of outsourcing can be surprisingly high, so it’s essential to implement cost-effective and successful strategies.

Especially for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that do not have large budgets, implementing affordable SEO is crucial to compete against larger companies. Therefore, selecting the right SEO company is a vital element in the success of web marketing.

What is SEO? 

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves optimizing your web presence to improve your ranking in search engine results, thereby increasing user engagement, inquiries, and utilizing it for branding. While web advertising can attract visitors, the traffic stops as soon as the ads are paused. Therefore, SEO is considered an effective web marketing strategy because it allows for continuous attraction of visitors, reduces marketing costs, and enhances your online presence.

In the 2010s, artificially increasing the number of links (a method known as black hat SEO) was effective in manipulating search rankings. However, in the 2020s, it has been found that focusing on user-first site improvements and enriching high-quality content yields better results. Thus, it is crucial to acquire correct knowledge and consistently apply it.

Numerous SEO companies provide SEO services, ranging from large marketing firms and advertising agencies to those specializing solely in SEO. These companies support a wide range of services, including pre-implementation research such as site design and keyword selection, on-site optimization, content creation, and off-site strategies.

Considering the complexity and the need to keep up with the latest information, most companies find it challenging to handle all SEO-related tasks internally and typically outsource all or part of these tasks to SEO companies. From a cost perspective, outsourcing SEO is often more feasible, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, where budget-friendly web marketing is crucial.

On-Site SEO (Internal SEO) 

On-site SEO refers to optimizing your own site or owned media to improve its rating by search engines and achieve higher search results. In Japan, SEO effectively means optimizing for Google, focusing on how easily Google can find and index the site and how well it can rate it.

SEO companies enhance on-site SEO by implementing the following improvements.

• Revising title tags
• Reviewing header tags
• Correcting meta descriptions
• Implementing SSL (ensuring the site is always served over HTTPS)
• Setting alt attributes for images
• Optimizing internal links
• Setting canonical tags
• Improving UI/UX
• Optimizing sitemaps
• Enhancing page load speeds
• Implementing structured data

Content SEO 

Google places a strong emphasis on content, aiming to rank high-quality content that meets user needs. Therefore, SEO companies analyze user needs, perform keyword research, and create content based on these insights. They also rewrite existing content to better meet user needs.

This process of creating new content or revising existing content to improve search rankings and attract visitors is known as content SEO.

SEO companies perform the following tasks for effective content SEO.

• User analysis (defining the target audience, creating personas, conducting keyword research)
• Keyword selection
• Competitor article analysis
• Creation of article structures
• Writing articles

Off-Site SEO (External SEO) 

Off-site SEO involves enhancing your site’s overall reputation through increasing links and exposure from external sites. The primary focus is on increasing links from external sites to your own, but it also involves increasing citations even without links and removing spam links.

Since this involves getting other sites to include information about your company, while challenging, strategies include conducting link outreach, creating campaigns that are likely to be widely shared, and increasing external visibility.

In the 2010s, off-site measures were central to SEO efforts, but they later led to penalties and decreased in popularity. However, they remain a critical ranking factor, so it is important to understand the correct techniques and continue implementing them persistently.

Choosing an Effective and Affordable SEO Company 

Many SEO companies exist, each with their areas of expertise, so choosing the right one is crucial for achieving results on a limited budget. Even within SEO companies, some are large or offer extensive services, which can be costly, so it’s essential to determine what services are necessary and what might be excessive for your company.

SEO companies vary greatly. Some perform comprehensive tasks from user analysis and keyword analysis to site redesign for optimization, while others focus on internal strategies and content creation, or aggressively pursue external links.

What to prioritize varies depending on the size of your company and the phase of your site, so it’s hard to give a one-size-fits-all answer. However, you should confirm the following four points at least when selecting an SEO company.

Focus on Revenue 

SEO means optimizing for search engines, so achieving a high search rank is considered a success. However, companies engage in SEO to increase sales or brand awareness, among other reasons. Therefore, you need an SEO company that doesn’t just aim to rank well for certain keywords but also focuses on how to achieve your overall objectives.

Typically, the ultimate goal of hiring an SEO company is to increase sales, so ensure you work with firms that can suggest how to boost sales through specific keywords.

Check for Industry-Specific Experience

SEO companies have various achievements, and their clients come from diverse industries. Some specialize in specific industries, so check if they have experience in your industry and how they’ve optimized other sites in it.

Even if the industry is the same, if the scale is vastly different, it might not be suitable for your company. In such cases, understanding what services they offer can increase your comprehension and help when comparing with other SEO companies.

Ensure Appropriate Costs

The pricing structure of SEO companies is broad, ranging from 50,000 yen to 1,000,000 yen per month, and may include initial fees or performance-based fees. Due to the broad scope of possible SEO activities, even generally effective services might be excessive or not cost-effective for your company. 

Therefore, you need to budget by estimating the costs you can afford and the time it will take to see results, which is commonly about six months.

SEO companies might offer additional options, so discuss in detail why these are necessary, if they are indeed needed, and the cost-effectiveness of these options before agreeing to a contract that fits your budget.

SEO Companies with Broader Web Marketing Knowledge 

Some SEO companies also handle tasks unrelated directly to SEO, such as website creation, coding, server management, ad operations, and SNS management, while others specialize solely in SEO. A lack of general web marketing knowledge can lead to difficulties in collaborating with other companies or mismatches in discussions with corporate representatives.

Especially in large SEO firms, which often employ inexperienced staff, there might be a lack of comprehensive web marketing knowledge. Smaller SEO firms may not have handled large-scale projects, which could result in proposals that don’t match the scale of your business.

Tips for Achieving Cost-Effective SEO Results 

Few companies can handle all aspects of SEO internally, and if you’re serious about web marketing, you’ll likely need to engage an SEO company. However, with a limited budget, it’s not feasible to implement everything.

Practically, you’ll need to prioritize tasks based on cost-effectiveness before outsourcing. Particularly when considering cost-effective SEO, it’s crucial to have dedicated personnel in your company to coordinate with the SEO firm, share necessary information for SEO, and ensure that crucial keywords are thoroughly discussed and decided upon with the SEO firm’s specialists.

Appointing an SEO Specialist

 While some companies might think they can outsource all tasks to an SEO company, this approach won’t maximize results. SEO companies are experts in SEO strategies but not necessarily in promoting your products or understanding your industry.

Often, SEO companies require directives in the form of an action plan, and the actual work might be done by the company that commissioned it. While some SEO firms offer to handle these tasks, this could involve additional costs as options, so if you can afford the manpower, it’s more cost-effective to perform tasks in-house.

Moreover, outsourcing what you can to an SEO company and keeping a dedicated in-house team can significantly reduce overall costs. When implementing cost-effective SEO measures, it’s necessary to decide what to execute and what to cut, sequentially addressing high cost-effectiveness tasks and establishing a cycle of implementation and verification for effective SEO.

Share All Necessary Data 

When implementing SEO, the first step is to analyze the current situation. Therefore, if you have data or strategies from the past, you need to share as much as possible with the SEO company. Even larger companies often have poor data management, and some might not even understand basic tools like GA4 or Google Search Console, which are essential for SEO.

Without any data, analysis cannot be performed, which might delay the keyword selection process. This delay could lead to unnecessary time and costs, so it’s crucial to establish a system to collect and share data early in the process.

Take Time for Keyword Selection 

A common practice when hiring an SEO company is for the business to set big keywords. While there is no problem if the selected big keywords are suitable for your site, often they are not optimized, and a reassessment might be necessary. The choice of keywords is case-by-case, but keyword selection is a critical step in the SEO process, and it’s important to take time with the SEO company and your company’s representative to find the optimal ones.

Sometimes, SEO companies may ask the client to set the keywords. However, it’s important to understand that this approach is not always the best.

Summary 

SEO is a crucial strategy in web marketing, but when considering the costs involved with other tactics such as advertising, SNS, email marketing, and video marketing, budget becomes a significant concern. Especially in SEO, where effects are not guaranteed and can take time to manifest, minimizing costs is a frequent business challenge. While it’s natural to strive for cost-effective and impactful SEO, choosing the wrong SEO company can lead to significant missed opportunities, and without a proper internal structure, it’s difficult to achieve optimal results. Particularly when attempting to succeed in SEO on a budget, it’s more about what not to do than what to do. Avoiding unnecessary services and focusing on cost-effective SEO firms is crucial for your company’s strategy.

Author Profile

International Web Consultant Paveena Suphawet

A trilingual professional in English, Thai, and Japanese, she has numerous achievements in international SEO. She studied the latest IT technologies at Assumption International University, Thailand, and majored in International Business at the University of Greenwich, UK. Following her tenure at ExxonMobil’s Thai branch, she became a key member of Admano from its establishment.

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