Outsource Telemarketing to India

Chances are excellent that if you have talked to anyone recently about creating or upgrading your website, you will have heard the words SEO or search engine optimization.  However, it is probable that even those who promise to provide search optimization would be hard pressed to explain the term in a way that would make sense to the average neophyte on the subject of internet marketing.

A working definition of the term SEO or search engine optimization might be “The practice of structuring a web page in order to create the highest possible number of search results at the highest rank".  For a time, search engine optimization meant placing a keyword or keywords as many times as possible on the web page.  Sometimes this practice meant that there would be a list of keywords blatantly placed on the web page in order to capture as many search queries as possible.  The list of keywords may or may not have anything to do with the product marketed on the website.

As the search engines became more sophisticated, so did the methods of optimizing the keywords.  In fact a great deal of effort was expended by both sides in order that the web designers could guarantee an increase in the page rank, and from the search engine programmers side only legitimate placement of words on the website would be rewarded by a high page ranking.

Search engine optimization is far more than placing a magic string of words in exact positions on the pages that make up a web site, although words that are used are important. Not only the words about the product are important, but synonyms and word order is important.  For instance, a person looking online for automobile insurance might type in the keyword 'automobile insurance' but they might also ask for a search on 'car insurance'. Vehicle insurance, auto insurance, auto insurance coverage, car insurance company, insurance - auto, and so on.

If you can create a website which uses most or all of those terms in a natural manner, it is likely that your web page will rank higher than either a business that uses the keyword only once or one that uses it too many times so that the text on the website sounds awkward.  After all, even if a human reader is directed to your page, it will need to make sense once he arrives there.

The pros and cons to outsourcing a critical online business process like SEO to a remote company thousands of miles away? If you can do your SEO for a third of the cost then you’re saving money. But how much are you really saving, and what are you giving up in return?

First of all let’s take a very quick look at what’s involved in the process of SEO:

1. Competitive analysis (looking at the competition online to see how good they are, and how much work is needed to get in front of them)
2. Keyword research to ensure that you’re being searched for the most relevant keywords for your business
3. Tag and title optimization
4. SEO copywriting

Why Would You Outsource SEO to India?

Language Barriers:

The very first things you will be faced with are language barriers. They do exist and can be a major challenge when communicating requirements. It is a MUST that you provide a complete IBSD (Internet Business Specifications Document) to the Offshore SEO team. If you don't have it in writing, you're going to be plagued with miscommunication issues; I guarantee it, unless of course there is an English speaking intermediary (Project Manager). That puts the onus on them to handle the communication issues and takes some of the language barrier issue out of the equation.

Knowledge Barriers:

There are certain Offshore SEO's that reside in specific parts of the world who appear to be operating under the premise that it is 1999 again. For many, links are the only SEO they know and that is what I find most Offshore SEOs providing, some form of link development.

Commodity SEO:

I classify most Offshore SEO as a commodity. Based on what I see being produced, it is being treated as a commodity by those in certain parts of the world. I'm sorry, but SEO cannot be commoditized like that. You don't take a client's money and then sit there and submit to hundreds of directories that you may own and/or partners within your network may own. If that is what you call SEO, you've missed the boat.

Time Zones:

There may be a 24 hour delay in getting things done, depending on which country your Offshore SEO resides in and the type of service plan provided. Come Friday morning here in the U.S., the weekend has already begun for many SEOs offshore. So, out of the box, you lose one day of the work week. In most cases, you'll have Monday through Thursday for communications and those will usually be delayed based on time zones.

Add to that the normal time frames for work to be performed and you'll find in many instances that it will take a bit longer to get things done. Remember, this is all relevant to the Offshore SEO and their methods of operation. This does not apply to everyone but does appear to apply to the majority.

Outsource to India for your Internet marketing requirements, application development, etc. can save you money that appears to be the dominating factor when outsourcing work offshore. But, does that one factor outweigh all the other potential challenges you will be faced with in an offshore environment? If you can find a professional project manager locally who can handle all of the above for you, then you may find your offshore experience to be a pleasant one.