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Hi, I brought SEO in-house whilst working for a leading UK retailer in the Electronics Sector. One thing that frustrated me most whilst working client side (especially for a large brand) is that many Search Agencies exploit the often naivity of online teams when it comes to SEO and can make a small fortune out of work they claim to be doing but never actually are. It's also common that because many external agencies don't have the technical web design skills within their own company much of the service is based on recommendations that need to be implemented by your own team (which inevitably never make it past your inbox) or off-site SEO in the form of link building. Not all agencies follow this method and I'm certainly not trying to condemn fellow service providers in this sector but from my experience (of having many agencies pitch to me in the past) there was ample opportunity for PPC service providers to branch out into SEO based on their expertise and reputation within the PPC sector. Once SEO became a familiar phrase a few years ago there was plenty of demand but a limited choice of specialists (particularly for established retailers who already had an online presence). One of the reasons I set up my own Search Marketing agency was that I spotted a gap in the market for an agency that could offer transparent task lists and implement our own recommendations onto our client's websites. Leaving our client's marketing, design and content teams to get on with their day to day roles with the piece of mind that we would ensure their sites and content are optimised correctly. Our client's know exactly what we are doing each month and we provide the proof in a monthly review to ensure that trust is always present between supplier and customer. From my background I started off as a web designer learning my SEO trade over a period of 10 years so when I had agencies pitch to me I wanted to know more than how they would just link to my site through keyword rich anchor text. Naming no names but one of the largest UK search agencies once struggled in a pitch when I prompted them for service offering beyond 'fuzzy links' and 'targeted article submission'! SEO is a specialist trade and there are many factors to creating a succesful SEO strategy and of course implementing it. My advice would be to build a team around content and have competent designers that can code correctly (avoid image based content). A central figure (in the role you mentioned) could then either work with a consultant/agency to ensure that site structure, coding, search engine accessibility, off-site SEO and of course content is optimised correctly when added to the site. They should also ideally work closely with a Site Development Manager to push through any platform enhancements (which will be common on an ecommerce site). If you can find someone to work in-house that has the expertise and can manage all the above directly then great, but someone of this calibre and a track record won't come cheap. Hope that helps! Chris

Hi, I brought SEO in-house whilst working for a leading UK retailer in the Electronics Sector. One thing that frustrated me most whilst working client side (especially for a large brand) is that many Search Agencies exploit the often naivity of online teams when it comes to SEO and can make a small fortune out of work they claim to be doing but never actually are.  It's also common that because many external agencies don't have the technical web design skills within their own company much of the service is based on recommendations that need to be implemented by your own team (which inevitably never make it past your inbox) or off-site SEO in the form of link building. Not all agencies follow this method and I'm certainly not trying to condemn fellow service providers in this sector but from my experience (of having many agencies pitch to me in the past) there was ample opportunity for PPC service providers to branch out into SEO based on their expertise and reputation within the PPC sector.  Once SEO became a familiar phrase a few years ago there was plenty of demand but a limited choice of specialists (particularly for established retailers who already had an online presence). One of the reasons I set up my own Search Marketing agency was that I spotted a gap in the market  for an agency that could offer transparent task lists and implement our own recommendations onto our client's websites. Leaving our client's marketing, design and content teams to get on with their day to day roles with the piece of mind that we would ensure their sites and content are optimised correctly. Our client's know exactly what we are doing each month and we provide the proof in a monthly review to ensure that trust is always present between supplier and customer. From my background I started off as a web designer learning my SEO trade over a period of 10 years so when I had agencies pitch to me I wanted to know more than how they would just link to my site through keyword rich anchor text. Naming no names but one of the largest UK search agencies once struggled in a pitch when I prompted them for service offering beyond 'fuzzy links' and 'targeted article submission'! SEO is a specialist trade and there are many factors to creating a succesful SEO strategy and of course implementing it. My advice would be to build a team around content and have competent designers that can code correctly (avoid image based content). A central figure (in the role you mentioned) could then either work with a consultant/agency to ensure that site structure, coding, search engine accessibility, off-site SEO and of course content is optimised correctly when added to the site. They should also ideally work closely with a Site Development Manager to push through any platform enhancements (which will be common on an ecommerce site). If you can find someone to work in-house that has the expertise and can manage all the above directly then great, but someone of this calibre and a track record won't come cheap. Hope that helps!   Chris

2009-11-05T13:28:36+00:00

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http://econsultancy.com/forums/best-practice/bringing-seo-in-house?page=1

2009-11-05T13:28:36+00:00

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