SEO
Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts?
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts?](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658369_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.jpg)
Website traffic data normally looks like this:
Ups and downs, peaks and troughs.
If we’re doing our job properly, we generally expect traffic to trend upwards over time, but in any given month, it’s difficult to say whether a peak or a trough is worth paying attention to.
Did we do something great and trigger a new phase of growth? Did we benefit from a new Google update? Or is it just normal variation, part of the natural ebb and flow of people finding our website?
Or suppose you make a change to your content process—you pruned and redirected a bunch of old content—and then traffic dropped the next month. Was that drop caused by the change, or was it just a coincidence?
I’ve been experimenting with a simple statistical tool designed to help answer these questions: XmR charts, also known as process control charts.
Here’s an XmR chart:
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.jpg)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.jpg)
XmR charts are designed to tell you whether any single data point from a time series is likely to be caused by normal fluctuation (“routine variation”) or a sign that something happened and needs to be investigated (“exceptional variation”).
XmR charts consist of an X plot (named after the x-value, the “thing” we care about—like widgets produced or sales closed)…
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 562 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_562_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 562 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_562_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
…and an MR plot (named after the moving range, basically the “gap” between each data point):
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 191 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_191_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 191 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_191_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
In its simplest use, if you plot your data on the chart and it wiggles up and down around the central line, without crossing the upper and lower bounds—no problem! These ups and downs likely represent normal variation.
But any points that appear outside the upper or lower bounds (shown in red) should be treated as anomalies that need to be investigated.
In the X plot above, the time series seems to show routine variation until January 16th, when the first red out-of-bounds point appears.
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 804 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_804_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 804 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_804_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
The XmR chart suggests that something happened on the 16th to mess with our production process (for better or for worse). Our job is to investigate why.
Sidenote.
The line in the middle is the average value of the dataset; the upper and lower bounds represent 3-standard deviations away from the average (known as three-sigma). Any point that falls outside of these upper and lower bounds is very likely to be an anomaly, and not part of the original probability distribution.
There are other “signals” that the XmR chart can show you (like eight consecutive points on one side of the average line representing another type of exceptional variation)—but I will leave you to investigate those on your own time.
When I started reading about XmR charts, one obvious use came to mind: identifying the impact of Google algorithm updates.
If a site’s traffic tanks to zero, it’s easy to say “we were hit by a manual penalty.” But for smaller changes, like a few months’ consecutive traffic decline, it’s harder to work out the cause. Did we get caught out by a Google update? Is it seasonality? Or is it just a coincidence, with traffic likely to return to normal in the future?
Here’s two years of monthly organic traffic data for the Ahrefs blog, pulled from Site Explorer and plotted on an XmR chart:
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 298 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_298_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 298 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_298_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
Now… this is not particularly useful.
There are tons of data points outside the expected range (red), with very few sitting nearer the center line than the quartile limits (orange).
The XmR chart is supposed to show exceptional variation in a consistent process—but in this image, almost all of the data points suggest exceptional variation. What gives?
Process charts were designed around simple manufacturing processes, and they work very well when the expected output of a process is constant.
If your goal is manufacturing 10,000 widgets each and every week, an XmR chart will help you work out if that 5,600-widget month was a normal “blip” in routine operation, or caused by a real problem that needs to be investigated.
Website traffic is more complicated. There are tons of variables that impact traffic:
- the fluctuating search volume of each topic,
- individual ranking positions,
- new competing articles,
- search features,
- seasonality,
- publishing frequency,
- Google algorithm updates…
That means that running an XmR analysis on a long series of traffic data probably won’t be very helpful. Your “blogging process” is not likely to remain stable for very long.
In my case, this particular two-year snapshot of data probably doesn’t come from a single, stable process—there may be multiple probability distributions hidden in there.
But we can make the analysis more useful.
The best practice for XmR charts is to limit the analysis to a period of time when you know the process was relatively static, and recalculate it when you suspect something has changed.
Looking at the Moving Range chart for this data below, large amounts of traffic variance happened in November and December. We should investigate possible causes.
I know that our publishing frequency was fairly static (we definitely didn’t double our content output). Seasonality would cause a traffic drop, not a spike (we’re writing about SEO, not holiday gift guides).
But there was a big Google update at the start of December:
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 313 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_313_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 313 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_313_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
If we work on the assumption that something happened to our blog process around this time—likely a change to traffic caused by the Google update—we can add a divider to our XmR chart.
Instead of trying to analyze our traffic as a single process, we can treat it as two processes, and calculate XmR charts separately:
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 499 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_499_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 499 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_499_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
Now the first process looks stable (all black dots). The second process shows less extreme variation (red) too, but there’s still too much moderate variation (orange) to look stable. There may be another process lurking within.
And per a rule of thumb for analyzing XmR charts: “the duration of an XmR chart needs to be revisited when a ‘long-run’ of data remains above or below the Average line.” This trend begins in late summer (which is also around the time that Google announced another core update):
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 566 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_566_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 566 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_566_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
We can add another divider at the start of this “long-run” of data to create three separate XmR analyses:
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 941 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_941_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 941 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_941_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
In doing so, all three analyses seem stable, with no points of extreme variance. In other words, we seem to have done a good job at capturing three distinct processes happening within our traffic data.
From this analysis, there seems to be a good chance that our traffic was impacted by external factors around the time of two major Google updates.
Now… this is basically a post-hoc data torturing exercise. We can’t infer any causation from this analysis, and it’s entirely possible that other arbitrary divisions would yield similar results.
But that’s okay. These charts can’t give you definitive, concrete reasons why your traffic changed, but they can tell you where to look, and help you work out whether troubleshooting a traffic dip or spike is a good use of your time.
The ultimate measure of a model’s usefulness is its ability to help you predict things. Will XmR charts help me do a better job running the Ahrefs blog in the future?
I think yes.
Assuming my “blog process” remains relatively stable—I publish at the same frequency, target the same topics, compete with the same competitors—I now have a set of “stable” data that I can use to provide extra context for future traffic numbers:
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 754 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_754_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658366 754 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658366_754_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
In the months that follow, I can work out whether dips or spikes in our traffic are likely the result of normal variance, or whether something has changed that requires my attention—like a Google update.
If, for example, my traffic does this next month…
…I know that—given this distribution—that traffic drop could well be normal, unexciting variance.
But if it does this…
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658367 676 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658367_676_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
![Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts? 1721658367 676 Can You Spot Google Updates with XmR Charts](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1721658367_676_Can-You-Spot-Google-Updates-with-XmR-Charts.png)
…there’s probably something else at work.
With extreme traffic changes you can usually “eyeball” traffic charts and guess what happened. But XmR charts are useful for more subtle variations, and there’s a chance I will be able to identify and act on just a single month’s worth of data. That’s pretty cool.
Final thoughts
Troubleshooting traffic changes is a big challenge for SEOs and content marketers (and we’re working on a few ways to help you identify the signal amongst the noise of your traffic data).
In the meantime, I have found XmR charts an interesting tool in my toolkit, useful for contextualizing my monthly reporting numbers and justifying when I should (or shouldn’t) spend my energy troubleshooting a down month.
(At the very least, XmR charts might just give you the confidence necessary to say “get off my back” when that VP sends you a brusque 3AM email complaining about last month’s 8% traffic dip.)
Sidenote.
Thanks to Benyamin Elias, VP of Marketing at Podia, for introducing me to XmR charts.
SEO
Google’s New Support For AVIF Images May Boost SEO
![Google's New Support For AVIF Images May Boost SEO Google's New Support For AVIF Images May Boost SEO](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Googles-New-Support-For-AVIF-Images-May-Boost-SEO.jpg)
Google announced that images in the AVIF file format will now be eligible to be shown in Google Search and Google Images, including all platforms that surface Google Search data. AVIF will dramatically lower image sizes and improve Core Web Vitals scores, particularly Largest Contentful Paint.
How AVIF Can Improve SEO
Getting pages crawled and indexed are the first step of effective SEO. Anything that lowers file size and speeds up web page rendering will help search crawlers get to the content faster and improve the amount of pages crawled.
Google’s crawl budget documentation recommends increasing the speeds of page loading and rendering as a way to avoid receiving “Hostload exceeded” warnings.
It also says that faster loading times enables Googlebot to crawl more pages:
Improve your site’s crawl efficiency
Increase your page loading speed
Google’s crawling is limited by bandwidth, time, and availability of Googlebot instances. If your server responds to requests quicker, we might be able to crawl more pages on your site.
What Is AVIF?
AVIF (AVI Image File Format) is a next generation open source image file format that combines the best of JPEG, PNG, and GIF image file formats but in a more compressed format for smaller image files (by 50% for JPEG format).
AVIF supports transparency like PNG and photographic images like JPEG does but does but with a higher level of dynamic range, deeper blacks, and better compression (meaning smaller file sizes). AVIF even supports animation like GIF does.
AVIF Versus WebP
AVIF is generally a better file format than WebP in terms of smaller files size (compression) and image quality. WebP is better for lossless images, where maintaining high quality regardless of file size is more important. But for everyday web usage, AVIF is the better choice.
See also: 12 Important Image SEO Tips You Need To Know
Is AVIF Supported?
AVIF is currently supported by Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, and Safari browsers. Not all content management systems support AVIF. However, both WordPress and Joomla support AVIF. In terms of CDN, Cloudflare also already supports AVIF.
I couldn’t at this time ascertain whether Bing supports AVIF files and will update this article once I find out.
Current website usage of AVIF stands at 0.2% but now that it’s available to surfaced in Google Search, expect that percentage to grow. AVIF images will probably become a standard image format because of its high compression will help sites perform far better than they currently do with JPEG and PNG formats.
Research conducted in July 2024 by Joost de Valk (founder of Yoast, ) discovered that social media platforms don’t all support AVIF files. He found that LinkedIn, Mastodon, Slack, and Twitter/X do not currently support AVIF but that Facebook, Pinterest, Threads and WhatsApp do support it.
AVIF Images Are Automatically Indexable By Google
According to Google’s announcement there is nothing special that needs to be done to make AVIF image files indexable.
“Over the recent years, AVIF has become one of the most commonly used image formats on the web. We’re happy to announce that AVIF is now a supported file type in Google Search, for Google Images as well as any place that uses images in Google Search. You don’t need to do anything special to have your AVIF files indexed by Google.”
Read Google’s announcement:
Supporting AVIF in Google Search
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Cast Of Thousands
SEO
CMOs Called Out For Reliance On AI Content For SEO
![CMOs Called Out For Reliance On AI Content For SEO CMOs Called Out For Reliance On AI Content For SEO](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/CMOs-Called-Out-For-Reliance-On-AI-Content-For-SEO.jpg)
Eli Schwartz, Author of Product-Led SEO, started a discussion on LinkedIn about there being too many CMOs (Chief Marketing Officers) who believe that AI written content is an SEO strategy. He predicted that there will be reckoning on the way after their strategies end in failure.
This is what Eli had to say:
“Too many CMOs think that AI-written content is an SEO strategy that will replace actual SEO.
This mistake is going to lead to an explosion in demand for SEO strategists to help them fix their traffic when they find out they might have been wrong.”
Everyone in the discussion, which received 54 comments, strongly agreed with Eli, except for one guy.
What Is Google’s Policy On AI Generated Content?
Google’s policy hasn’t changed although they did update their guidance and spam policies on March 5, 2024 at the same time as the rollout of the March 2024 Core Algorithm Update. Many publishers who used AI to create content subsequently reported losing rankings.
Yet it’s not said that using AI is enough to merit poor rankings, it’s content that is created for ranking purposes.
Google wrote these guidelines specifically for autogenerated content, including AI generated content (Wayback machine copy dated March 6, 2024)
“Our long-standing spam policy has been that use of automation, including generative AI, is spam if the primary purpose is manipulating ranking in Search results. The updated policy is in the same spirit of our previous policy and based on the same principle. It’s been expanded to account for more sophisticated scaled content creation methods where it isn’t always clear whether low quality content was created purely through automation.
Our new policy is meant to help people focus more clearly on the idea that producing content at scale is abusive if done for the purpose of manipulating search rankings and that this applies whether automation or humans are involved.”
Many in Eli’s discussion were in agreement that reliance on AI by some organizations may come to haunt them, except for that one guy in the discussion
Read the discussion on LinkedIn:
Too many CMOs think that AI-written content is an SEO strategy that will replace actual SEO
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Cast Of Thousands
SEO
Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices)](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966769_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
Struggling to find time for essential SEO tasks? Outsourcing SEO might be the solution.
Outsourcing SEO allows you to leverage expert knowledge and free up time for other critical aspects of your business.
To outsource effectively, you’ll need to hire an SEO freelancer or an SEO agency and decide what parts of your SEO campaign you want to delegate.
In this beginner’s guide, I’ll explain what SEO outsourcing is, share services often outsourced, and discuss best practices based on my agency experience.
I’m guessing you clicked on this post to see if outsourcing SEO is right for your business. But what is it exactly?
SEO outsourcing involves hiring an external agency or freelancers to handle SEO tasks. Whether you need a freelancer for keyword research or a full-service agency to handle every aspect of SEO, outsourcing can be tailored to your specific needs.
For example, it could look like this—with a single SEO freelancer supporting your company.
But, if your business needs more support, a lone freelancer may not be enough, and you may need to outsource SEO to a dedicated agency, which might look like this.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Company Outsourcing Parts of Its SEO Campaign to an SEO Agency Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_536_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Company Outsourcing Parts of Its SEO Campaign to an SEO Agency Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_536_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
And sometimes, a company may outsource parts of its SEO campaign to a mix of freelancers and agencies, as illustrated below.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Company Outsourcing SEO Campaign to Mix of Freelancers and Agencies Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_890_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Company Outsourcing SEO Campaign to Mix of Freelancers and Agencies Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_890_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
The reality is outsourcing SEO takes different forms and depends on your business needs.
So, when should you consider outsourcing SEO? There are two main reasons:
- The first is urgency – If you need a project delivered within a short timeframe, outsourcing SEO is usually the best option because hiring a full-time employee takes time to hire and train them
- The second is budget – Outsourcing SEO is usually more cost-effective than hiring a full-time employee because you can hire freelancers for specific tasks and not have to pay benefits or salary
There are also more specific reasons where SEO outsourcing can be beneficial.
For instance, if you:
- Need very specific SEO expertise – e.g., Law firm SEO, plumbing SEO, dental SEO, etc.
- Need to reduce the workload for in-house teams quickly
- Need speed and efficiency of delivery
- Have a new client but don’t have time to hire an FTE
- Want a hands-off approach to SEO
- Want to focus on an area of SEO you’re good at rather than something you’re not
If these feel like familiar challenges, it’s worth considering outsourcing SEO.
If you want to outsource your entire SEO strategy and don’t have much knowledge of SEO yourself, then an agency is probably the best option (assuming you’re willing to pay $1001+ per month.)
Here’s why.
- You get access to an account manager and a team of SEO experts
- You also get access to the best tools in the business – Although agency fees are typically higher than a freelancer’s, agencies often have access to many different tools, some of which could be unaffordable for either your company or a freelancer
- You get expertise – Agency SEOs don’t just work on one client. They work on many different client accounts spanning many different industries – they bring this expertise to the table in every meeting
However, if you’re looking to outsource a specific part of your SEO strategy, such as content, keyword research, or link building, and you’re working on a tight budget, then it could be better to start talking to a freelancer.
- Freelancers are usually more cost-effective – They usually have fewer overheads than agencies. According to Josh’s SEO pricing study, SEO agencies charge 138% more than freelancers
- Freelancers are often faster to work with – Due to less paperwork and onboarding processes
Both agencies and freelancers can meet your SEO needs, but your choice depends on your desired level of involvement and budget.
To summarize, SEO agencies are ideal for businesses with a hands-off approach or a larger budget. Freelancers are best for accessing specialized knowledge within a tighter budget.
Outsourcing allows you to delegate time-consuming or complex SEO tasks without overburdening your team.
Here are some key services you can outsource in SEO.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) SEO Outsourcing Examples Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_741_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) SEO Outsourcing Examples Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_741_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
As there are at least 67 types of SEO, I can’t cover every service here, but you get the idea—almost everything in SEO can be outsourced for a price.
Here are the most common outsourced SEO services based on my previous agency experience.
Content creation
Sometimes content creation can become overwhelming, and you may need extra support. Outsourcing parts of your content creation can help ease the workload.
So, what do you need to know when outsourcing content? These are the most important considerations:
- What it costs to outsource content
- What to look for when outsourcing content
- What risks are there with outsourcing content
Cost
The cost of outsourcing content can vary a lot. You can pay as little as a few dollars or thousands of dollars per article. It depends on your budget.
Ahrefs’ study into cheap vs expensive freelance writers revealed that the median cost of a writer was ~$0.15 per word. It may be more or less depending on what region you’re in, but this gives you a benchmark of what you can expect to pay for content.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Cost Of A Content Writer Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Cost Of A Content Writer Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
In my experience, I’ve never hired a writer for as cheap as $0.02 per word. I usually pay ~$0.20 upwards for content. The reason: I’ve learned through experience that very cheap content, although tempting, often requires a lot of editing.
This, in my opinion, defeats the purpose of outsourcing SEO in the first place—as you either have to edit yourself or hire an editor. Sometimes, it’s just better to get a decent writer the first time around.
What to look for
Here are the key things I looked for when hiring content writers at my previous SEO agency:
- Understands the content brief and requires minimal “hand holding”
- Native-language speaker
- Proven experience in writing about the topic
- Responsive to feedback
Potential risks
There are three key risks of outsourcing content:
- AI or automation – The cheaper your content writer is, the higher the chances they may be using automation or AI to create the content. Ask your writers how they create their content. Using AI doesn’t mean your content won’t rank in Google, but it is something to be aware of because your writer may not have even reviewed the content themselves
- Yawn-inducing content that sends your readers into a coma – Freelance writers are less invested in your brand, so they may not convey much personality in their writing. Counteract this by creating detailed briefs instructing the writer on your brand’s tone of voice
- Over-optimized SEO content – Sometimes, writers go overboard mentioning specific keywords or having an H2 heading every three sentences: “FoR tHe SeO.” Counteract this by instructing them what the headings should be and how they should mention keywords
Finding content creators
Need a reliable content writer? Here’s where I usually start looking.
If you need a longer-term commitment on a bigger scale, working with a content agency might be a better option.
Tip
Keep a spreadsheet of your favorite freelance writers and agencies, including their rates, your review, and their specialization.
Link building
Like content, link building is often outsourced for the same reason—it’s time-consuming.
So, what do you need to know when outsourcing link building? These are the most important considerations:
- What it costs to outsource link building
- What to look for when outsourcing link building
- What risks are there with outsourcing link building
Cost
Sure, you can buy links from Fiverr for five bucks, but these links won’t help you rank in Google for long—or at all.
So, what’s the average cost of link building? Well, it depends…
For example, it depends on your location:
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Average Price of Links Across Europe Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_582_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Average Price of Links Across Europe Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_582_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
And the type of link building you’re doing.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Most Popular Link Building Tactics Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_335_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Most Popular Link Building Tactics Illustration](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_335_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
Sidenote.
Before we proceed, it’s worth noting that Google considers buying links for ranking purposes a link spam technique — so take my advice here at your own risk.
What to look for
Here are the key things I looked for when hiring link builders at my previous SEO agency:
- Can build high-quality links that help improve rankings
- Has a reputation for ranking websites in the industry I was looking for
- Understands what a high-quality backlink looks like
- Creates the links themselves in-house
Potential risks
The number one risk of outsourcing link building is getting low-quality links. So, how can you avoid this?
Here’s what I check:
- Is the site a legitimate website? Does it look like a website you would trust?
- Is the site getting actual organic traffic? Check the Overview report in Site Explorer
- Do the Ahrefs metrics align with other sites of a similar authority? Check anchor text, and referring domains
- Does the website look like it’s selling links? Look for anchor text with high commercial intent that looks suspicious, like the below example
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Example Of Suspicious Anchor Text](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_136_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Example Of Suspicious Anchor Text](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_136_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
In the image above, there are two examples of commercial anchor text in red that look unnatural.
Finding link builders
My go-to place for finding link builders is freelance platforms like Upwork.
If you need to scale faster, an agency might be a better option. There’s no shortage of link-building agencies out there, and for a fee, they will help you get links for your website.
Technical SEO
When your site has a serious technical issue and performance has dropped, you may need to hire a technical SEO. The first indicator that something could be wrong is if you notice a significant drop in the health score of a tool like Ahrefs’ Site Audit.
That may look something like this.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Technical SEO Health Score, via Ahrefs' Site Audit](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_10_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Technical SEO Health Score, via Ahrefs' Site Audit](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_10_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
If this is combined with a drop in organic traffic on Site Explorer’s Overview, you may need to find a technical SEO freelancer—fast.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Site Overview Performance Decline Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_614_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Site Overview Performance Decline Example](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_614_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
Cost
Technical SEO varies in complexity and cost, making it crucial to choose an experienced partner who can quickly address issues to prevent sustained traffic loss. After looking at Upwork, you can get a freelancer for as little as $8 to $200 an hour.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Upwork Technical SEO Cost Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_714_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Upwork Technical SEO Cost Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966766_714_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
It’s a huge variation, so to avoid disappointment I normally stay clear of the lower end of pricing.
What to look for
Look for someone with:
- Significant proven experience in technical SEO — Check to see what level of experience they have
- Knowledgeable about your area of search — Check to see if they’ve worked on similar websites before
Potential risks
Unfortunately, like links and content, there are also risks associated with outsourcing technical SEO.
So what are they?
- Bad advice – Incorrect advice could lead to more problems
- Wrong prioritization – The wrong issues may be prioritized, leading to prolonged loss of organic traffic
- Communication breakdown – If a technical SEO leaves mid-project, it could cause further ongoing issues
Finding technical SEOs
Look through LinkedIn and message technical SEOs for advice. One of the big advantages of using LinkedIn is that it’s free to message people.
For example, here’s a snapshot of a LinkedIn profile from one of my former colleagues. You can see this person has solid technical SEO experience. This is what a good profile looks like—but it will cost you.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) LinkedIn Resume Example For Technical SEO Specialist](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_40_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) LinkedIn Resume Example For Technical SEO Specialist](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_40_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
With an SEO of this caliber, you only need to spend a few hours consulting with them to work out your technical SEO issues. However, if you continuously spend money at the lower end of the spectrum, you may never get your technical SEO issues resolved.
Keyword research
If you want to rank on Google, you can try guessing what keywords will bring you traffic. Or you can reverse engineer what is already working in Google using data from tools like Ahrefs Keywords Explorer.
For one or two keywords, you can research using our free keyword generator. But if you need a lot of keyword research, for instance, for a new website, then it could be a good idea to outsource it.
Cost
Keyword research on Upwork starts at ~$50, cheaper than most other SEO services mentioned here. But like many of the other SEO services mentioned here, there is good keyword research and bad keyword research.
What to look for
- They use a trusted keyword research tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer
- They go beyond just search volume and the keywords and look at metrics like Traffic potential and Keyword Difficulty
Potential risks
Here are the risks of outsourcing keyword research based on my experience:
- Targeting the wrong keywords – Sometimes, after you’ve written an article, you’ll find that it doesn’t get much traffic. Often, the reason is the article that you’ve written doesn’t completely fulfill the search intent for that precise keyword
- Data is inaccurate due to using a low-quality SEO tool
- Data is too simplistic – e.g., only keywords and search volume. In my experience, I would expect metrics like Keyword Difficulty and Traffic Potential to be included as well to help make an informed decision of whether the keyword was worth targeting
Finding keyword research experts
Keyword research is usually provided as a standard part of an agency’s SEO services, but if you’re not with an agency, you can either hire a freelancer to do it or do your research using a tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer.
Over the years, I’ve spent a small fortune on freelancers. Some have been incredible, and some have been incredibly bad. Avoid the bad ones by following my hard-earned best practices.
Request these things when working with outsource partners
I’ve worked with many outsourcing partners in my agency career, from freelancers to external agencies. If I want to work with them, I always request three things:
- An SEO proposal for the work. Ask for an SEO proposal of what they are going to do, check out my article on SEO proposals to get a rough idea of what one should look like
- References from their recent work. Ask for references. Don’t have any? That’s an instant red flag. This is less about the references themselves and more about seeing how fast a potential outsource partner can share a glowing reference. Look for someone who has a good track record in your industry or particular niche
- A video call interview. If they’ve passed the first two tests, it’s time for a quick 30-minute interview. Again, this is less about talking about what they’ve achieved but rather about seeing whether you could work with this person or group regularly
Use a Kanban board to track progress toward your goals
Kanban boards are the perfect way to track tasks when outsourcing SEO, but many people overcomplicate them.
When I worked in an agency, I had a simple setup like the one below.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Kanban Board Example From Agency](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_851_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Kanban Board Example From Agency](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_851_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
I ran and managed a ~$50k pm enterprise SEO account, several external agencies, and a development team using this exact Kanban board format.
The lesson here: don’t overcomplicate things. You can use many tools, but my favorites are Notion and Trello.
Tip
Combine a Kanban board with a tool like Slack to quickly resolve queries from external agencies and freelancers.
Create standard operating procedures (SOPs)
Without clear SOPs, work can be easily misinterpreted, leading to last-minute revisions. Define tasks clearly from the start to ensure desired outcomes.
Create SOPs to define exactly what you want delivered. Otherwise, you will not get the desired output.
For basic tasks, you can create a basic SOP for free using a tool like Google Docs, Trello, or Notion. You can even use ChatGPT to create one.
Here’s an example of a prompt I used to create an SOP for Keyword Research using Ahrefs.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Using ChatGPT To Create Keyword Research SOP](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_257_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Using ChatGPT To Create Keyword Research SOP](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_257_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
Or, for more complicated tasks that involve multiple tools, techniques, or processes, use a tool like Scribehow—it’s useful for quickly building more detailed SOPs that involve multiple tools or processes.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Using Scribehow To Create A Detailed SOP](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_42_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Using Scribehow To Create A Detailed SOP](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_42_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
Set clear goals and monitor progress using Ahrefs
Once you’ve hired your outsource partner, you should establish clear delivery deadlines and schedule regular check-ins to ensure your delivery date is achievable.
But if you do not know SEO, how can you ensure the job has been completed well? You can use tools like Ahrefs to check.
Use Site Explorer’s Overview to check organic traffic and links and correlate the impact of content changes.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) SEO Performance Increase, Via Ahrefs' Site Explorer](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_488_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) SEO Performance Increase, Via Ahrefs' Site Explorer](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_488_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
Use Site Audit to check technical SEO performance.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Site Audit Example Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_82_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Site Audit Example Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_82_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.png)
Use Keywords Explorer to double-check keyword research.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Keywords Explorer Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_175_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Keywords Explorer Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_175_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
Use Rank Tracker to monitor important keyword rankings over time.
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Rank Tracker Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_63_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
![Here’s How You Can Outsource SEO Easily and Effectively (+ Best Practices) Rank Tracker Screenshot](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724966767_63_Heres-How-You-Can-Outsource-SEO-Easily-and-Effectively.jpg)
If you have a copy of Ahrefs, you can monitor almost every aspect of what your outsource partner is doing. So, even if you aren’t doing SEO yourself but want to keep track of progress, it’s a useful tool.
Final thoughts
If you want to outsource SEO, there’s no shortage of people to fill the role, but finding your perfect outsourcing partner(s) is usually the biggest challenge.
To get the right partner, vet thoroughly, create SOPs, and set clear expectations and goals, and you won’t go far wrong. If you are unsure of the quality of the work delivered, you can double-check using tools like Ahrefs to monitor their progress.
Got questions? Let me know on LinkedIn.
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