SEO
What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822767_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.jpg)
Two things make a good website: content and functionality. Looks are nice to have but come last.
Focus on these two areas to create a website that people will want to visit, return to, and tell their friends about. If the site offers the type of content that people need and makes that content easy to find and interact with, people will overlook even the ugliest designs. Case in point: Hackernews.com — a site with 5M monthly users (source) that looks like this:
This article covers the essentials of building a successful website, focusing on creating valuable content and ensuring strong functionality (checklist included). You’ll also learn how to avoid common pitfalls and see which tools can help you get started.
Website content includes all the information and media provided to visitors, such as text, images, videos, products, and their descriptions.
No matter how good the design is, poor content will drive visitors away. Conversely, high-quality content can compensate for design shortcomings.
Just look at some top sites. They prioritize simple, clean layouts that highlight their content, like Canva and Seeking Alpha.
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter SImple layout example: Canva](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_635_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.jpg)
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter SImple layout example: Canva](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_635_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.jpg)
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter SImple layout example: Seekingalpha](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.png)
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter SImple layout example: Seekingalpha](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.png)
And I think you’d be surprised by how effortless Slack’s website looks — that company recently sold for $27.7B (source).
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter Website design example: Slack.](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_378_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.jpg)
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter Website design example: Slack.](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_378_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.jpg)
But you won’t make it with just any content — you need quality content. Quality content can mean different things to different people but in general, you can’t go wrong if you follow these simple rules:
- Relevant to your audience. Content should be tailored to what your audience cares about, making it more likely they’ll find it useful and engaging. One of the ways you can find relevant topics is with keyword research.
- Uses simple language and is well-organized. Make your content easy to understand, avoiding complex jargon or technical terms unless absolutely necessary.
- Unique: The content should offer something new or present information in a fresh way. Unique content helps you stand out from the competition and has a bigger propensity to reach more people through recommendations and SEO.
- Valuable to your business. Last but not least, if your site is business-oriented, the content on your site should help you run that business. It should either show how your product/service can help solve relevant problems or help earn more using another monetization method.
I’d like to pause for a moment on that last point and emphasize that content is not just about giving people something to read or watch. It’s also a great way to introduce your product or service.
At Ahrefs, we use a product-led content strategy. We create content that solves problems using our product, targeting topics with search potential to attract consistent, relevant traffic.
For example, our guide on “SEO friendly websites” ranks #1 in the US, bringing in users interested in practical tips and introducing them to our product.
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter Example of product-led content ranking in top 10.](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_101_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.png)
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter Example of product-led content ranking in top 10.](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_101_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.png)
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter Example of a product-led content piece.](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_958_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.jpg)
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter Example of a product-led content piece.](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_958_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.jpg)
People find us on Google and click to get the content, not to admire how the blog looks. If you want to see how product-led content works in action, watch this video:
Website functionality refers to how smoothly a site operates, ensuring users can easily navigate, interact, and achieve their goals with it. This includes quick page loading, responsive forms, and intuitive navigation.
If visitors can’t easily find what they’re looking for, or if the site is slow and frustrating to use, they won’t stick around to enjoy that content. That’s why the bounce rate on sites (it’s when a user quickly exits a site after opening it) increases so rapidly with every second of page load delay.
Functionality matters to search engines as well. The technical side of your site can impact its visibility for related keywords. When ranking pages, Google takes into account such technicalities as loading speed, mobile friendliness, and whether it uses the HTTPS protocol.
Tools like the free Ahrefs Webmaster Tools make it easy to ensure your site is technically sound. With automated regular site audits, the tool identifies issues on your site and provides advice on fixing them. You will also get an overall health score for easier progress tracking.
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter Health score in Ahrefs' Site Audit](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_506_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.jpg)
![What Makes a Good Website? The Only 2 Things That Matter Health score in Ahrefs' Site Audit](https://articles.entireweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/1724822765_506_What-Makes-a-Good-Website-The-Only-2-Things-That.jpg)
This straightforward checklist breaks down the core elements of a good website. You can use it yourself or show it to the person responsible for your website.
Content strategy | Have a plan for what kind of information and articles you will post on your site. Use our guide. |
Analytics tools | Use tools to track how visitors use your site and how your site performs in Google, so you can understand what works and what doesn’t. |
SEO error-free | Make sure there are no technical errors that prevent search engines from finding and indexing your site. You can do it for free with Ahrefs Webmaster Tools(AWT). |
Good Core Web Vitals (CWV) | Ensure your site loads quickly and responds well to user interactions. Test right inside AWT or Google Search Console. |
Accessible | Design your site so that everyone, including people with disabilities, can easily use it. Use a tool like Accesibility Checker or WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation |
Mobile-friendly | Make sure your site works well on smartphones and tablets, not just on computers. You can test that right inside AWT (usability and performance section in the All issues report). |
Uses HTTPS | Secure your site to protect user information. You can get a certificate for free here. |
Uses on-page SEO best practices | Optimize each page with relevant keywords, proper headings, and meta descriptions to help search engines understand and rank your content. Use our guide. |
Consistent layout | Use the same colors and fonts throughout your website to create a cohesive and professional look. |
Up to date | Keep your content current and relevant. |
Tested on users | Show the website to a few people and ask them to use it as they normally would. Encourage them to be honest about what they find confusing or difficult. |
Building a website is an exciting process, but it’s too easy to fall into common traps. Let me share the ones I’ve seen over the years with a bit of advice on how to overcome them.
- Design by committee. Too many conflicting ideas can lead to a confusing and unfocused design. Try to limit decision-makers and focus on a clear vision. Prioritize decisions based on what’s good for the user.
- Selling too hard. Overly aggressive sales tactics can alienate potential customers. Build trust by providing helpful information rather than pushing aggressive sales tactics (AI tools can help with that).
- Unclear language. Ambiguous or complex wording can confuse users and obscure your message. Tools like the Hemingway app, Grammarly, or ChatGPT can help.
- Poor SEO practices. Fortunately, SEO good practices are easy to follow, and over-optimization easy to avoid.
- Not keeping the site up to date. Failing to regularly update content and features can make your site appear neglected and out of touch. Even something as simple as setting a monthly reminder to review your site will do the trick.
- Not testing and iterating. Start by trying different things on your site to see what gets the best results. Pay attention to what your visitors like and respond to the most. Once you find what works well, focus on doing more of those things. This is how you go from a “good” site to a “great” site.
Just as it’s exciting, building and managing a site can get overwhelming quite fast. But the right tools can make the process smoother and more efficient. Here are some essential tools to help you get started (all can be used for free).
- Ahrefs Webmaster Tools. A free tool for analyzing your website’s performance in Google. Use Ahrefs to check for SEO issues, track keyword rankings, and see who is linking to your site.
- Wix. A website builder that allows you to create and design a website without needing to code. Choose from customizable templates and drag-and-drop elements to build your site quickly and easily. If you need a bit more control over your design and you’re not afraid of coding, you can use one of the web design frameworks like Foundation or Semantic UI.
- Google Search Console. A free tool from Google that helps you monitor and maintain your site’s presence in Google Search results.
- Google Analytics. A free tool for tracking and reporting website traffic. Set up Google Analytics to see how visitors interact with your site, which pages are most popular, where your traffic is coming from, and more. Use this data to make informed decisions about how to improve your site (Matomo is a good alternative).
- Hubspot. A platform offering tools for marketing, sales, and customer service, along with a content management system (CMS). Use HubSpot to create and manage content, capture leads, and track customer interactions.
- Microsoft Clarity. A free tool for analyzing user behavior on your website. Set up Microsoft Clarity to see heatmaps, and session recordings to understand how visitors interact with your site.
- ChatGPT. An AI language model that can assist with every website building and management task. Use ChatGPT to brainstorm content ideas, and generate text and code for your website.
Final thoughts
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that the visual side of the website doesn’t matter at all. As the artist Max Kolomatsky demonstrates in this Instagram video, design can greatly improve the perception of a business.
The visual design of a website, while important, isn’t something to lose sleep over. Your site will achieve success more quickly and sustain it longer if you start with a good-enough design — such as a customized template — and focus on delivering real value through your content and functionality.
Visual design is also something easy to “overdo.” When trying to make a website look appealing, it’s common to add too many elements, colors, or effects, which can overwhelm visitors and slow the site down. A website is one of those things that need to be usable, and there’s hardly better advice than Dieter Rams’s “good design is as little design as possible.”
Got questions or comments? Find me on LinkedIn.
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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