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Why outsourcing SEO is a waste of money

I am still flooded every day by companies offering me their SEO services. Let me be very clear on this – they are not offering me web site development or content marketing, but specifically SEO services. And every now and then I decide to nibble at the bait and find out what they have to offer.

What amazes me is that the offerings haven’t changed that much from 2013 despite the big changes in 2014.

2014 Changes

SEOLast year saw some significant shifts in Google. The big ones included:

Of course many of the old requirements still exist. While keywords are no longer king, they still play a role.

But if you look at the list closely what you quickly see is that it is the construction of the site and the content of the site that are now critical.

The two things that really count

So by the end of 2015 there are two things that are now the key contributors for a successful site:

  1. A well designed site
  2. Good content

The problem with the first one is that it only needs to be done once, and for many a simple theme update will get them out of trouble. But these SEO people aren’t after a once off fee, they want to milk me month after month.

And as for good content, it just isn’t worth having my reputation damaged by poorly written content. As it is, I have enough friends who can pick the grammatical miskakes in my blogs but the samples I have seen have mistakes in every sentence. On top of that, I’m an expert in my field and others struggle to create good meaningful content.

So as a general rule of thumb, good content needs to be written in-house or by a professional.

Bad is really bad

Lookig back at the list we see that Google is penalising bad links and poor content. Penalising. That means that an “investment” in off-site SEO has actually damaged a site’s ranking. At this stage SEO was more than a waste of money, it was costing even more.

So what can be done?

And this is the crunch – what can be done?

An overhaul of a site is a good start and can be outsourced, but after that it’s hard work.

For me, I have a graduate writing daily articles for me on my foodandsafety.com.au site. Yes it’s outsourced, but it’s not to one of these SEO companies.

Will a true SEO company please step forward

What I would love to see is a good SEO company step forward. One that is prepared to focus on my site and on my content. One that has tricks on how to easily link my content across multiple platforms and leverage what I am doing.

And one that stops offering the buzz words of 2013.

What is covered with our shipping insurance?

Our normal terms and conditions (like most businesses) is that you take possession the moment an order ships. If the order is lost or damaged in transit then, in theory, it’s your problem. In reality we will have a conversation and try to work out a good way to resolve the issue where we are both happy (or not too upset).

Shipping insurance is there to remove the drama. If an order is lost or damaged in transit, we will simply send out a replacement, and we will then deal with the courier directly to resolve the original problem.

Our shipping insurance also means that if an order is delayed beyond what is normal and reasonable then we will send you another shipment (stock levels permitting). Then you should receive one of them sooner, and when the second one arrives you simply Return To Sender.

How much is shipping insurance?

Shipping insurance is 5% of the cost of the goods.

Is it worth it? Practically we have had far less than 5% of shipments have problems. It is, however, what Australia Post and other couriers charge. Ultimately insurance is about peace of mind and less hassle when something does go wrong.

Shipping insurance as an option

Shipping insurance is offered as an option on all our web sites. You can select it at the checkout.

For large orders our staff may also ask if you would like shipping insurance.

If you would like shipping insurance on an order you are placing with us, just ask.

Mandatory shipping insurance

Unfortunately we have had a couple of large orders not make it and then the customer refused to pay. A friend suggested that the easy way to avoid the dispute is to insure any shipments where we have a significant risk.

If you would like an immediate line of credit (30 days to pay) and have the goods ship immediately (no credit check delays) and are purchasing over $500 then we will add shipping insurance to your order.

The shipping insurance can be waived if the order is between $500 and $2,000 and you provide us with a formal confirmation that you accept responsibility of the goods once they ship.

Alternatively you can prepay by direct deposit or credit card.

What is not covered?

If there is a clear proof of delivery to the shipping address provided then we class that as delivered. Unfortunately there are cases where it is lost somewhere between the loading dock or receptionist and ending up in your hands. But we also know that a photo of the bag against a generic grey background is not proof of delivery, it is just proof of existence! It needs to be a reasonable proof of delivery.

It also doesn’t cover the expectation of overnight delivery. For example, if we were to ship to Melbourne (we are in Sydney) then we would expect it to be delivered within about 3 days. Most of the time it is overnight, but there are enough floods and other issues that regularly cause minor delays. Sending a second order the next day tends to not fix the problem. If it is super urgent, talk to us about how we can minimise the risk.

For damage claims we ask that you contact us immediately and we will probably ask for photos or some proof. The shipping insurance doesn’t cover claims weeks later. We do have warranty covering our items, but it excludes physical damage (e.g. being dropped). If the goods are damaged in transit then please let us know ASAP so we can cover it under the shipping insurance.