Outsourcing local SEO can be a game-changer for businesses. They can boost their online presence without investing in an in-house SEO team or overwhelming their existing one. While local SEO outsourcing has significant benefits, it also comes with a clear set of challenges.
In this article, let’s explore the biggest challenges in outsourcing your local SEO to an SEO agency or white label company. We will also explore how to overcome them for a successful local SEO partnership.
Table of contents
- Lack of local expertise
- Communication barriers
- Cultural differences
- Quality control
- Data security concerns
- Trust and transparency
- Scalability issues
1. Lack of local expertise
Effective local SEO requires a deep understanding of the locality, including local search trends, language nuances, and cultural sensitivities. Without this knowledge, a white label SEO company may struggle to come up with SEO strategies and executions that resonate with the local audience.
- Vet for local knowledge. Before selecting a local SEO outsourcing partner, make sure they have a strong understanding of your local market. Ask for case studies or examples of their previous works in similar locations. For example, if your business is in New Orleans, you may want someone who knows how to navigate a culturally rich city, including local events such as Mardi Gras.
- Incorporate local feedback. Make sure the outsourced team actively seeks input from in-house team members, community partners, and customers. Feedback can help the team develop a more targeted local SEO approach. For example, if your business is in a local town where word-of-mouth can be huge, knowing popular local phrases can be an advantage.
- Collaborate on content. Work closely with your outsourced team to create locally relevant content. Provide locally relevant topics, suggest seasonal content, and highlight local events. For instance, if your business is in a coastal town that sees a surge of tourism during summer, you can create blog posts that can cater to both locals and tourists, such as about hidden gems in your locality.
2. Communication barriers
Communication is the backbone of any local SEO outsourcing operation. At Marketer’s Center, we have an order dashboard for our local SEO outsourcing clients, streamlining communications and making it easy to manage orders and campaigns. Make sure your outsourced team has the infrastructure and attitude to avoid communication problems.
- Establish clear communication channels. Decide the primary method of communication, whether it’s through email, instant messaging, or even an SEO management platform. Tools such as Slack, Trello, and Zoom can be incredibly helpful for your outsourced team, especially when it’s in a different time zone.
- Set expectations for responsiveness. One of the most common reasons SEO clients leave is the lack of timely responses. To avoid getting frustrated with your outsourced team and leaving a bad review, define what constitutes an urgent issue and a regular update and agree on response times for each. For example, for urgent matters, you may want an update within 12 hours, and for regular updates, you may want responses within 24 hours.
- Overcome language and cultural differences. Get a local SEO team with a good command of the local market language. Many local SEO outsourcing providers don’t use English as a first language. You can still hire them, but be mindful of communication styles. Look at their content submissions. A direct tone may be normal for them, but it can come off as rude in your locality.
3. Cultural differences
As mentioned earlier, cultural differences can be challenging when outsourcing local SEO. If not carefully managed, cultural misunderstandings can lead to SEO strategies and executions that don’t resonate well with your local audience.
- Educate your outsourced team on local culture. Share insights on local customs, values, holidays, and even social norms that could impact SEO strategies and executions. For example, if your business is based in a region with strong religious traditions, make sure your outsourced team is aware of important dates such as Christmas that can affect buying behavior. The team can incorporate these in their SEO campaigns.
- Incorporate local expertise in decision-making. Consult with local employees, partners, and community members who can provide insights on how an upcoming SEO campaign may be received. For example, if you are going to start a humorous SEO campaign, consult someone who understands the local culture to ensure your message is not misunderstood.
- Adapt communication styles. You communicate not just with your audience, but also with your outsourced team members. Be mindful of how you talk to them, especially when they come from widely different cultures. For example, if you are an American company and you are outsourcing local SEO to the Philippines, your constructive feedback needs to be perceived as respectful and not too direct. Being too blunt can appear disrespectful in this part of the world. By being sensitive and aware of cultural differences, you can foster a better collaborative environment with your local SEO provider.
4. Quality control
Maintaining consistent quality is one of the significant challenges when outsourcing local SEO. At Marketer’s Center, our website is filled with testimonials, proving our high-quality SEO work for our clients. With our consistency, we can avoid quality control issues that can lead to poor SEO performance or damage your brand.
- Set clear quality standards. Establish clear standards for the work being outsourced. They could include guidelines for all facets of your SEO, from backlink strategies to reporting formats. For example, if you expect in-depth blog posts from your local SEO outsourcing team, provide style guides or samples that illustrate your expectations. This reduces the risk of receiving work that doesn’t meet your high standards. With that said, you should also have realistic expectations.
- Implement a review and feedback process. Establish a schedule for meetings and reviews. Thankfully, many white label local SEO providers are very proactive in establishing these schedules as well. They can be weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, so you can promptly address concerns and issues before they become even bigger problems.
- Use performance metrics to monitor quality. Quality control is not just about subjective assessments. It’s about measurable outcomes. Use analytics to track your outsourced team’s work. For example, if your business goal is to boost rankings for a particular keyword, monitor your performance in this keyword over time. Use these metrics as key performance indicators to see wins, address gaps, and discover inconsistencies with the outsourced team’s work.
5. Data security concerns
Your business and customer data are valuable assets. If they are compromised, you can experience significant financial loss, damage to your brand’s reputation, and even legal repercussions. Ensure that your white label local SEO provider handles your data with the highest level of security. However, that’s easier said than done, especially when the outsourced team is in a different country that follows a different set of regulations.
- Choose local SEO partners with strong security protocols. While you are looking for a provider, ask about their security protocols. Look for a local SEO provider that follows relevant regulations and data encryption practices. Stick with the most reputable providers such as Marketer’s Center to maintain high security standards.
- Implement data access controls. Control who has access to your sensitive data. By implementing strict access controls, you limit the risk of data exposure and you are only exposing your data to the most relevant team members who need it to perform a task. For example, your outsourced local SEO team that handles content creation and keyword research probably doesn’t need access to your customer database and financial information.
- Use secure communication and data transfer tools. Avoid using unsecured channels such as email for sharing sensitive information. This may not be an issue if you are a small local cafe with a tiny local following, but it can be if you are a global conglomerate simply trying to penetrate a specific local market. Use platforms such as Google Workspace for end-to-end encryption of your documents.
6. Trust and transparency
Building trust and ensuring transparency are some of the biggest challenges when outsourcing local SEO to another company. Without a strong foundation of trust and transparency, simple issues such as unexpected costs can significantly strain your relationship with your local SEO team. This can then lead to poor collaboration, ineffective local SEO approaches, and a terrible experience that usually makes businesses leave their SEO agencies.
- Define the scope of work. When both parties have a good understanding of what is expected, it reduces the likelihood of misunderstandings and fosters a transparent working relationship. Define the scope of work, deliverables, timelines, and key performance indicators. For example, if your primary goal is to increase local search visibility, make sure your outsourced team understands the milestones and numbers you expect to keep them on the same page.
- Insist on regular and transparent reporting. Insist on receiving regular reports to keep yourself in the loop of your local SEO campaigns. The reports should be clear, comprehensive, and include the most relevant metrics to your business goals. Thankfully, most local SEO providers use automated and white label reporting tools for an efficient reporting process.
- Build a relationship based on open communication. Be transparent all the time to foster a deep collaborative partnership. For example, if you have concerns about the direction of your local SEO strategy, communicate this to your local SEO provider. This may be a good opportunity to learn more about local SEO as they explain why the strategy is correct. It can also be a good opportunity to fix misalignments in goals and SEO approaches. The important thing is that there is two-way communication that keeps everyone involved.
7. Scalability issues
Scalability is an important aspect of any business strategy, including local SEO outsourcing. When you are outsourcing your local SEO, you may encounter scalability issues that may hinder your growth or limit your competitiveness. Imagine having a successful local SEO campaign, but your scalability issues prevent you from taking over the local market or expanding to more markets in your vicinity. With scalability issues, you are missing opportunities to take your business to new heights.
- Assess your outsourcing partner’s capacity. Look at your local SEO provider’s ability to handle increased workloads, manage multiple projects simultaneously, and adapt to changes in your SEO strategy. For example, if your business is anticipating rapid growth, you can inquire about your provider’s staffing model, and whether they have a network of freelancers or additional resources to accommodate a scaling business.
- Implement flexible contracts. Negotiate flexible contracts with your local SEO outsourcing partner. Such contracts should allow adjustments in the scope of work depending on your business needs. For example, you can ask for a contract that includes provisions for scaling services. Some expansions include adding more keywords, expanding to additional locations, and increasing content production. Most local SEO providers are willing to give flexible contracts because they are a good opportunity to upsell SEO products and services.
- Plan for long-term growth. Work with your outsourcing partner for the long game. Collaborate to create a roadmap that includes strategies for expanding local SEO efforts as your business grows. You can include new markets, more services, or more aggressive existing services. For example, if you plan to expand your local business to new cities in the near future, you can create a phased SEO strategy that covers multiple locations.
Grow your business with local SEO outsourcing
Outsourcing local SEO presents a lot of challenges, from managing quality control to navigating cultural differences. These obstacles may be overwhelming, but they also provide an opportunity to refine your approach and build a more resilient local SEO strategy and execution.
At Marketer’s Center, we have various local SEO outsourcing services, from service-area business citations to GBP premium posts. By embracing our local SEO services and outsourcing strategies, you can navigate the complexities of local SEO with confidence. Check all of our services today, and let’s collaborate for a great local SEO journey.
