Big Firms vs. Independent Contractors
Companies looking for search ranking improvements tend to think larger SEO firms will provide better support for their sites. That is not always the case. Independent contractors have some really nice upsides.Pricing:
Large Firm's charge a lot more due to the fact there are different departments needed to run the business. Should you have to pay for the sales team or the secretary?
independent contractors only need to pay for themselves. Usually the pricing is about 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost of a large firm.
Time Spent on Project:
With a large firm you have to understand that your analyst will most likely have 8-20 other clients that they are handling. You are probably allotted a certain amount of hours a month.
independent contractors only take on as much as their schedules permit. Since they are the only ones responsible for your site's success they tend to give you more attention and spend as much time as is needed form the month to reach the goals. Try to get them to give you a road map for each month. This way you have a basic understanding of what you are getting for your money.
Knowledge and Understanding:
Large firms with worker drones for analysts usually don't spend much time researching new ideas and keep up with the latest treads. They have too much work to do and are not responsible for that so why should they care to keep up? They might have one or 2 people in the company responsible for keeping up with everything, but can they relay the info in a timely and effective manner?
An independent contractor's life is all about search and if they are not working on a clients site they are most likely on the forums or reading articles that interest them. You really have to have a passion for the business to go solo.
Availability:
Big firms will be around 9-5 m-f, but you usually have to schedule something to talk to them and they have so many emails that they can't always get to you. What about weekends and holidays?
Independent contractors give you their cell phones and are always at their computers. It is in their blood to be in front of the computer for the majority of the day and night.
You really have to get a feel for who will be directly working on your project. This is easy with an independent contractor. With large firms you usually only get to talk to the sales team before you sign the contract. That is scary. If you want to trust your analyst you need to talk to them first.
Remember rankings are never guaranteed so there is not much a large firm can promise you that a independent contractor can't.
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