SEO cost saving ideas discusses ways for entrepreneurs and in-house SEO professionals to get the best value when outsourcing tasks. It recommends using local staff when possible due to cultural and complexity factors, and outlines options for sourcing staff locally including Gumtree, London Careers website, oDesk, and partnering with European universities. Design work is best done locally due to cultural understanding, while PR can be done in-house with newsworthy content, good timing, data and direct journalist outreach.

1. SEO cost saving ideas
For entrepreneurs or in-house SEO’s
by: Chee Ho Wan
for: SEO bar camp
on: 4th March 2012

2. Why this topic
• SEO your resources are always limited, so getting the best
bang for your buck is needed.

3. Choose local or overseas?
Why local?
• Tasks that requires local cultural knowledge
• Tasks are complex and require a high learning curve
• Time sensitive tasks
• Tasks that need close monitoring
I would tend to choose local staff than offsourcing
where possible and only outsource subtasks

4. Where to source staff

5. Gumtree.com
What its good for Why does it suck
• Finding journalistic level • Poor quality CV’s and
content writers lots of them
• Finding PR staff / online
social media staff
• Translation resources
Hot tips
• Advertise outside London
• Choose your category carefully – content writers section gets a lot more
traffic than the marketing ones

6. London Careers website
What its good for Why does it suck
• Finding top quality • Low volumes of
graduates candidates
• Posting ads to 11 • Is not consistent in
different universities volume
• Its free!!!
Hot tips
• Supplement with other activity as inconsistent with volume

7. oDesk
What its good for Why does it suck
• Low level tasks • A lot of candidates have
• Ability to see what poor English
candidates are working on • Some candidates do
• Its cheap and no notice multiple jobs and are
periods can be unreliable
Hot tips
• Create practical tests to test levels of English, excel skills, etc
• Training and close monitoring is required

8. London Business School
What its good for Why does it suck
• Finding a MBA waiting to • Low volumes of
learn about online
marketing candidates
• Finding a developer • Is not consistent in
looking to supplement volume
their income
Hot tips
• Create practical tests to test levels of English

9. Partnering with European universities
What its good for Why does it suck
• Finding developers and • Difficult to set up
graduate interns • Language can be a
problem so patience is
required!
Hot tips
• Government will supplement students income between £200-£300
which means you can pay them less

10. Design
• 99designs Cheap and fixed price!
• Find a designer Higher chance to find
someone which is top
based outside quality
London
For design my preference is for UK based staff as there needs to be an understanding about
culture and local style

11. PR – do it yourself!
How?
• Newsworthy content
• Right timing
• Great data
• Use of tools like Gorkana
• Contact journalist yourself
instead of hiring an agency
• Utilise your existing
relationships
Results
• Over 100 links from news press
A bit of luck is needed with PR – winning over the Press Association was a key to success