"Call The Accountant, Our Computer's Playing Up!"

You wouldn’t expect your accountant to manage your computer systems, would you? Yet despite the growing recognition of search engine optimisation as one of the most cost effective marketing initiatives a company can invest in, when asked, many firms willconfess that their web design agency or Internet Service Provider (ISP) are still handling the process.

This often goes back to when the company website was built, andever since then it has been implied that search engine optimisation(SEO) "has been sorted."

However, search engine optimisation, or the art and science of promoting your company’s ranking position as high as possible onthe search results pages of the top engines and directories such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, has become far more competitive. More companies can track a direct correlation between high rankings and extra revenue earned from targeted prospects visiting their site.

One of Vertical Leap’s clients for instance, saw an increase in new business directly attributable to the major search engines equal to four times the annual cost of Vertical Leap.....in just three months!

But while more managers than ever see the value of search engine optimisation, there is a degree of confusion in how best to implement it and then manage the ongoing submission and monitoring of 'the campaign'.

More enlightened firms are seeing a huge commercial opportunity in outsourcing search engine optimisation to a specialist firm such as Vertical Leap.

There are four main reasons why it makes sense to outsource SEO. Vertical Leap calls it Managed Search Engine Optimisation:

It’s a specialist, laborious and on-going process that you and your web agency or ISP simply don’t have time for!

There’s no trickery to search engine optimisation, it’s just a long and incredibly time consuming process. Your competitors may optfor a quick fix campaign (what happens when that campaign finishes?) or even purchase one of the so called optimisation software programmes (they don’t work). Vertical Leap is a 'one-stopshop' opportunity to appoint a specialist team to handle the entire process of optimisation for a flat monthly fee that gets results.Vertical Leap has established work practices developed to fit in with your existing arrangements: we are experienced in working withclients directly or with their design or web agencies.

You make one company accountable for results and an ongoing service

In the same way you appointed your agency for their design and technical skills, or your ISP for their reliability, SEO is a core skill in its own right that whilst not a threat to your agency for instance, should be accountable in driving revenue to your business.

Immediately you appoint Vertical Leap you get a dedicated team of professionals on your side who are dedicated to promoting your website including a proactive Campaign Manager.

As a retained client, you will have exclusive access to your own area of the Vertical Leap website with reporting pages that have been specifically designed for clarity and relevance. In addition to your Campaign Manager, you will also be sent regular updates showing progress.

You get a proven, consistent service, so risk is minimised

As search engine optimisation becomes more mainstream, the choice of specialist firms is getting larger and more confusing all the time.

Effective search engine optimisation is a long term commitment, so you will want to be assured that you are not a reluctant pioneer for these companies.

Vertical Leap has a tried and tested process that is still working on a variety of clients as diverse as leading tour operators through to training consultants; advertising agencies through to letting agencies.

Because the process is outsourced you know that Vertical Leap are working on search engine optimisation all the time, not just when there are a few spare hours free in the month: consistency and careful monitoring of your website’s results is crucial to ongoing success.

Return on investment

Outsourcing makes a lot of sense from a budgeting and planning aspect too. Unlike many search engine optimization firms, Vertical Leap does not charge by keyword; there is simply one fixed cost.

The service includes full site optimisation and hand submission tothe major search engines, plus an ongoing link building campaign undertaken by Vertical Leap on your behalf to link with relevant websites.

Effective search engine optimisation offers enormous potential for ahigh return on investment, certainly when compared with moretraditional media such as press advertising.

Again, Vertical Leap does not make the kind of wild promises andguarantees that look fine until you read the small print, however it is by no means uncommon for Vertical Leap clients to be looking ata ROI of several 100% within a few weeks.

So there you have it. As more enlightened managers see the valueand worth of effective search engine optimisation, the worth ofoutsourcing this essential service makes sound commercial sense as well.