- Moving SEO work off-shore has become increasingly popular as a way to save costs and free up time for more complex marketing work.
- The biggest advantage of overseas agencies seems to be cost savings while the biggest challenge seems to be communicating across large time differences.
- Content can be especially challenging to outsource overseas because of the difficulty of finding native-level professional English writers.
- The best way to decide what kind of agency to work with is to understand your budget and SEO needs and do thorough research.
As SEO nerds, we’re always happy to answer questions about our field. Recently, we’ve been hearing from both existing and prospective clients wondering about the pros and cons of hiring an overseas SEO agency vs. a U.S.-based SEO agency. With 45% of all clicks coming from organic search alone, it’s vital to partner with the right SEO experts. So, how do you choose the best agency for your business?
Understandably, brands shopping for digital marketing services want to make the best decision when it comes to costs, quality of work, and more. The digital marketing climate is fast-paced and dynamic. To keep up with your competition, you need to make sure the agency you work with can get you real results. At the same time, marketing teams will always be constrained by budgets. Many companies look to overseas agencies in an effort to keep costs low.
So, is there really a difference between U.S. agencies and overseas agencies? If so, how should you decide what type of agency to hire?
Obviously, we’re a U.S.-based SEO agency, so to keep our answer as objective as possible, we spoke to companies in a range of verticals about their experiences working with overseas agencies. Below, we’ve compiled insights from startup founders, CEOs, CMOs, and other representatives working in ecommerce, tech, B2B services, and more to give readers a better understanding of what overseas agencies can and can’t do.
Why overseas agencies?
Outsourcing isn’t new. A portmanteau of “outside resourcing,” outsourcing refers to the practice of sending work to a third-party in another country. Although the history of outsourcing dates back to the Industrial Revolution, it did not become widespread until the latter half of the 20th century. In 1989, outsourcing was identified as a formal business strategy.
For many of us, the term brings to mind physical manufacturing. But many industries now practice outsourcing. In recent years, moving SEO work off-shore has become increasingly popular.
One of the driving motivations is cost. Another is the need to offload low-tier, very specialized tasks onto an agency with the appropriate skills in order to free up in-house staff for more complex work. Many of the individuals surveyed for this article reported positive experiences in both areas.
That said, budgetary and workload considerations of the whole SEO picture. Keep reading to see what else real-life founders and marketers have to say about their experiences with overseas SEO agencies.
Real experiences with overseas vs. US agencies
The founders, CEOs, strategists, and marketers we spoke to described both positive and negative experiences with overseas agencies. In their answers, our respondents described the differences in costs and quality of communication. They described how communication across different time zones – often with a 9 or 10 hour lag – created difficulties, as did certain cultural differences. Additionally, they discussed the overall quality of results in rankings, backlinks, and content from an overseas agency vs. a U.S.-based agency.
Of course, no two agencies are alike. Whether based in the United States or overseas, some agencies will produce higher quality work and deliver better results. This natural variation may have affected the experiences of our respondents. Your specific needs and expectations will also shape your experience working with an overseas agency. Understanding this will help you make the right decision for your company.
Costs
Like most services, the primary reason why companies consider outsourcing SEO is to keep costs down. Forbes reports that the average small business keeps their SEO budget around $500 per month. Although it provides tremendous return on investment, many businesses are hesitant to incur high costs for SEO services.
This leads them to pursue less expensive alternatives, which may include choosing overseas agencies instead of agencies based in the United States. We spoke to several professionals who told us they chose to outsource their SEO because they felt it was more budget-friendly.
“The biggest advantage of using overseas agencies is the cost,” says Alina Clark, co-founder of CocoDoc. She says that working with an overseas SEO agency for two years enabled the software development company to achieve its SEO vision – something she doubts would have been possible on a startup budget had they worked with a U.S.-based agency.
Virtually all respondents cited lower costs as a benefit of working with overseas agencies. For many respondents, this was enough to justify the decision despite concerns about quality of work or communication.
Addressing concerns that overseas agencies might lack certain specialized skills, founder and CEO of GetVoIP Reuben Yonatan says, “In my experience overseas SEO agencies have a good handle on the technical side of SEO and can be an affordable alternative to stateside companies.”
The biggest advantage of using overseas agencies is the cost.
One common refrain about overseas agencies is that you get what you pay for, meaning low costs can translate to low quality results. Some of our respondents acknowledged this possibility. “My experience is always positive because I know what to expect,” says Nicholas Torres, Front End Developer and SEO Manager at MBS Sign Supply, explaining that had he been looking for “tier 1 content or backlinks,” he would have been disappointed with the overseas agency he worked with. He says that while most of the backlinks he got with the agency are noFollow links, which Google does not value as highly, the costs and time saved on building content and backlinks made it worth it.
John Ross, CMO of Test Prep Insight, echoed this cost-benefit analysis. “Do not get me wrong,” he says, “the quality of the content they generate and the links they drive are not quite as good as that of an American agency, but it is solid.” He estimates that for roughly 30% of the cost, his company got 80% of the quality. “So yes, we probably could receive higher-quality content and better links from an agency in the U.S., but I’m just not sure the price jump justifies it.”
“But in some cases,” he nevertheless adds, “it might.”
Communication and working relationships
While the biggest advantage of overseas agencies cited by respondents was cost, the biggest challenge was communication across time zones and cultures.
For some respondents, the challenge was manageable enough to keep working with the agency. “It made communicating a little hard at times,” says Jamie Hickey, founder of Coffee Semantics, of the 9.5-hour time difference, “but I would use them again without any questions.”
John Ross of Test Prep Insights also acknowledges that the time difference can be “pretty annoying” when there’s an urgent issue, but adds that despite this inconvenience, “I have been pleased with their responsiveness.”
Some respondents barely felt the time difference at all. “I was shocked to see these experts work crazy hours to meet our deadlines,” says Abby Herman, Director of Strategy at Snap Agency.
The differences in time and working hours was the main reason why we shifted closer home…the lengthy back and forth became a tad bit too much.
Due to the time difference, some overseas companies have a lengthy turnaround time – often up to 24 hours or more. For some of our respondents, this was a dealbreaker.
“In fact, the differences in time and working hours was the main reason why we shifted closer home,” says Alina Clark of CocoDoc. “The emails would be late because they came in past our working hours, or the inverse. The lengthy back and forth became a tad bit too much at some point. Getting messages across became hard because answers would be delayed, not due to anyone’s fault, but because we were working across different time zones.”
For Stephen Halasnik, Managing Partner of Financing Solutions, this barrier to communication affected more than just the timeliness of emails and completion of tasks. “The process of SEO, at least for me, is very collaborative,” he says. “I found in SEO that I can’t just give the SEO work to my agency and let them go,” adding that it’s critical for him to instead “stay involved.” The time difference in working with overseas agencies made this impossible.
Knowledge of SEO
In terms of overseas agencies’ level of expertise, we heard mostly positive responses with some caveats.
In general, our respondents found that the overseas agencies they worked with were highly skilled in the areas they needed help with – particularly lower-level, yet crucial tasks that can suck up valuable time from in-house teams.
“We primarily work with these agencies on time-consuming aspects of SEO, such as the creation of title tags, meta descriptions and alt text,” says Harrison Sharrett, Digital Marketing and Content Manager at Prime Office Space. “As an office space brokerage that lists thousands of spaces that are constantly updated as new stock comes to market, it can be hard to stay on top of these vital elements of SEO.”
We primarily work with these agencies on time-consuming aspects of SEO, such as the creation of title tags, meta descriptions and alt text.
That said, some respondents found it was necessary to keep their overseas agency informed on the most up-to-date SEO strategies. Abby Herman of Snap Agency says, “There are some marketing trends they didn’t yet implement, or weren’t familiar with at the time, so we had to work on an A/B type of test for ads to see which one we should use in this particular case.” However, she says that despite the time this added to the campaign, the company was happy with the results.
Quality of results
The most mixed responses had to do with quality of results. While some respondents were pleased with the extent to which their SEO goals were met, others warned that some types of work are better for outsourcing overseas than others.
Caroline Lee, co-founder of CocoSign, says that the overseas agency she worked with provided work before deadlines, tracked each lead, and returned generally high-quality work. Many other respondents echoed these advantages, acknowledging that even when the work was not as good as what might be expected with a U.S. agency, it was worth the lower costs.
That said, one of the main areas where respondents were in agreement was content. Because overseas agencies are usually based in India or Pakistan, there is an understandable fear that a lack of native-level English speaking skills will damage the quality of content written by these agencies. In our experience, we’ve certainly seen content written by overseas agencies that required such heavy editing that the time and cost of producing the content outweighed its value.
Some respondents echoed this concern. “The disadvantage is the quality of writing if you’re looking for content,” says Reuben Yonatan of GetVoIP. “Some of them just have trouble finding native-level professional English writers who’ll work for the local rate.”
Tips & takeaways
At the end of the day, deciding whether or not to outsource to an overseas agency depends on your unique business needs. The following tips can help you make the decision when considering any type of agency, overseas or not:
1. Do your research.
Spend a lot of time researching agencies and ask a lot of questions to vet the agency’s fitness for your needs. In particular, make sure the agency is up-to-date on the most current SEO tactics, says Abby Herman of Snap Agency. That includes understanding the differences between white hat and black hat SEO so you can ensure your marketing efforts are ethical and legal.
Remember that an overseas agency isn’t beholden to the same business laws, so if they break contract or damage your brand’s reputation, you won’t be able to take them to court the way you can in the U.S.
2. Know what to expect.
You might not get top quality results, but you will get what you pay for. For small companies and startups, it may be worth it to quickly build a brand presence with one of these low-cost agencies, but it’s important to weigh the costs as your company grows and your SEO needs change.
3. Outsource work strategically.
Based on the respondents’ experiences, many brands have had success outsourcing time-consuming but simple tasks like meta tags, alt text, etc. rather than more comprehensive projects like content creation and link-building.
Harrison Sharrett of Prime Office Space says the number one advantage of outsourcing this work to an overseas agency “has been the time it has freed up for our employees to dedicate themselves to other aspects of SEO, such as on-page optimization, content creation, link-building, and digital PR.”
In particular, content is usually better when it’s written by native English speakers well-versed in the given vertical.
4. Consider the future.
Build your brand’s SEO strategy to last. Although it may be tempting to take shortcuts, it’s better to establish a solid foundation with thoughtful, high-quality content that provides real value to your customers.
It’s also imperative to choose an agency that can help your brand navigate emergency technology like AI search. According to findings by Semrush, 65% of businesses surveyed generated better SEO results by leveraging AI tools.
Tips for hiring a new agency
Whether you choose to work with a U.S.-based SEO agency or an agency based overseas, make sure you begin your professional relationship on the right foot.
During the discovery process, when the agency is still getting to know you, clearly communicate your goals and expectations. If you’re not sure, a great agency will help guide you. They will gather information about your business and create actionable objectives for your brand’s SEO strategy. Be prepared to answer questions such as:
- Who are my primary competitors?
- Who are my current customers?
- What type of new customers do I want to reach?
- How does my brand help customers and add value to their lives?
Your first few meetings with a potential new agency will also give you a sense of their communication style. Are they listening closely to you and your team, or simply delivering a pitch? When you have a question, how do they respond? Make sure you feel like the agency is a good fit for your company culture.
Additionally, ask about the agency’s methodology. SEO isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. The best agencies are nimble and adapt to different clients across a variety of industries and niches. They will also be transparent about their tactics and strategies. Before hiring an agency, ask about their approach to:
- Site audits
- Competitor analysis
- Keyword research
- Content strategy
- Technical SEO
- Local SEO
- Link building
- On-page optimization
- Algorithm updates
If you’re unfamiliar with any of these terms, visit our SEO glossary. We also recommend asking a new agency for case studies, as well as sample reports to understand how they communicate KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Find out how the agency measures the success of their campaigns and make sure these metrics align with your goals.
Once you choose an agency, set campaign timelines and regular meetings to monitor progress. If the agency is located overseas, make sure everyone understands the time zone differences and expectations for turnaround times. Consider a domestic agency if this presents too great a challenge, as an agency based in the United States may be more responsive.
Weighing the costs and benefits
At the end of the day, there’s no right answer when it comes to overseas vs. U.S. agencies. Instead, it’s best to weigh the costs and benefits of each according to your company’s size, bandwidth, budget, and needs.
An agency based overseas may offer comparatively lower pricing than an agency in the U.S. For smaller companies or startups looking to stretch their marketing budget, this may be an appealing choice. However, an overseas SEO agency comes with potential challenges such as long turnaround times or communication barriers. They may lack the cultural proficiency of a native-level English writer. Additionally, an overseas agency may prioritize quantity over quality.
While the lower costs may be a benefit, you may find your company needs the close working relationship and cutting-edge expertise that a U.S.-based agency can provide. Choosing an SEO agency that’s based in the United States also eliminates any potential challenges due to differing time zones. Depending upon your business, your industry, and your target customers, a U.S.-based agency may be able to understand your marketing needs on a cultural level more quickly than an overseas agency.
Have questions about the best approach for your SEO strategy? We’re happy to talk you through it. Get in touch with the RMG team today.
