Everything related to computers has one common keyword – Scalability. When a solution is implemented for a company, the first question asked is about how scalable that particular solution is, and that is a valid question too. Else, as a company grows, they will constantly need to buy new solutions, and that won’t make sense!
The same is true for any kind of a profession related to the internet. The internet itself is a completely scalable entity. Else, we would not have got where we are today! Each day there is an addition of capacity somewhere in the world – in the form of servers, disk space, bandwidth, speed, users, websites, services, and many more! All of this capacity has one goal – to enhance the experience a user goes through while using the internet.
As SEO Consultants, you are in a high chair to look over this capacity expansion. As each new website goes online, you know exactly where it will feature on the search engines, and you will know whether it will survive or go bust in a few months. Also, if you’ve been making a living online for a few years, you will know what trends of today will continue to exist a few years down the line and what trends will get obsolete.
Similarly, client expectations also continue to change. As a client grows, he will suddenly need you to don new hats and offer new services, failing which he will have to look for some other provider; and that provider will also take away your basic set of services! Think about it – as a customer, you will naturally want to work with one SEO team handling the entire gamut of services you want for your sites. That is much more convenient and time saving than working with a dozen different people. But since you already have a relationship with your client, he will give you a chance to deliver the new services he wants you to. Only when you cannot will he look for an alternate. If you have been in SEO for a period of time, you would have faced this situation several times already.
The question that comes up in a situation like that is about the scalability of your team. Do you have the capability to increase your team size and the range of your offerings within a very short period of time? If you feel the answer is yes, ask yourself these questions –
- Do you have the resources to recruit and train new people in your technologies?
- Do you have the necessary infrastructure to support the new people you will be bringing on board?
- Do you have dedicated project managers who can handle the different services you offer a client without mixing it all up?
- Do you have the necessary capital to infuse into this expansion? Even if you do, is that capital well spent in expanding the team than marketing your services?
- Even if you expand today, will you able to do that once more when a new client comes on board?
If the answer to even one of these questions is ‘No’, it is time for you to look beyond your boundaries.
Outsourcing is the perfect answer to scalability. Whether it is an IT project or building a highway, the primary reason people like to outsource is because they don’t need to worry about increasing and reducing the size of the team. A dedicated team somewhere in India will cost you a third (or a fourth) of what you would spend on a team in your country, and it is a fact that the service standards are quite excellent.
A team like at SEO Pencil will not only save you costs, but will also make sure that your time is suddenly freed up – no more people management for you! Just handle clients and make money! Sensible, right?
