Do Service Providers Need SEO Help?

SEO-MSPs

LaDezign has found that some service providers do indeed need help with chores such as search engine optimization (SEO). The company recently worked with a colocation firm on SEO, noting that its client had previously operated a rudimentary Web site and failed to turn up “in search results, particularly in the areas where its customers were located.”

For the colo client, LaDezign launched a site redesign and SEO initiative to boost its Web presence.

Given the competitive nature of colo and hosting, why aren’t some service providers up to speed on SEO (search engine optimization)? Is it just not a skill set they get involved with?

“It’s question of being a jack of all trades,” said Jason Ciment, chief executive officer of LaDezign. “And to win the SEO game you need to be the best not just better. And, therefore, they find it’s better to hire a firm for $3k per month then do it internally.”

Companies in the service provider space confront a number of SEO issues. Ciment said the task is to generate keyword rich, relevant and compelling content. The next step is “getting enough contextually relevant sites to post that content on their Web sites with good anchor text links to their site. The biggest problem is finding quality sites to get links from.”

The SEO business can lead to the potential for conflict when customers come from similar market segments — such as colo. In those cases, Ciment said he sometimes refers prospects to another consultant. But most of the time, he said he tries to “find a way to work with them and carve out a niche that my current customers can deal with.”

LaDezign, meanwhile, partners with service providers to offer SEO to their customers.

“This is something we are doing now with some of our clients so they aren’t just goodwill referrals but actually earn something on the upside too,” Ciment said.

Of course, LaDesign isn’t alone in the SEO game for service providers. Specialty companies like Kutenda assist MSPs with end-customer search engine optimization. And industry pundits such as MSP University have rapid web site design services to help MSPs get online with the appropriate SEO terms in place.

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