- Joined
- Oct 25, 2010
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Anyway, some potential reasons:
- Not all SEOs are interested in affiliate sites, or even in having their own site
If they don't have their own sites, then how are they learning what works and what doesn't? I'd NEVER hire an seo who doesn't have experience of running their own sites.
Not everyone has time to run their own sites if they are doing SEO professionally. That doesn't mean that they've never had their own site or they aren't keeping up to date. Most of my full-time job is SEO; yet my personal website isn't optimised for anything. Doesn't cancel out the experience I've got & the work I do every day.
- They may want to increase their SEO expertise/demonstrate their knowledge with projects that would otherwise require a LOT of commitment, e.g. a fully-fledged ecommerce site
Yeah but you don't need to have an ecommerce site. You can rank for "laptops" and make a lot of money without actually selling them. If they are wanting to increase their expertise or learn a bit more, are they someone you really want to be hiring?
But different sites require different approaches. Making a website with a few pages about laptops is very different to handling the SEO of tens of thousands of product pages, implementing authority signals, creating unique content, optimising user experience and sales, etc. etc.
An SEO can always learn more. Always.
- It's less risky (& more of a steady income) than setting up lots of sites on your own
I think owning your sites is far less risky, and a more steady income, as you own the income stream. Even if it starts fading away, it'll do so slowly which will give you time to correct it. It also means you end up owning valuable assets too (the sites themselves).
That depends on how much you charge. I know of SEOs who simply don't like the responsibility or the daily grind, and would prefer to work 6 months of the year and leave the pressure on other people. This is especially true for SEOs who are optimising business/company websites. If I'm paid £XXXX to do some consultancy work on a transport website, then it's easier in the short term than a) setting up my own rival business or b) earning £XXX from an affiliate site for the first 6 months, which I will then have to invest more time in.
- There's only so far you can take certain niches without investing a lot of money
This is probably the most valid reason, it comes down to cashflow and the seo not being well financed enough to do it themselves.
- They may have a part time or even full time other job
If they're doing it at night and have a day job, again that to me is another reason not to hire them.
Fair enough; however there are many people eager for 'mates' rates' & SEOs who have such a reputation in the industry that other people are desperate to even get an email response from them, let alone actually hire them for a project.
- Not all SEOs are interested in affiliate sites, or even in having their own site
If they don't have their own sites, then how are they learning what works and what doesn't? I'd NEVER hire an seo who doesn't have experience of running their own sites.
Not everyone has time to run their own sites if they are doing SEO professionally. That doesn't mean that they've never had their own site or they aren't keeping up to date. Most of my full-time job is SEO; yet my personal website isn't optimised for anything. Doesn't cancel out the experience I've got & the work I do every day.
- They may want to increase their SEO expertise/demonstrate their knowledge with projects that would otherwise require a LOT of commitment, e.g. a fully-fledged ecommerce site
Yeah but you don't need to have an ecommerce site. You can rank for "laptops" and make a lot of money without actually selling them. If they are wanting to increase their expertise or learn a bit more, are they someone you really want to be hiring?
But different sites require different approaches. Making a website with a few pages about laptops is very different to handling the SEO of tens of thousands of product pages, implementing authority signals, creating unique content, optimising user experience and sales, etc. etc.
An SEO can always learn more. Always.
- It's less risky (& more of a steady income) than setting up lots of sites on your own
I think owning your sites is far less risky, and a more steady income, as you own the income stream. Even if it starts fading away, it'll do so slowly which will give you time to correct it. It also means you end up owning valuable assets too (the sites themselves).
That depends on how much you charge. I know of SEOs who simply don't like the responsibility or the daily grind, and would prefer to work 6 months of the year and leave the pressure on other people. This is especially true for SEOs who are optimising business/company websites. If I'm paid £XXXX to do some consultancy work on a transport website, then it's easier in the short term than a) setting up my own rival business or b) earning £XXX from an affiliate site for the first 6 months, which I will then have to invest more time in.
- There's only so far you can take certain niches without investing a lot of money
This is probably the most valid reason, it comes down to cashflow and the seo not being well financed enough to do it themselves.
- They may have a part time or even full time other job
If they're doing it at night and have a day job, again that to me is another reason not to hire them.
Fair enough; however there are many people eager for 'mates' rates' & SEOs who have such a reputation in the industry that other people are desperate to even get an email response from them, let alone actually hire them for a project.
