Outsource vs In House Citation building

[Eric Rohrback]

I'm trying to decide whether to have in-house citation building, or outsource it. My main concern is time/cost to have people in-house (US) doing it as opposed to outsourcing to Brightlocal, whitespark, or somewhere else overseas that will do it for cheap.

Thoughts or opinions on citation building methods?

 

[Dustybones]

We outsource to other countries as well as keep it in house. You would have to find someone that understands your niche and that can be difficult in other countries. We work in a very specific niche (orthodontics). We still outsource, but I put together a plan in house that included guidelines. This included a list of sites I had pulled from whitespark and just general SERPs. (searching every day, week, month and year in your niche will give you a lot of potentials. Don't let anyone you hire just run amok. You'll end up with 20,000 PR 0 links and citations. My point. Do some in house research, make a solid plan and then outsource. We use people in the Philippines and India and have great working relationships. So far I have been happy with the results.

 

[Laustin1878]

I think a key to this is coming up with a foundation and methodology that can be implemented across the board. Having a system in place for how you conduct your research and "train" your prospective citation builders is important.

I know Nyagoslav from NGS Marketing has a great guide for training and citation building. Click the link above. Several people on these forums have many good things to say about it. I enjoyed it and think it is very helpful. They also offer an affordable solution for citation building.

If you have a system in place, I think you can mix up your efforts based on niche and needs. Let us know how you managed to work it out and what your decision was. Always like to hear how others overcome or resolve their concerns.

 

[Phil Rozek]

I'll second what Laustin1878 has said.

 

[Thaddaeus]

In the past I've tried to do citations myself but I would only outsource now. Too time consuming for me. Has anyone ever tried Whitespark's citation building?

I'm interested in seeing their results.

 

[Nyagoslav]

First, thanks for the mention, Laustin1878! I am happy to hear you enjoyed the guide.

On the topic - here are some strengths of doing it in-house vs. outsourcing that you might want to consider:

1) Positives of doing it in-house:

- Better control over what is going on
- Potentially cheaper (although it obviously depends on how much you value your time)
- Easier maintenance of tasks such as phone verifications
- More flexibility

2) Positives of outsourcing it:
*Note: I am not talking about outsourcing it to freelancers in third-world countries. I would not recommend this unless it is for an extremely easy task, the kind where you have already prepared a step-by-step to-do list for everything.

- Time-effective
- Human-resources-effective
- Working with someone who has done this probably hundreds of times means that the error possibility is significantly decreased

It is really up to the individual or the company to decide which better fits their needs. One thing I didn't mention above, but it should be an important part of the decision making is the following:

Quite a number of my citation building clients are agencies and many of them have previously tried doing it in-house. One of the top reasons why it didn't work out is because the person who was performing the citation building/clean-up didn't want to do it anymore. It is a tedious, time-consuming, mundane, and repetitive job. It is not for everyone.

I hope this helps!

 

[Dave]

First, thanks for the mention, Laustin1878! I am happy to hear you enjoyed the guide.


It is a tedious, time-consuming, mundane, and repetitive job. It is not for everyone.
Quite a number of my citation building clients are agencies and many of them have previously tried doing it in-house. One of the top reasons why it didn't work out is because the person who was performing the citation building/clean-up didn't want to do it anymore.

I hope this helps!

my bold above. Aint that the truth!!!