Our great American society has a long and tumultuous history of divisive opinion when it comes to political and economic change, especially when it comes to the rapid advancements of industry related computer automation systems and virtual machines. Whenever I ask my marketing clients how they feel about the contrast between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation Software as a Service (SaaS) platforms as opposed to more traditional Business 2 Business (B2B) Project Management services, there never seems to be any common consensus around these topics.
I believe it is the overwhelming bias and rhetorical speculation that is presented by today’s “mainstream” media that is keeping people from reaching a more unified understanding about these topics and taking a preference to one side of or the other.
For this reason, I have chosen to write this article as a simple representation of the truth without expressing my personal opinions as to which type of service is superior to the other. Rather, I will let you decide for yourself whether SaaS or Project Management can offer you superior value and efficiency.
One thing I will say however, in terms of logistics, they are already two sides of the same sword for professional technology consultants such as myself. So please don’t read this article under the assumption that you have to decide if one service is necessarily a better fit than the other, because there are many people that believe they can be developed and applied to work harmoniously with one another.
How the Tech Buzz Brings in the Benjamins.
While it should come as no surprise that with all the hype in today’s media about emerging technology trends, many program developers have managed to string together these topics into their latest business models, such as; marketing automation, artificial intelligence, virtual assistants, cloud based computing, and Software as a Service (SaaS).
However, just because a company uses these high-volume keywords to describe their services, doesn’t necessarily mean they are always useful in a way that will actually provide functional value.
As a result, customers across the country are pouring their hard-earned money into monthly subscriptions for programs that often upsell themselves like crazy.
Don’t get me wrong, some programs are great and end up being totally worth the money, but ultimately, most of them fall short when it comes to providing the right mix of functionality & simplicity.
Generally speaking, SaaS applications follow a Freemium model which involves a free trial period that spans anywhere between 7 and 30 days. During this period, many programs try compelling users to spend money by only providing a limited version of their paid services instead allowing them to preview the full-scale of functionality.
This should be your first red flag when shopping around for SaaS programs.
Gimmicks such as these usually pan out to less than you bargained for….
If a company is selling a service that will provide true value to its users, and they are not confident enough to rely solely upon merit, they should be willing to showcase it full capabilities.
Claiming that many features are not included in the free trial is a cleaver sales tactic, but don’t let them fool you with that noise.
The reality is, many business owners are self-starters and would rather struggle in-house signing up for service after service looking for the magic elixir to their digital woes than hire outside help that will surely cost more up front, but ultimately provide them with much higher returns in the long-run.
If this sounds anything like your experience, that means only one thing.
You follow an essential recipe that can be found in any successful entrepreneur’s metaphorical cookbook.
Due Diligence...
It means that your just like I was. Someone who wants to see what’s new and unique out there before you allocate your money towards a more classical solution.
I often end up getting roped into trying out new software myself.
In fact, I basically do it for a living.
The major focus behind this article is to provide insight to anyone out there struggling with a toss-up between paying for software as a service or seeking a professionally managed solution.
In my humble opinion, it is not a matter of which to go with, but rather how you can get both in the same package.
Historically the differences have shown in favor of Software as a Service, however that all depend on who you ask.
Managed Services
This involves outsourcing part, or all, of your internal IT competency to a dedicated provider. The general idea is that their breadth of experience and economies of scale give you a greater Return On Investment (ROI) than having to build and maintain such an internal competency in-house.
Managed service providers offer various pricing models to their clients which include the following:
“Á La Carte” Pricing Model
As indicated by the name itself explains this type of pricing model where services can be availed separately. It is not the most popular forms of managed services pricing models. However, it is still preferred by some businesses. The client is given a choice to select managed services they would like to have from a list of services provided by their Managed Service Provider. In instances where clients do not possess the sound knowledge of what is required and what is not this type of pricing model can become confusing, but it is still more appealing than trying to figure everything out yourself.
“Per-Device” Pricing Model
This model of pricing involves a flat fee that is developed for every device supported in client’s environment. For example, flat fee of $199 is set per network that is managed by a client’s service provider. Furthermore, it can be quoted or modified for a client without much hassle making it simple to understand for even a newbie business owner.
“Per-user” Pricing Model
This is same as per-device pricing model just one clear difference that flat fee is charged per month per user. Managed service providers generally provide support for all end-user devices.
"Tiered" Pricing Model
Under this, many bundled managed services packages are formulated with basic, advanced and premium service types. The pricing is more tailored to the combination of services offered similarly to general pricing models that are used across various industries for any type of services.
“Option-based” Pricing Model
Option-based pricing can be seen as a combination of two pricing models; namely, Tiered and Á La Carte. For this pricing model to work, a set number of minimum services are given to choose from, and they are listed under each category so the client gets the best possible support on their end.
“Monitoring-Only” Pricing Model
This is a suitable model for medium to large enterprise organizations that have their own in-house IT staff. As the name suggests, services are provided in to such companies related to monitoring and incident management.
“All-you-can-eat” Pricing Model
This is one of the most flexible models extended by many managed service providers under category of managed IT services. It extends features such as on-site support, bench/lab time, remote support, etc. which are made available for client’s company on basis of flat fee per month.
Search as a Service (SaaS):
Used as a means of distributing software via a centralized hosted online service provider, SaaS users can forego the need to install certain software across an entire fleet of workstations, and "upgrades" are automatically available to everyone at the same time, etc. It's probably best embodied with the type of shift from running Microsoft Office suite on every office computer to using Google Docs.
Which is better?
Well Google docs runs on the cloud and offers seamless sharing and collaboration, but Microsoft has recently come out with similar features.
So, in some respects, they are essentially the same, aren’t they?
The SaaS model also brought with it a shift in cost models, replacing traditional one-off capital outlays for software to a monthly/annual subscription-based approach that is usually treated as operational expenditure.
For many SaaS platforms, I've also seen this model shift in customer expectations. With a regular monthly payment, and the labeling of "Software as a Service", customers have a higher expectation of actually receiving some form of actual service. Depending on the nature of the product, that could simply mean more regular updates, increased customer service, or possibly more advanced automation and/or hands-on, value-added design based on the nature of an individual’s usage. that is why I think we'll continue to see the lines between these two categories blurred, as the "Software as a Service" develops into the context of "managing/tailoring my service for me".
Today’s rapidly evolving technology is leaving even some of the most tech-savvy business owners spinning their wheels. This is the reason why I started my company: Business Optimized Virtual Intelligence, titled under the acronym “BOVI” Consultancy Services. We pride ourselves on specializing in many areas related to technology, but we have built ourselves around doing one simple thing better than anyone else:
Helping businesses, brands & individuals integrate technology resources to get the absolute highest possible return on their investments. We take our own financial solvency out of the equation and focus on our clients’ profits first.
In fact we’re so confident that our clients will benefit from working with us that all of our services are backed by an ironclad guarantee that if we don’t deliver returns within 30 days, the cost of our services will be fully refunded.
No quibble. No hassle. No hesitation.
As I mentioned before, when you have something of true valuean entirely new approach to achieving growth through the consolidation of value and integration of software tools that directly compete with our industry.
We also focus on putting the power of our extensive platform knowledge into the hands of the business owners with whom they will benefit, because at the end of the day, everything works better as a team effort.
In light of this, I thought it would be beneficial to share some of the insights that I’ve gathered through my own business initiatives to compare and combine the benefits of adopting Search as a Service (SaaS) & a locally managed Business 2 Business (B2B) approach to optimizing your online presence & developing effective digital marketing strategies.
Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
There are still many aspects of Local SEO that need to be both monitored and managed by real human beings on an ongoing basis. These include:
Analysis of where individual business listings are appearing in Google, Bing, Apple, etc.
Data accuracy and ranking position.
Percentage of visible business listings for key search terms and phrases (mobile and desktop).
Content management and optimization for better user experience and SEO performance.
Analytics tracking, measurement and analysis to better inform key strategy adjustments.
Identifying which channels are actually contributing to conversions.
While SaaS platforms can help streamline portions of your local SEO strategy to be more effective, a managed service approach that utilizes both technology and actual digital marketing experts can provide even greater dividends. Let’s break down the benefits of each approach and highlight some differences as well:
Cut Corners for Backlinks, & Get on Googles Blacklist (not really but it could destroy your rankings)
SaaSy SEO.
The vast majority of SaaS applications allow brand marketers to centralize, authenticate and securely distribute a business’s information across data-oriented directories and networks. The syndication of data goes directly to various search engines, social media networks and other directories, which helps brands scale location data and rank organically (not paid for through marketing expenditures).
It’s important to note that many SaaS platforms have revenue sharing agreements in place with large online directories, and as a result can provide time saving inclusion programs that help update your listings faster and with additional enhanced content fields. However, this usually comes with a moderate price tag and doesn’t guarantee that you will actually gain enough domain authority to rank higher than your competitors for any specific combination of keywords.
While ranking on the first page of major search engines and organizations like Google, Bing, and Apple used to just come down to which has the most external URL pages backlinked to a website’s domain pages, the regulatory standards for ranking protocols have recently changed to promote fairer competition by cracking down on pages that add too many phony backlinks.
Google & the other search engine providers decided they would only reward high rankings to websites that exceed the standard practices for producing High Quality Content and External Backlinks from reputable sites (Basically any pages that don’t exist solely for the purposes of linking together a bunch of affiliate directories).
So, just as a precaution…Stay far away from the paid backlink directories.
Although, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t actively be listing your business url in local directories. While you can use local listings to display your site links more prominently, there are certain paid inclusion programs that fall under the exception category for Googles directory listing policy.
Websites like Yelp, 411.com, Local.com, yellowpages.com, etc., are among the few exceptions.
Here are some benefits BOVI consultants are able to provide using our suite of SaaS platforms for SEO:
Ensuring business listings are updated with appropriate content.
Social content publishing.
Citation distribution to hundreds of directories.
Pin verification (giving you the exact latitude and longitude of a location).
Citation analysis (making sure the link is complete and consistent on all directory locations).
Compiling reviews from various sources.
In addition to pushing data to channels directly, we’re uniquely able to use cloud database aggregators to distribute a client’s location data to numerous directories that assist with citation building. The main companies who have a list of channels we push data to include Factual, Acxiom, Infogroup, Manta and Neustar.
While SaaS helps automate aspects of your local SEO campaign, automation can only take you as far as the person setting up the protocols is able to reach.
Managed services + technology platforms (the BOVI-Base model)
It is without question that technology can take time and effort out of your digital marketing efforts, but managing a proper local business listing and local SEO program requires actual human resources to dig into the data, ensure it is directed through the proper channels, and optimize the overall strategy in order to achieve the highest possible performance and provide maximum Returns on Investment (ROI).
It is always better to have someone to see beyond the numbers and give an intuitive analysis on Web analytics, Google Search Console and paid search data in order to interpreted if the right actions are always being taken.
While machine-learning algorithms have the incredible ability to provide constantly improving functionality, there is still a need for human intervention when specific context needs to be created, distributed and optimized within the content.
So whoever is worried about Artificial Super Intelligence taking over everyone’s job can probably relax. For now, there is always factors on the web that require human intervention.
Citations must be routinely monitored. Backlinks pointing to the primary brand domain must not only be in place, but continually evaluated for authority and ranking value.
“Chasing Tech with Tech is How You Win the Race.”
After the Google Venice and Google Pigeon algorithm updates a few years back, there has been an ongoing integration of traditional organic ranking factors into local search results. It is wise to expect there will be more changes coming as the local search ecosystem continually evolves; and since Google has a significant investment in crawling and ranking the web, brands can be better prepared for those changes by focusing more on what lies at the heart of SEO: site structure, content, and links.
Although some of the automation platforms available on the market today can provide for a centralized repository for your brand data, it’s what happens to that data after you have it centralized that is the most important element to your local listings strategy.
No automation technology or SaaS platform by itself can tackle all of the primary SEO elements that actually impact ranking it’s simply not possible.
BOVI believe that employing a comprehensive strategy must include the following minimum requirements:
High-touch strategic analysis and execution for increasing exposure of your local assets and for assessing an ROI relative to a successful local listing management program.
Constant analysis of paid search performance data through web analytics, thus providing actionable analysis for an agency to make the beneficial changes.
Site structure, content and link analysis are the pillars of SEO and need to be managed and evaluated on an ongoing basis to maximize organic traffic opportunities.
As local listing management becomes more complex, the need for organic (non-paid) optimization is becoming even more important than ever for achieving higher rankings.
Advantages of SaaS platforms running your program may ultimately become challenges.
This is because other SEO factors are playing a part in impacting higher rankings, and by only using software to fish for your results, you would essentially be sending a single line out in the ocean that is the internet.
Having actual human beings, and better yet, a team of experts constantly managing the complexities of a sound local SEO strategy is always going to be much more effective in the long-term approach than is inherently achieved by one strategy in itself, and simply checking a box by deploying SaaS tools is no longer going to pass for having a strong SEO strategy. While many SaaS platforms gives you supplementary abilities to make some updates to your local listings and save time, you still need to apply human resources that are responsible for actually getting results that sets our work apart from the rest and allows businesses that we work with to be as involved as they would like to be in the day-to-day activity of optimizing their progress without getting lost in the complexities.
Furthermore, someone needs to be held accountable for performance and analysis, and SaaS platforms aren’t in a position to provide those details their responsibility and accountability often ends at execution of the campaign.
Summary
In conclusion, the fact remains that legitimate SEO strategies cannot be automated, and taking shortcuts by using nothing more than automated tools will result in less-than-satisfactory performance. Furthermore, when you discontinue using a SaaS platform, your organic ranking authority diminishes because rich listing content like local images often get removed, while NAP info becomes increasingly vulnerable to changes (or lack thereof).
We’ll leave you with this analogy to clarify it even further: a SaaS platform is like a rented apartment, whereas a managed approach to SEO is like owning a mortgage on a home. At the end of the day, the apartment may be satisfactory, but you don’t actually own the equity you’ve worked so hard to build up.
When you take a strategic, hands-on approach that requires human beings doing the real work, the dividends pay off in both the short term and the long term. Brands should no longer be satisfied with minimal short-term lift provided by SaaS platforms, but instead should be demanding tangible, long-term performance and results that can only be provided by implementing a managed approach to SEO.
Thank You For Reading.
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Published: Aug, 14th 2017
By Daniel R. Munro
BOVI Consultancy Services
Next-Generation Technology Professionals
(207) 730-2399
go@bovipros.info
https://www.bovipros.com/
35 Stratton Rd,
Scarborough, ME 04074.