SEO is a long-term strategy that requires continuous content production, data analysis, and technical issue resolution. For many businesses, this is a big undertaking; they simply don’t have the capacity to do SEO in-house. In this case, outsourcing SEO can be a great option.
SEO is changing rapidly, and search results are becoming increasingly volatile, so having an SEO growth expert on your team is more important than ever.
AI can be a powerful tool in your SEO strategy, helping you improve your online visibility, search engine rankings and drive conversions more efficiently. Working with an SEO agency that leverages AI to drive growth gives you a high ROI on your marketing budget.
According to marketers, the most effective uses of AI in digital marketing are:
- Aligning blog content with user search intent
- Improving user experience
- Improving content ranking position in SERPs
What’s the Difference Between an AI SEO Agency and an AI-powered SEO Agency?
AI-powered SEO agencies typically have a team of marketing experts who use AI-based software to promote efficiency and innovation in their campaigns. Some examples are automated data collection, AI-powered keyword research, and technical SEO issue identification.
AI SEO agencies offer services that are primarily conducted using artificial intelligence. These services include blog writing and optimizing and resolving technical SEO issues.
AI SEO Agency Vs. AI-Powered SEO Agency: Key Considerations
Communication
An AI-powered SEO agency provides better communication. At any time, you can jump on a call with your team to discuss any concerns. You can do the same with an AI SEO agency. However, you’ll likely be conversing with a customer support agent rather than an SEO expert working closely with your brand.
If your site is more low-lift, you may require less communication with your SEO partner so an AI SEO agency may work great for you. However, if you prefer continuous contact, partnering with an agency with human SEO experts on board may be a better option.
Price
Whether you choose an AI SEO agency or an AI-powered SEO agency, you want to ensure a high ROI for the services. Most AI SEO agencies use a subscription model with the option to add additional services as needed. This establishes transparency between you and the agency.
When you sign up for the service, you know exactly what services you will receive for the price you pay each month. The disadvantage here is that you’re locked in with the services and add-ons outlined in the subscription model. There’s not much room to create a personalized SEO strategy.
Working with an AI-powered SEO agency allows you to negotiate prices and services, opening up a two-way conversation about the services you need and what strategy will work for your brand. You’ll still get the benefits of AI software, but you’ll also be able to work with your agency team members to figure out a service package that suits your brand’s unique needs.
Flexibility
When deciding which agency to choose, a key factor to consider is how much flexibility you’ll need with your services. An AI-powered SEO agency offers more flexibility in services and timelines, whereas AI SEO agencies are typically rigid when it comes to deliverables.
An AI SEO agency can be a great option for those needing SEO-optimized content but don’t have the time to build a comprehensive strategy. The services you receive each month are fixed according to your subscription plan, so you know what to expect each month. This also means you can’t adjust your strategy and services as much.
If you need more flexibility, an AI-powered SEO agency may be better. Search algorithms are changing rapidly, which means marketers need to continuously revise their SEO strategies to stay above the competition. With the introduction of Google AI Overviews, many marketers are pivoting their strategy to incorporate more user experience features.
AI-powered SEO agencies provide the flexibility of quickly adapting your AI-based services with algorithm updates or changes in brand positioning or business goals.
Quality of Service
An AI-powered SEO agency will look beyond the data and spend time understanding your brand voice and pain points to create a content strategy that converts. You’ll work closely with SEO experts to develop a personalized SEO strategy tailored to your brand. Your growth experts will use AI to inform unique content creation that converts your target audience.
AI SEO agencies often have AI blog writers that produce content on a fixed schedule, but the articles often lack authenticity and depth. These articles provide a good starting point for a blog post as they outline the topics that should be included. However, the articles produced are not polished; they require human editing and optimizing before uploading to have a better chance of ranking.
5 Questions to Ask Your AI SEO Agency Partner
1. How Do You Use AI in Your SEO Services, and How Is It Different From Traditional SEO Tactics?
AI SEO agencies use cutting edge technologies, and innovative approaches to SEO that differ from traditional SEO. Each agency is different, so it’s important to ask how the team leverages AI in their services. Some agencies use AI for content creation, and others prefer to produce human crafted content.
Before meeting with your agency, consider the services you are looking for and how you want those services to be carried out. It’s important to have an understanding of how AI is used in digital marketing so you can decide if an AI SEO agency is right for you.
AI helps marketers work more efficiently and take innovative approaches to traditional SEO strategies. An agency that understands AI, and how to use it to their advantage, will be able to adapt to search engine algorithm changes and generative AI better than agencies who stick to traditional SEO tactics.
2. Do You Have Case Studies or Examples of Successful AI-driven SEO Campaigns?
Case studies and examples illustrate how the agency has used AI to fuel its growth campaigns. Seeing the projects they have completed will give you a good idea of whether or not partnering with an AI SEO agency is right for your brand. Examples backed by specific metrics will show you the services and strategies the agency used to drive growth for its clients.
3. How Do You Stay Up-To-Date With the Latest AI and SEO Trends and Developments?
To get the most out of AI’s capabilities, marketers need to stay on top of new advancements in the AI space and continuously learn new strategies to make campaigns more efficient. The SEO industry is changing quickly, so marketers need to adapt to meet the demands of new AI models and updated search algorithms. When you are choosing an agency to partner with, look for experts who can quickly adapt their strategies and come up with innovative approaches rather than relying on the traditional SEO playbook.
4. How Do You Ensure AI-Generated Content and Strategies Comply with Search Engine Guidelines?
Since Google prioritizes helpful content that is backed by experience and expertise in the given subject matter, blog posts must reflect this to perform well. Many times, AI-generated content does not satisfy Google’s requirements because AI cannot draw from personal experiences. When AI blog writers generate content, they scrape the internet for information on the topic and summarize it.
AI is helpful in content creation processes like keyword research, blog outlines, and citations, but it should not be used for the entire blog creation process. Ultimately, blog posts need to be written with experiences and ideas that can only come from a human writer.
When deciding which AI SEO agency to partner with, ask how they use AI to create blog content to make sure it aligns with Google’s helpful content guidelines.
5. How does the agency measure the success of their AI SEO efforts, and how do they report this to clients?
Performance metrics are foundational to SEO, as they allow us to gauge how our strategies are helping increase rankings, traffic, and conversions. Asking your AI SEO Agency partner how performance will be measured and reported gives you a framework for the results you should expect from SEO services.
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Even though AI SEO agencies use innovative SEO strategies and tactics they should still report on traditional KPIs for SEO like organic traffic, conversions, impressions, and click-through rates.
- Reporting Frequency and Format: As a client, the agency should let you know how they will be delivering reports. You can work with your agency to find a reporting frequency and format that works best for you.
Evaluating the Leading AI SEO Agency: Ranked
Ranked is a a top AI SEO agency offering content writing, site optimization, and link-building services. It offers the most impressive services compared to the other AI SEO agencies I have seen.
Pros
When I demoed Ranked, the feature that impressed me the most was the content writing feature. Ranked has a large content team that creates personalized blog posts tailored to your brand voice. This means you’ll get human-written SEO-optimized content for your website each week.
This feature really sets Ranked apart from most other AI SEO agencies whose content writing services are– get this — performed by artificial intelligence… sigh. While AI can create optimized blog content by scraping the internet for information and adding semantically related keywords, it can’t deliver the value human-written content can provide. Since Google prioritizes helpful content, AI-generated blog posts won’t perform well in search results because they are generally surface-level and don’t provide a unique perspective that is only achieved with the human touch.
In addition to their human-crafted content writing, Ranked also provides link-building and backlink management services. After they write your custom blog content, they conduct custom outreach to acquire high-quality backlinks to your pages. Their AI software will continuously monitor your backlink profile to ensure your site maintains those high-quality links and stays spam-free.
Cons
The only downside to Ranked is the lack of flexibility with your SEO marketing plan. While Ranked services are extensive, it’s still mostly an automated service so you will be limited to the services and add ons outlined in the subscription model.
Ranked also does not have internal data collection and analysis tools. It relies on data from services like SemRush and Ahrefs to inform its content strategy. These tools are not required to use Ranked, but they significantly improve the quality of the content produced. This isn’t a big deal if you are already using these tools, but if you’re not, the lack of internal data could impact your search engine rankings.
Pricing
Ranked’s plans start at $99 per month which includes blog content, optimizations, backlinks, site audits, and technical issue resolution. Ranked also provides integration with SEO tools like GA4, SEMRush, and Ahrefs.
Want to learn more about how to evaluate a digital marketing agency?
Choosing the Right SEO Growth Partner
AI SEO agencies are more affordable than AI-powered SEO agencies. However, they often provide less services than an AI-powered SEO agency.
If organic search isn’t a primary channel for your business, an AI SEO agency may work better for you. AI SEO agencies can provide on page and technical optimizations as well as content writing for an affordable price.
Conversely, if you need a more robust organic search strategy, it may be better to partner with an AI-powered SEO agency. You’ll get human experts who will assess your goals and develop a unique SEO strategy that will drive organic traffic and conversions for your business.
With an AI-powered organic SEO agency, you’ll get SEO growth experts working with you personally every step of the way. You can communicate with your growth team and adjust your marketing plan as your business grows and your needs change.
Need help increasing website conversions and ranking?
