The Downsides to Working with a Specialized SEO Provider

Written by Nick Stamoulis

If you’re in the market to hire an SEO firm, you essentially have two options. You can hire a firm that specializes in your industry or you can hire a firm that doesn’t specialize and works with clients across multiple industries. While it might seem like a no-brainer to work with a firm that specializes in what you do, there are drawbacks to taking this approach that you should be aware of. Here are 4 downsides to working with a specialized SEO provider to consider:

The “cookie-cutter” approach

When an SEO firm only works with clients in one particular niche, it’s likely that they have their process down to a science and are doing the same things for each client. This type of “cookie-cutter” approach isn’t really taking the actual client into consideration, it’s merely lumping them in with the rest. The problem with doing so is that each client is unique, even if they’re in the same industry as other clients. The best SEO strategy today is customized to the needs and products/services offered by each company and website owner.

Lack of creativity

Specialized SEO providers often take a stale approach to an SEO campaign since they simply do the same things over and over. It’s SEO on auto-pilot, which isn’t something you want for your site. Sure, some of their strategies will help you out, but they likely aren’t taking any time to think creatively about the campaign. They’re simply duplicating what they know has worked in the past.

Missed steps


There are multiple steps to an SEO campaign and time and care should be spent on each step. For example, the first phase involves keyword research, or using a keyword tool to research how people are searching and which keywords should be targeted. It’s very likely that a specialized SEO company skips this step, assuming that what works for one client will work for the next. However, there are many outside factors to consider during keyword research such as competitors in the space, which will vary depending on location.

Less options

If you decide to work with an SEO firm that doesn’t specialize, you’re casting a wider net when it comes time to hire a firm. You might only have a few specialized firms to choose from, but there will be many more reputable firms that don’t specialize. It’s important to select a firm that you can trust and feel comfortable with, and there’s a better chance of finding the best match when you don’t select a specialized firm.

Hiring a specialized SEO firm isn’t a bad thing, necessarily. They’ll probably get you results, especially if you’ve never done any SEO work in the past. However, going this route is certainly limiting your options and potentially stifling SEO success over the long term.

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