SEO Services Philippines

The Agency of Choice
for Savvy Businesses

It doesn’t matter how good your products or your services are compared to the competition. If people never discover your website, they’ll never know what you have to offer. That’s why a high degree of visibility on search engines is crucial in today’s business landscape. Most people form their purchasing decisions on the web based on the top listings they see on search engines.

That’s where SearchWorks comes in. We provide world-class SEO services from the Philippines that are sure to improve your website’s search visibility for keywords that pertain to your products or services. Whether your goal is lead generation, E-commerce transactions or branding, SearchWorks has the knowledge, technology, processes and experience to take you to the next level.

SEO Services to Cover Your Every Need

Whether you need managed, comprehensive and all-encompassing SEO solution or you just need extra firepower in key aspects of your SEO campaign, you’ll find something for you with SearchWorks’ suite of SEO services:

Full SEO Campaigns

SearchWorks’ flagship service: our full SEO campaigns cover every area of your optimization needs. From the technical makeup of your website, its UX, content and backlinks, we’ve got everything covered so you can focus less on your website and more on growing your business.

Why SEO Matters to the Modern Business

In recent years, global internet usage skyrocketed thanks to smartphones and improvements in wireless internet technology. This has allowed millions upon millions of people worldwide to participate in the digital economy, creating even greater opportunities for business than ever before.

In today’s commercial landscape, many people make their purchasing decisions mostly by what they see on the web. In fact, around 95% of all internet browsing experiences begin with a query on a search engine. As you might imagine, businesses that can be easily found on search results will get the first crack at influencing their target customers’ buying decisions. If your website is nowhere to be found during this crucial stage in the sales funnel, you’ll be losing out in a big way to your more prominent competitors.

That’s where SEO comes in. This is a process where highly specialized techniques are applied to help a website gain greater visibility on search results for keywords that describe its content. The higher your website ranks for its keywords, the better it is at attracting large numbers of visitors and converting them into paying customers. More than that, a high degree of visibility supercharges your branding efforts. As potential customers search keywords for your business, having your webpages popping up consistently helps increase brand recall, familiarity and loyalty.

Do You Really Need SEO Services?

The short answer is no. Anyone can learn and do SEO given enough time, study and practice. There are plenty of resources online that extensively teach SEO from the fundamentals to its most advanced aspects. In an era where anyone can put together a WordPress website without much coding knowledge, you can practice SEO as much as you want on a fresh website where you have total control of the digital environment. However, the real question is whether or not you should do SEO yourself just because you can.

SEO is a mentally taxing, work-intensive and time-consuming process that business owners and digital marketing managers probably don’t need to have on their plates. For the most part, SEO is best left under the care of qualified service providers such as in-house SEO teams and agencies. If you own the business or you’re managing its marketing department, your time is best used on growing your business. Simply overseeing SEO efforts will be enough. You don’t need to be bothered by its finer details when you can leave things to the pros.

This is why smart startups, stable SMEs and Fortune 500s usually have small in-house SEO teams backed up by agencies that provide SEO services from the outside. A setup like this helps you maintain full control of all SEO efforts while receiving the best help from industry experts. You can scale it as you grow and pause parts of it if you ever find yourself in tough business conditions.

Brands We’ve Helped.

Why SEO Services from the Philippines Are in High Demand

Search engine optimization as a craft started in the United States in late 90’s. However, information on how to do it was never secret and the practice was soon adopted globally by website developers and marketers alike. Initially, getting your site optimized was a costly proposition due to the high demand for SEO services and the low supply of people who can do it. Everything started to change around the mid-2000’s when the global service outsourcing trend started coming together.

The Philippines was one of the countries earmarked by US businesses as a hub for outsourced work thanks to its English-speaking tradition, young population, high levels of education and relatively cheap labor costs. It wasn’t long before the country spawned a fast-growing call center industry which was followed by a diverse array of back office jobs. Some of those jobs were under the digital marketing umbrella and eventually, SEO made its way to Philippine shores.

What started out as small teams of writers, link builders and on-page optimization specialists quickly grew into entire departments and agencies that specialize in outsourced SEO services. Before long, the Philippines started spawning world-class SEO talents who made their mark on the international scene.

Today, the Philippines is among the global leaders in SEO services. With an estimated 30,000 SEO professionals residing in the country, local and foreign businesses alike will have a wide array of service provider choices. Whether you’re looking to hire an agency, a full-time employee, or a freelancer, you’re bound to find the right service provider at a cost that’s considerably less than what you’ll be quoted in countries like the US, UK and Australia without sacrificing the quality of work.

Our Approach

SearchWorks takes an ethical and pragmatic approach in rendering its SEO services. While many service providers try to make SEO look overcomplicated to justify what they charge, we go the opposite route and help you better understand the optimization process so you know exactly what you’re getting from us. Basically, we group all SEO activities in any campaign into five main pillars, specifically:

5 Pillars of SEO

Technical SEO

The process of applying techniques that improve crawlability and performance. This can include cleaning up its code, making it more mobile-friendly, boosting page load times, and more.

On-Page SEO

This is the collective term for optimization techniques involving each webpage’s content and HTML. Areas of improvement may include title tags, header text, images, and more.

Content Creation

This facet of SEO involves the conceptualization, development and publication of content which will make the website and its pages more relevant to its target keywords. Content assets may include landing page copy, blog articles, infographics, and more.

Content Promotion

Publishing content alone is not enough to guarantee SEO success. Google and other search engines need to see that the content is received well by the rest of the Internet using signals such as backlinks, social shares and mentions. Content promotion helps your website garner these all-important ranking signals that boost your website’s cumulative ranking power.

Analytics and Improvement

We firmly believe that you cannot improve what you can’t measure. At the end of each month, SearchWorks will generate reports that will tell you what worked, what didn’t and what needs to be done based on data.

When you sign up for SearchWorks’ SEO services, you sign up for effective SEO that’s been honed by more than a decade of experience. Contact us today to find out how we can help grow your business.

Case Studies

Don’t just take our word for it. Get a closer look at how we do SEO and what the results are with these case studies:

Writing Content That Dominates Competitive Keywords – A Case Study

February 2, 2023

When you’re tasked by your client or boss to have their site rank for a competitive keyword, what’s the first strategy that comes to mind?

Local SEO Case Study: Page 6 to Page 1 in Two Weeks

July 13, 2017

If you’re looking to hire a reputable architect and you discover that his own house’s design sucks, would that affect his chances of winning your business? That was a problem we faced for about two years into our company’s run. Despite our good reputation and the fact…

A man listening to a woman who's pointing to a chart

How Basic Ecommerce SEO Took a PH Site from 4,500 to 85,000 Organic Visits

March 17, 2016

The Philippine ecommerce scene is a vast, untapped oil field of opportunities. The ones who can set up shop and do it the right

The Content Marketing Strategy that’s Saving a Penalized Site [Case Study]

August 7, 2014

We all know what happens to a small commercial website when Google slaps it with a manual penalty for unnatural links: rankings drop, search traffic is decimated, lead generation slows down…

Be the next SearchWorks success story. Contact us today and let us know how we can be of help.

A Rich Labor Market

As a Southeast Asian nation of more than 100 million people, the Philippines is one of the world’s premier labor markets. The country produces some 500,000 college graduates annually, creating a competitive environment teeming with young talents who are eager to prove themselves. The competition for jobs and the low cost of living in the emerging Philippine economy also translates into very low labor costs without the sacrifice of quality.

From SMEs to billion-dollar multinationals, companies around the world have started to realize the value proposition of investing in the Philippines. Initially, only call center jobs were outsourced by Western economies to the country. In just a few years, investors realized the country’s potential for back office-type of jobs. Slowly but surely, development, design and marketing work found its way to the Philippine shores. The pioneers of digital marketing services in the country proved that they’re worth more investments as they delivered great results at a minimal cost.

These days, any work that can be done online is being done in the Philippines by qualified professionals. This is a testament to the Philippines’ mastery of the English language, its Internet savvy and the infrastructure in place to support the growing dependence of foreign countries on Filipino work.

SEO in the Philippines has come a long way in the recent years. Once reputed for spammy tactics, the Philippine SEO scene is rapidly evolving with its adoption of more sophisticated white hat methods to help websites gain better online visibility. In Google’s modern era, Filipino SEOs continue to thrive because of their innate writing skills, creativity and passion for excellence.

The Value Proposition of Outsourced SEO

Outsourcing SEO to the Philippines brings a lot of distinct business advantages to the table. Companies around the globe either hire digital marketing agencies or set up their own offices in the country to derive maximum value from their investments. This allows them to do more with less, giving them the financial leeway they need to grow their businesses like never before.

Here are the key reasons why businesses of all sizes go to the Philippines for SEO services:

Minimal Labor Costs

With a competitive job market and lower costs of living, Filipino SEOs can earn a fraction of what their US, UK and Australian counterparts do. Despite that, most of them still live very well because outsourced work pays significantly better than what local employers do. If the average SEO manager in the US earns $7,000 a month, someone of the same caliber can be hired for that position in the Philippines for about $2,000. If junior-level SEOs in America earn $4,000 a month minimum, SEO trainees in the Philippines can be paid as little as $400.That would mean you can hire an entire team of SEOs in the Philippines for the same amount it costs to get one experienced SEO specialist in the US. This allows you to do more with literally less money without sacrificing the quality of output.

Little to no overhead costs

If you’re sourcing SEO work from the Philippines via an agency, you’ll only have to pay the retainer or contracted fees you agreed on. SEO service packages from the Philippines usually go around at $1,000-$2,000 per month depending on the scale of the project. You won’t have to worry about things like electric bills, rent, employee benefits, etc. Agency work is a turnkey solution to all your SEO needs.For companies who want to save more over the long haul, building an office in the Philippines and starting their own team is an option. This allows you to put the agency out of the equation, cutting their margins and just paying your own employees directly without a middleman. The drawback to this is having to shoulder overhead costs yourself. Thankfully, rent, electricity, Internet bills and employee benefits are much cheaper in the Philippines than they are in industrialized nations.

Should I Use a Freelancer, an Agency or Hire an In-House SEO?

One of the basic questions that businesses looking for SEO help need to answer is what type of solution best suits their needs. Depending on the nature of the business, its size and its goals, the answer can vary. The three main options are to go with a freelance SEO specialist, to hire a SEO agency, or to hire your own in-house SEO expert.

All three have their merits and drawbacks. Here’s some information about each type of solution provider and what type of business setups they would work best in:

Freelancer SEO

Freelancers are individuals who are not formally employed by any specific company. SEO freelancers usually work alone from their homes and serve two or more clients. More often than not, they cost less to hire due to the fact that they don’t need to commute to work and they don’t have formal offices to maintain. They also have the added perk of being close to their families all the time.

Hiring a freelancer can really work as long as you can find someone with legitimate skills and professionalism to go along with it. You’ll also have to be comfortable with the fact that you can’t physically check on the freelance SEO specialist at any given time and that he or she might have clients other than you.

Some common drawbacks associated with freelancers include the lack of skills necessary to help an SEO campaign really take off. This is usually die to the fact that there are plenty of Filipino SEO freelancers who haven’t been trained in methodical and organized campaign conceptualization and implementation. However, that’s not to say that all freelancers are incompetent. Some freelance SEOs are actually very good thanks to their years of experience working in companies or agencies. When you hire a freelancer, make sure it’s not someone who’s too cheap and green. Look for someone who has years of experience and a good portfolio to show. They may charge a little bit more, but they usually do a better job.

Hiring SEO freelancers in the Philippines comes with some inherent risks. The most common complaint we know of is the stability of residential internet connections that freelancers tend to use. If a contractor’s internet goes down, so does his or her productivity for the rest of the day. In most cases, there is no written agreement between clients and SEOs which will serve as a reference on how to remedy these situations when they arise.

More often than not, you’ll just have to cut your losses as a client whenever this happens. Some freelance SEOs in the Philippines will try to make up for lost time or at least work in an internet café when they encounter these issues, but others won’t. In some cases, freelancers even use the “no connection” excuse to skirt deadlines or skip workdays. Make sure that the freelancer you hire has good character and work ethic.

Freelancers are also vulnerable to service interruptions during times when natural disasters strike. Around 30 typhoons batter the Philippine islands every year, making people with residential internet connections prone to service interruptions when a storm hits their area.

Lastly, there are domestic distractions to deal with when working from home. While there are a lot of fine, upstanding Filipino SEO freelancers who can stay professional even while working remotely, others just don’t have that in them. Kids, spouses or even friends can interrupt productivity and break your service provider’s concentration. When choosing a freelancer, interview him or her and ask how their home office is set up. Better yet, ask to view it on video.

SEO Agency

SEO agencies are small companies, usually ranging from 10-180 employees that specialize in search engine optimization services rendered by a team of professionals. SEO agencies in the Philippines usually have offices and they have different personnel performing a diverse set of functions. Many SEO agencies in the Philippines are registered with the government as legitimate businesses, though some are not.

The key advantage of hiring an agency over a freelancer is the fact that you usually get more professional services that what you’d get from someone working solo at homer. For one, agencies usually have professional office setups where people can work undistracted by family affairs. Offices also tend to have access to superior and more stable internet connections that telecom companies only provide to corporate clients.

Office spaces in the Philippines are generally in more secure locations that can withstand calamities. When a big storm wipes out electricity and internet connectivity in residential areas, business districts tend to stay up and running.

Thirdly, being registered with the government goes a long way in making sure the agency keeps its end of your bargains. A registered company can’t just run and change its name. If you have a valid contract with them, you can always use that to keep your service provider honest. In the worst case scenario, it can also be used in a court of law as solid evidence.

And since agencies aren’t one-man shows, you don’t run the risk of service interruption in case your SEO specialist gets sick. Agencies tend to have a reservoir of manpower resources that they can call on to pick up the slack. Reputable SEO agencies in the Philippines will at least give you an account manager who will be your main point of contact and will take care of all your requests, questions and concerns.

Lastly, SEO agencies tend to stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing search marketing industry. Because they specialize in this digital marketing discipline, SEO agencies tend to use the latest tools and use the latest best practices to keep their services competitive. It’s no surprise that the majority of attendees in SEO conferences come from SEO companies.

In-House SEO

As the name suggests, an in-house SEO is an SEO specialist who is an internal employee of your company whose time is dedicated solely to improving your business sites’ search visibility. Some companies hire just one in-house SEO expert while others have full-blown teams.

When hiring an in-house SEO, make sure to get someone with substantial experience and a proven track record. This person will be in charge of implementing strategies which can make or break your digital presence. Your company’s time, resources and braintrust will all be at his disposal, so make sure to thoroughly evaluate a candidate before signing him.

Having an in-house SEO doesn’t mean that you should depend on him or her to be the answer to all your search marketing needs. In fact, it’s pretty common practice for companies to still hire external consultants and agencies who can supplement the efforts of their in-house SEO personnel. In arrangements like this, your in-house SEO acts as your project manager while production is mainly delegated to external entities.

SEO Service FAQs

Here are some of the most common questions that we get asked about our services.

How Much Will I Spend on SEO?

This might sound like a cop-out, but it really does depend on a lot of factors. The major ones include:

Website Size. The number of pages in the website will have a big impact on how SEO services for it will be priced. Ecommerce sites with hundreds or thousands of SKUs will naturally cost more to optimize than small mom-and-pop shop websites that only have a few dozen pages. Websites with 100+ pages usually cost around $1,500 to optimize while websites with 50 pages or less can be optimized for $1,000 or less per month.
Industry. Some industries are just tougher to rank for than others. Big money niches such as real estate and pharmaceuticals tend to have dozens of big players with deep pockets trying to outrank each other, while something like Asian handicrafts will probably have fewer competitors that are serious about SEO. As such, you can expect to spend a lot more if you’re in an intensely competitive field such as cannabis, weight loss and others.
Location. The geography of your target market has a lot to do with how much you need to invest. While you can rank with relative ease if you’re competing in the Philippine apparel market, you can’t exert the same effort and expect to win in more highly developed markets such as the US and the UK. Generally, targeting bigger and more populous locations will drive up the spending on SEO if you’re serious about establishing dominance.
CMS. Your website’s content management system may also play a significant role in how much you’ll be spending on SEO. If the platform is something relatively straightforward and popular such as WordPress, Shopify or BigCommerce, costs should stay at the minimum range. However, if the website uses something more exotic such as Angular, Drupal, Magento or other highly specialized platform, additional time and resources may be necessary to optimize it effectively.

There may be other things to consider about SEO service pricing, but these are the most significant factors that agencies typically look at when drafting their quotes.

Are Page 1 Rankings Guaranteed?

If you’re competing for keywords in an industry where there’s just a few players in the field, it may be possible for even a credible agency to guarantee page 1 rankings. However, if you’re in an industry where there are dozens of websites competing for the same keywords and many of them are also doing SEO, guaranteeing page 1 rankings may be a tricky proposition. For our part, SearchWorks only guarantees that we’ll do the work necessary to accomplish your goals. We can also guarantee that your organic search traffic will improve on a monthly basis. However, we usually stay away from guaranteeing rankings simply because there are too many variables involved in rankings that we do not control.

How Long Does It Take to See Results

The standard response for most agencies is that clients should start seeing results in six months. While there’s truth in this time estimate, there are plenty of factors that can influence how soon a SEO service campaign will start yielding effects.

For instance, some websites might have had a long history of existence prior to SEO where it’s been able to develop a following, garner links and build up a significant content library. In cases like these, SEO services can show results within a month or so because Google usually picks up on technical and on-page optimizations rather quickly. Once search engines see what you’ve done after their regular crawls, they’ll immediately start factoring the changes into how they’re ranking your webpages.

Conversely, a very new website that wants to establish itself in a competitive industry may take more than six months to really hit its stride. The site needs to show search engines its gradual content buildup, its brand equity signals, and its authority growth. As you may know, authority is mainly a function of attracting inbound links and getting links can take plenty of time. Even when inbound links have been acquired, it typically takes search engines 18-22 weeks to fully credit a site with the ranking boost from their new backlinks.

Are You a White Hat SEO Agency?

Yes. We use techniques that are universally considered ethical by both Google and the SEO community. However, we understand that some of our clients use or have used gray hat methods especially in niches that are hyper-competitive. In those cases, we try not to dictate to clients what they should and should not do. Rather, we simply explain the risks and rewards of certain actions and let them decide what’s best for their business.

Is It Risky to Outsource SEO to the Philippines?

Risk is a function of who you choose to deal with. There are good agencies everywhere and there are bad agencies everywhere. That said, if you do your homework and narrow your choice down to 2 or 3 of the most trusted SEO service providers in the Philippines, you should be fine. These agencies have strong reputations to protect and they’re unlikely to do anything that might blemish their reputations.