Jumping into the world of online marketing, especially for business owners and entrepreneurs, can be overwhelming and challenging to navigate.
As Search Engine Optimization (SEO) becomes increasingly complex and competitive, many businesses have considered hiring professionals. But they are often left with the tough decision of an SEO agency or an in-house team.
To help make this decision easier, let’s look at the pros and cons of hiring an SEO agency vs. an in-house team.
Pros and cons of hiring an SEO agency
Agencies typically have teams of experts with diverse skill sets who specialize in every aspect of SEO. Because of that, they can offer some significant benefits.
- Cost-effective: Since most SEO agencies are paid per project, businesses can save money by only spending on essential services.
- Flexibility: Switching strategies is easy since SEO agencies have more flexibility in scaling their services up or down based on your changing requirements.
- Access to resources: Maintaining an in-house SEO team requires significant resources, but an SEO agency can access economies of scale by servicing multiple clients.
- Faster results: A lot of SEO work involves trial and error, so an experienced SEO agency can quickly determine what works best for your business and deliver immediate results.
That said, there are also some drawbacks to working with an SEO agency.
- Less control: You’ll have to relay any changes to an agency, so you won’t be able to communicate as quickly as if you had an in-house team.
- Less knowledge of your business: An SEO agency may understand your company and industry differently than an in-house team would.
- Communication: Since you’re working with an outside agency, ensuring everyone is on the same page can be challenging.
- Potential for conflict of interest: An agency may have conflicting interests with your business, such as when working for multiple clients in the same industry.
- Limited availability: There may be times when the agency is unavailable due to other commitments, which could affect your progress, especially if the project is on a tight timeline.
Pros and cons of building an in-house team
While outsourcing your SEO needs may seem more straightforward, building an internal team can also bring strong results.
- Direct control: An in-house team is under the supervision of your business, which allows you to monitor your SEO’s direction and strategy closely.
- Extensive knowledge of your business: Tapping into the experience and expertise of a dedicated in-house team means working with people who know your business, brand, and industry inside and out.
- Collaboration: An in-house team can collaborate with other departments, such as marketing and customer service, to ensure the SEO strategies are tailored specifically for your business.
- Loyalty and commitment: Trained and experienced in-house team members are often more committed and invested in your success.
- Greater transparency: You have more visibility and control over the work and progress of your in-house team.
Still, some cons can make the decision more complicated.
- Higher costs: Hiring, training, and maintaining an in-house team can be more expensive than working with an agency.
- Recruitment challenges: Finding the right talent can be challenging even if you have the budget to build an in-house team.
- Time-consuming: Going through the hiring process and training new hires can be lengthy, taking resources away from other vital areas of your business.
- Difficulty keeping up with industry changes: It can be difficult to keep up with rapidly changing SEO trends and best practices because of limited resources and bandwidth.
Final thoughts
A business may be at a stage where it makes more sense to hire an SEO agency as they want to focus on other growth areas. On the other hand, they may need more control over the SEO process, making an in-house team a more suitable choice.
Our team of SEO experts at The Three Marketers has years of experience building effective strategies to provide the best results to our clients.
If you’re looking for an SEO company you can trust, contact us at 403-230-3993 or email us at info@the3marketers.com.
