SEO In-House vs Outsourcing – Make the Right Choice for Your Business

If you want something done right, do it yourself. That’s how the saying goes, but unless you’re a jack of all trades with limitless resources, from time to time, it pays to ask for a helping hand. And this is especially important in the world of business. 

Almost everything can be outsourced nowadays, from accounting to IT support. You can even enlist externals to manage your office greenery. In terms of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), you can choose whether to recruit in-house employees or outsource to a specialist SEO agency – but which is best? 

In this latest insight, we’ll outline what in-house and agency SEO means and highlight the factors you should consider to ensure you make the right choice for your business.

This article will cover:

• SEO In-house vs agency outsourcing: What’s the difference?
• In-house SEO vs agency outsourcing: Things to consider
• Top 5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Deciding on Agency or In-House
• Summary: Benefits of an SEO agency vs in-house
• In-house SEO vs agency outsourcing by business type
• Is an SEO agency right for you?

SEO in-house vs agency outsourcing: What’s the difference?

In simple terms, the difference between in-house SEO and agency outsourcing is whether you create an internal team of dedicated employees or enlist the services of an external specialist company.

What do we mean by in-house SEO?

In-house SEO is when a business employs member(s) of staff that manages the company’s search engine optimisation. This ‘in-house’ resource can come in many forms, depending on a company’s size and how much investment they’d like to make. For example, some large businesses may have an entire team of dedicated SEOs, others may simply assign SEO to one of their in-house marketing team, and in SMEs, SEO might just be one of many hats a marketing manager wears. Internal roles include Marketing and SEO Coordinator, SEO Specialist, SEO Manager or Head of SEO.

What does an SEO agency do? 

An SEO agency is an external company that offers specialist SEO solutions and support. Their whole company specialises in SEO rather than general digital marketing. Often team members will be dedicated to specific optimisation elements like outreach, backlinks, keyword research, or content. They are skilled professionals with industry-leading experience, tools and expertise that work collaboratively to improve their clients’ ranking, conversion, and online sales. Generally, SEO agencies offer a range of services and packages to suit most business needs and provide expert guidance, reporting, and strategy creation.

In-house SEO vs agency outsourcing: Things to consider

Although ultimately working towards similar goals, an internal team and an agency work very differently. They pose businesses with distinct advantages and disadvantages, which can prove beneficial to your business depending on your size, industry, goals, and resources.

Here are the main things to consider when deciding whether to manage your company’s SEO via an agency or in-house.

1. Cost

Cost is the primary factor to consider when deciding, and it’s not as clear-cut as you might think. Your gut may say that a specialist agency would be more expensive, but once you consider the cost of recruitment, training, salary, benefits, etc., working with an SEO agency can offer considerable cost savings, particularly in the short term. 

Over the long term, will an internal team save you money? In other industries, carrying out services internally may present cost savings over the long term, but SEO is different. The industry is constantly evolving, and SEO strategies, tools, and techniques change along with every evolution or google update.

If you have an in-house team, your business will foot the bill for ongoing training and new tools. But if you’re working with an agency, this continuous development is part of their everyday running costs, so as a client, you reap the benefits without directly picking up the tab.

How much does an SEO agency cost?

SEO agencies often bill in 3 different ways:

• Hourly rates
• Monthly retainer/packages
• Per-project payments

At Solve, we offer SEO packages to ensure your website has constant optimisation and attention to detail. Each of our monthly clients is on a tri-monthly strategy to ensure we keep in line with their business and marketing goals and get the most effective results. 

How much does in-house SEO cost? 

An in-house SEO team would be on a similar employee package as the rest of your team, including benefits like monthly salary, holiday pay, sick leave, etc.

2. Expertise

What experience and expertise can an SEO agency offer?

Skills, experience, and expertise are other major considerations in the in-house SEO vs agency debate. An agency is a focused company specialising in SEO – getting results online is their everyday bread and butter. An agency employs skilled professionals with access to all the state-of-the-art tools. They work tirelessly to get their clients the results they need and want. An SEO agency also works with various clients, so they have tried-and-tested methods, unrivaled industry knowledge, and proven strategies.

Many SEO agencies take a holistic approach too. They are not just blinkered SEOs that only want to tick techy boxes to please search engines. Their SEO specialists work hand-in-hand with web developers, graphic designers, copywriters, and PRs to create synergistic strategies that work optimally for search engines, customers, prospects, and brand owners alike.

What experience and expertise can in-house SEO offer?

With in-house SEO, getting the same level of dedication and expertise without investing heavily in recruitment, retention, training, and ongoing development is hard. And even then, you don’t benefit from proven strategies – there can be more trial and error with an internal team. 
An advantage of in-house vs agency, however, is that once set up they can have valuable insight into your company updates, ethos, and how the business works day-to-day. It can be easier for cross-team collaboration. That said, many companies with an in-house marketing or SEO team still call on the support of an SEO agency for ongoing consultancy, which can give you a valuable objective opinion, helping simplify your marketing strategy and hone your USPs.

3. Scalability

Is working with an SEO agency scalable? 

Working with an established SEO agency means your optimisation strategy can grow efficiently along with your business. Agencies like Solve work with a variety of clients of different sizes from varying industries, and so, they have SEO packages to suit most needs. As your business grows and your requirements change, you can simply beef up your package to ensure you continue to meet your goals. So, if you need help scaling a project quickly, collaborating with an SEO agency can be the best way. 

Is in-house SEO scalable?

With an in-house team, scaling up your SEO may require additional training, new tools, and potentially even employing more staff, which can involve investment and can even slow your growth. The key to scaling in-house SEO is having an expert manager oversee the team, ensuring the creation of an effective SEO strategy and optimum results. 

4. Responsiveness

SEO agency timings and efficiency

Talking of speed, when you want to get started with an SEO campaign, an agency is good to go. There’s no training, very little set-up, and no tools to buy. Just let them know and their geeks will get to work straight away. 

What about ongoing responsiveness to strategic developments, new products, etc? Well, an SEO agency will have multiple clients so capacity can be a consideration, but agencies like Solve minimise this impact by having dedicated SEO account managers whose job is to take care of individual clients, ensuring a consistent, focused, and swift response to any ongoing developments. 

SEO agencies also have a broader skill set and more collaboration, which means they can sometimes find and implement solutions quicker than an internal team.

In-house SEO timings and efficiency

With in-house SEO, getting started can take longer. You need to recruit, research, train and set up before you can do anything. Regarding ongoing efficiency, an in-house team can be quick to respond to changing requirements, but it depends on how many other responsibilities that person or team has.

5. Reliability & Results

Working with an SEO agency means you are their client. It’s their job to ensure you’re happy with your results. An agency needs to prove its value to its clients, so it strives to provide the best possible service and outstanding results. An agency can also act as a fresh pair of eyes on your business and strategy, coming up with new ideas and original perspectives. SEO agencies will give thorough reports on what they are doing and the results they are achieving, providing backup strategies where required. And ultimately as the client, if you don’t get the results you want, you are entitled to take your business elsewhere. 

But you need to ensure you’re working with a reliable agency. Look for reviews, proven results, and brands that you recognise as proof that an agency can back up their claims and give you the results you’re looking for. It also pays to look into an agency’s values and ethics to provide you with an insight into how they work and, therefore, if you can see your company working well with them. 

A reliable SEO agency will also have a team that provides a seamless service through holidays, sicknesses, and even resignations. With an internal team, expertise is often held by a small number of employees, so when they are unavailable or they leave, this can potentially disrupt your SEO efforts.

Working with an in-house team can present some advantages, though. In-house SEO means the team is ingrained in your brand and culture and entirely focused on your company. Moreover, an in-house team can produce good results with the right training, tools, and ongoing support.

6. Control

Keeping SEO in-house can mean you stay in control. You’ll have insight into everything that an SEO team is doing, and regular touch points and you retain that expertise in-house.

However, if you choose the right partner, you can also maintain good control when working with an SEO agency. Flexible and transparent SEO agencies like Solve partner up with their clients, acting like an extension of a client’s business. Reliable account management, unrelenting drive for results, expertise sharing, and absolute transparency mean that our clients always stay in control. 

Top 5 Questions to Ask Yourself When Deciding on Agency or In-House

1. What’s my budget? 
2. What are my business goals and priorities? 
3. Logistically, could I expand my internal team? (consider office size, business scale, training needs, hardware requirements, etc)
4. Who would manage and train the in-house SEOer?
5. Who would manage the SEO agency?
6. Could I do both? i.e. hire a general marketing manager who manages the SEO agency as well as other marketing efforts.

Summary: Benefits of an SEO Agency vs. In-House

SEO agency

In-house SEO

Is it more difficult working with an SEO agency?

Not at all, if you choose the right one. Working with a reliable agency you get expert advice and a motivated, skilled team that’s driven to get you the results you’re looking for. And an agency is self-sufficient, requiring very little management. So if it suits your business, you can simply set your goals and let the agency get the results. 

Is it more difficult managing in-house SEO?

Working with an in-house team, you have control over their daily tasks and strategy but the trade-off is training and management. Internal teams require a lot of management input from recruitment to training and even HR. 

In-House SEO vs Agency Outsourcing by Business Type

Which SEO team is best for your business?

1. Startups can benefit from the quick wins, as well as the cost-effective and ad-hoc nature of an agency.
2. SMEs can take advantage of the low overheads and expertise of an agency.
3. Large businesses may choose to employ an in-house team if they are prepared to invest significantly. But going with an SEO agency can provide more expertise, experience and responsiveness for less cost and risk. SEO agencies can also be employed to bolster in-house expertise on a consultancy basis. 
4. For multinationals, an in-house SEO team may work, but a considerable investment will be required initially and ongoing to keep up with developments. Dedicated internal resources can help with country-specific strategies, where local language and culture knowledge is required.
5. For industry leaders, an in-house SEO team can work well for large companies with the investment available, but it can still be useful to enlist specialist SEO consultants to keep up with industry developments and training. Whether to bring SEO in-house may depend on the industry; for example, an online-only business may want to invest more in SEO than a high street retailer.

Is an SEO agency right for you?

If, after reading this article, you’ve decided that outsourcing to an SEO agency is right for your business, then look no further than the award-winning, results-driven, eco-conscious, fun-loving team at Solve. Our SEO experts are some of the industry’s finest, and we have the results, awards, and 5-star reviews to prove it. With a range of SEO packages to suit any sized business and proven experience within a range of industries, give us a call today to begin your SEO journey – we’ll even give you a free SEO audit to get you started.