The Advantages of an SEO Agency Compared to an In-House Team

When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), every company has one significant decision. They can either contract SEO services from an external company or assemble their team to work on SEO projects in-house.

Though you may feel that you are confident in what you think is best, there are several factors that need to be considered before you make your final choice.

The Advantages of an In-House Team

Choosing to handle things internally will always come with some advantages that aren’t possible to get when working with an agency. However, it is up to you to decide if they outweigh the benefits of teaming with professionals.

Complete Control Over the Process

Managing your SEO in-house ensures that you retain complete control over this aspect of your marketing. This can be valuable to many small business owners who are anxious about how their company might be represented online.

If you are not experienced in marketing or do not fully understand the tools and methods used to accurately monitor your results, this approach may not be the best option. With algorithms continuously changing and best practices being updated frequently, what may have worked for you in the past could prove to be detrimental.

Access to a Dedicated Team

When you hire an outside company to help you with your SEO, you are never the only client that company is serving. As part of their business, they will always have other obligations. With an internal team, you know that their focus is entirely on your business.

That isn’t to say that a digital marketing agency will not prioritize you. As one of their clients, they will make every effort to provide you with exceptional service and deliver on their commitments to you. Whether you have questions or want to discuss your account, your SEO agency will take the time to work with you.

Deeper Brand Understanding

No one will know your business as well as you do. If they aren’t involved in the day-to-day operations, they may  not truly understand of the company or culture. Hiring an internal team for SEO allows them to fully embrace every aspect of your business and tailor their approach around it. Though they may have more knowledge of your company, they may not have as much information about effective SEO strategies or how to run a campaign.

When you work with an agency, they will do their best to learn as much as they can about your brand. This will likely include meetings, research into your industry, questionnaires, and more. If they have any questions, they will reach out to you and ensure that they make any decision with the most information possible. They also have the benefit of seeing your company from an outside perspective, allowing them to make data-driven choices instead of decisions based on feeling or commitment to the brand.

Challenges of In-House SEO

Though in-house SEO may have a lot to offer, it is not a perfect solution. Some of its drawbacks include:

Lack of Direction

SEO is a sprawling discipline with hundreds of approaches, tools, tasks, KPIs, and other concerns to keep track of. When you are trying to manage these in addition to all of the responsibilities you already have, it may feel hard to justify spending a lot of time on things like planning and strategy.

SEO that is not guided by a plan backed by solid research and analysis will never reach its full potential. You might see some short-term gains this way, but you will almost certainly run into setbacks and bottlenecks that impede your progress. Also, without a clear strategist, you may run into instances of several people butting heads on which approach to take.

Difficulty Keeping Up with the Latest Changes

SEO changes quickly and often without much warning, meaning an SEO strategy that was producing excellent results in January may be outdated by the end of the year. If you do not want all your hard work to go to waste, you will need to adjust your strategies to prepare for coming changes.

A dedicated SEO agency will always prioritize research on the latest developments. As a result, their SEO services can be counted on to drive excellent results that adapt to the algorithm changes. If you do not have the time and resources to devote to this ongoing research, it is wiser to purchase SEO services.

Staffing Concerns

Effective SEO requires many different skills. Often, these skills are more than one person possesses. Because of this, you will need to hire several individuals to get the full depth of knowledge and talents required to run an SEO campaign.

Though you may be able to have some team members serve dual roles, such as a strategist who also writes content or an optimization specialist who does keyword research, it will never be as effective as a fully built team with individual specialists. Additionally, continuing education through seminars, courses, and webinars may come with a price, but they will boost your team’s knowledge.

Along with hiring the right people, you must also factor in their salaries, holiday pay, benefits, job perks, room in your facility for them to work, equipment, and more. Everything from the chair they sit in, the computer they use, and the coffee they drink while at the office contributes to the cost of having your own team.

Should any of the staff you hire choose to leave, whether for an extended vacation or to pursue other interests, you will need to find someone to handle their workload. If you can’t find a replacement quickly, the area of marketing they managed may become dormant until you can find someone. If this happens in an agency, there will always be someone available to handle the campaign and ensure there is no downtime.

Increased Costs

Once you have a team, you will need the right equipment. When it comes to SEO, that equipment is typically a variety of programs. Often, these programs are subscription-based instead of a one-time payment. When doing your SEO in-house, these expenses become your responsibility.

The cost associated with each team member, the price of continuing education, and the ongoing fees that come with the necessary programs can add up fast. In many cases, it will be higher than what you would be paying an agency.

The Benefits of Working With an Agency

When considering whether to take your SEO in-house, use lead generation companies or partner with a digital marketing agency, it is important to keep these advantages in mind:

Specialized Knowledge

The staff at an agency are experts in their field. They include strategists, analysts, copywriters, coders, web designers, optimization specialists, paid marketing specialists, account managers, social media experts, and more. They are also up to date on the latest changes, best practices, and algorithmic updates. The team can then use this knowledge to improve your campaign and boost your results.

Extensive Experience

As they work on projects, an agency develops experience with different techniques, knowledge of various industries, and a proven understanding of what works. They also learn what to look for that indicates if a campaign is going well or if something needs to be changed and can offer you the best suggestions to ensure you continue to succeed. This experience also allows an agency to seize new and beneficial opportunities quicker.

Scalable Campaigns

Whether you’re ready to take the next step and dedicate more budget to your marketing, ramp up for the holidays, or branch out to include paid marketing or web design, your campaign can be easily modified. With the variety of specialists available at an agency, it is simple to adjust your plans as needed.

Cohesion and Collaboration

By working with an agency that specializes in multiple fields, you can ensure that all aspects of your digital marketing strategy will work together to achieve the best results. Each department can collaborate on the best approaches and share knowledge to help boost every part of your campaign.

Time to Focus on Your Company

Many business owners do not have the time to focus on their marketing efforts and instead need to handle the daily operations of running their company. Working with an agency for your SEO efforts allows you to choose how involved you wish to be. For example, you can request to be consulted before any changes are made or new content is created, or you can take a more hands-off approach and let the agency manage it.

Return on Investment

An agency knows what it takes to help a company succeed. By using tested and proven methods, they can help you get results sooner than a trial-and-error approach from a less experienced internal team. They also take time to understand what your competitors are doing and learn from their mistakes. Results mean returns, and it is encouraging to see the gains, both in rankings and finances, that your marketing is providing.

Team Up with the Leading SEO Agency in the GTA

WSI Comandix has the skill and experience you need to succeed. Our award-winning SEO agency has been operating for more than 20 years. In that time, we have helped countless businesses win more customers by getting their website noticed through search.

We will use our SEO skills, knowledge, and experience to guide your company’s website to the top of the search results. Contact us today to learn more about our SEO approach and how we can fine-tune your website to bring you more search traffic and improve your visibility online.