SEO Marketing Agency vs In-House Marketing
Chloe Humphreys October 15, 2024
An essential part of every business’s digital marketing strategy is search engine optimisation (SEO). It can improve your organic visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google, which will increase brand awareness and increase website traffic. Especially in today’s digital-orientated world, optimising your website so that it ranks higher on SERPs has never been so important.
Marketing teams usually have two options, which has raised the SEO agency vs in-house marketing debate. The techniques will be similar, as there is a core way to carry out SEO strategies. However, both have differences that businesses should consider when exploring the agency vs in-house SEO marketing debate.
This guide will explore the advantages and disadvantages of both agency vs in-house SEO marketing methods before coming to a conclusion on which option would benefit your business more.
The Benefits of In-House Marketing
Self-Controlled
The main benefit of having an in-house campaign for your SEO is that you can closely monitor the data and self-manage the strategy. This means that in-house marketing meetings can be held, which can keep information more confidential.
Clearer Vision of Brand
Your vision and goals of the business will be more apparent to an in-house marketing team, as they will have hands-on knowledge of the brand. Customer data and reviews can be accessed easily by in-house marketing teams, which can help in constructing the SEO strategy.
Better Communication
While SEO agencies still have strong communication, in-house marketing teams can communicate with all of the departments of an organisation with less planning. They can get more information from the sales, marketing and customer relation teams, as a result.
The Disadvantages of In-House Marketing
High Expenses
Hiring an in-house marketing team can be very expensive if you want a highly experienced team that can achieve good results. Paying the salary of each individual of an in-house digital marketing team will add up to more than hiring an SEO agency to carry out your marketing work. You will also have to pay other expenses such as health insurance, training and upgraded software.
Lack of Expertise
Most SEO professionals will work for agencies rather than be waiting to be hired as part of an in-house marketing team. Experienced individuals can be hard to come by and it could take a long time to construct an effective team.
Heavy Workload
When it comes to agency vs in-house marketing, the workload can be a lot heavier for an in-house team as most businesses will only be able to afford a small SEO team. There will be a heavy burden on them to keep up with the workload. Compared to this, agencies can divide their workload for multiple clients for optimal results.
The Benefits of Hiring an SEO Agency
Higher Expertise
Digital marketing agencies tend to hire highly experienced SEO executives or train them to have a high level of knowledge, so that they’re able to handle every aspect of an SEO campaign and know how to make it successful. These professional agencies usually have proven track records with success, and you can usually find case studies on their websites to ensure their validation.
Agencies will also work across a variety of SEO areas, as they will usually have many different clients from a wide range of industries. This means that they will be able to achieve results for many different businesses and don’t cater to just one type.
Cost-Effectiveness
Agency vs in-house takes a big turn when it comes to pricing and the cost of the process. You will tend to pay agencies a fixed sum per month for a specific project, which can help significantly with budgeting and make it more cost-effective than hiring an in-house marketing team.
Hiring an SEO agency can significantly increase your rankings, which can boost website traffic, increase brand visibility and improve credibility. All of these can result in more profits for your business, which makes this hiring an investment. This could be the main deciding factor in the agency vs in-house debate.
Save Time
Constructing and developing an SEO campaign can be a very time-consuming task, as it requires a lot of research and monitoring to make it successful. Companies already have to balance out a lot of aspects of their business, so forming an in-house marketing team would only add to this. An SEO agency would take the workload on your shoulders and save your business more time.
The Disadvantages of Hiring an SEO Agency
Less Self-Control
Some business owners will feel that outsourcing a service, including SEO, may result in less control over the strategy. Whilst in reality this isn’t the case, and the vast majority of SEO agencies will be completely transparent, sometimes this can cause a barrier to actually starting work with an SEO agency.
A Lack Of Trust In The Industry
Some businesses will have doubts about SEO agencies as a result of previous poor experiences, feeling they can gain more control over an in-house team. However, with the right SEO agency, it can be transformative for businesses.
Agency vs In-House: Which is the Best?
There are both negatives and positives when it pertains to agency vs in-house marketing, with both of them offering good results for SERP rankings. However, the cost and time benefits of hiring an SEO agency vastly outweigh the positives of creating an in-house marketing team. You must weigh up the pros and cons of both SEO methods before reaching a decision.
Contact our team to discuss how we can construct a successful SEO campaign and increase your organic traffic. We’ve worked with some of the world’s largest companies, including Boohoo, BUPA, and Gymshark, so you can rest assured that we have the experience required to help your business grow.
