Why You Should Hire an SEO Agency Instead of Building an In-House SEO Team

Why You Should Hire an SEO Agency Instead of Building an In-House SEO Team

With no qualm, today online market demand for any small or big business is the call of the day, and online presence is one factor that enables a business to thrive. As if the COVID-19 disruption wasn’t enough, companies are now sweating trying to put in place online operations or perfecting what they do in that mad rush to establish that competitive advantage. The focus in the end is to practically make online strategies work by gaining visibility in search engines like Google. SEO also drives a big debate, where most businesses are at crossroads on whether to invest in assembling an in-house SEO team or outsource the services to a professional SEO agency. Even though both approaches have their merit, the realisation has been that hiring an SEO agency really pays off for small and medium-sized businesses.

Understanding SEO and Its Importance

Inasmuch as we have to learn the benefits of hiring an SEO agency compared to an in-house SEO team, it is essential for us first to understand what exactly SEO is and why it is so vital. SEO means search engine optimization—that the altering process of a website is more visible in the SERP, or search engine results page. The aim is to receive organic traffic by attaining high SERPs for keywords that have potential relevance to the customers.

The SEO process comprises some of the critical elements:

1. On-Page SEO:

It refers to making a web page’s optimizations at an individual level such that it enjoys better rankings and gains more relevant traffic from the search engines. Good keyword use, optimizing meta titles & descriptions, quality improvement of title tags, content with user-friendly websites, and fast load times are some on-page SEO important criteria.

2. Off-Page SEO:

This will relate to activities that take place outside your website but still have an impact on keywords rankings. It involves building backlinks from high-ranking sites, social media marketing, influencer outreach, and anything else that could make a site more authoritative in the eyes of a search engine.

3. Technical SEO:

The website infrastructure will be optimised to provide crawlability and indexability of the website to the search engines, including all the related improvements to site speed, XML sitemaps, HTTPS status, fixing crawl errors and broken links, among other things.

4. Content SEO:

If anything, quality content is the root of all effective SEO. It deals with the creation of useful, pertinent, and informative content to help draw users to your site and stay longer, reducing the bounce rate and increasing the chances of conversion.

5. Local SEO:

If you have a store and your customers come from the local vicinity, then local SEO is very important to optimize for search on the Internet. It will include Search Engine Optimisation of your Google My Business profile and construction of citations so your business can be easily found by customers looking locally online.

6. SEO Analytics:

It is the process of monitoring, analysis, and reporting of search engine campaign performance. With data from SEO, you can fast see what’s working and what is not, hence able to make informed decisions on how to improve strategy. Because SEO is complex and comprehensive, one has to understand deep down the many elements that go into it—from content creation to technical optimization—in order to be able to manage it effectively. Which brings us to a very important question: should you handle the SEO in-house or outsource it to any agency?

Challenges to Building an In-House SEO Team

In-house teams are very attractive, especially when it comes to big-budget companies. Aligning better with all other marketing strategies by the dedicated team and easy access to data gathered internally is surely a good argument. However, such an approach doesn’t come problem-free and free of big drawbacks.

1. Cost Considerations

Another huge barrier to the in-house model is the large cost associated with it. The requirements of SEO are pretty diverse: from content writing and creation to web development and analytics. Each one of these areas has to be fully covered by some sort of professional, including at least an SEO strategist, a content writer, a technical SEO expert, and probably even a web developer and designer.

The cost of bringing in such talent will add up quick. Any SEO professional who knows their stuff can demand an annual salary of $50,000 to over $100,000, depending on their skill level and location. Multiply that by how many of them you need, and it’s quite easy to crack a few hundred thousand dollars per year.

In addition to salaries, there are other expenses for benefits, training, and further education. Keeping your team informed about what’s new in SEO calls for continuous learning and development.

2. Recruitment and Retention Issues

It is tough to recruit skilled SEO professionals. The demand usually exceeds the supply, and there may be difficulty in finding the right people to hire for the job. Even if you do manage to put up a strong team, retaining them can be close to equally hard. Good SEO professionals are always in high demand, and the possibility of them being lured by any competitor or larger company is not ruled out.

This may comparatively be a big problem for in-house teams. When one of the critical members in your team leaves, it will completely upset your SEO strategy; you lose momentum in that area. It also takes some time to find and onboard a replacement, during which time your SEO is suffering.

3. Resource Limitations

Even if you are successful in building an able in-house team, they still may face the problem of resource limitations. SEO is an interdisciplinary field of activity that requires multiple tools and software for keyword research, link building, technical audits, performance tracking, etc. Many of such tools have large subscription fees, which raise your overall costs.

Furthermore, an in-house team cannot replicate the expertise of a professional and specialised SEO agency in terms of access to the latest tools and techniques. Therefore, this limitation can impede their ability to execute advanced strategies and stay ahead of competition.

4. Time Constraints

SEO is a long-term process, requiring ongoing efforts. Certainly not a set-and-forget task. An in-house team might find it challenging to match up to the continuous demands for SEO if they are handling other areas of digital marketing as well.

This will come particularly interesting for small- to medium-sized businesses where marketing teams are always stretched. In such cases, the focus required by SEO might not be given due attention, resulting in below-par output.

Advantages of Hiring an SEO Agency

Seeing the issues that naturally arise in creating an in-house SEO team, most companies consider outsourcing to an SEO agency as a much more effective and efficient way to address their needs. Here are some of the principal advantages of dealing with an SEO agency:

1. Professional Expertise and Experience

SEO agencies are fully immersed in search engine optimization and have a great deal of experience. They reach a large number of clients belonging to various industries, develop several useful insights, and know what works and what does not.

Since search engine optimization is their line of work, agencies will constantly update themselves on the latest trends, algorithm updates, and best practices to be able to apply the latest strategies in action that will help your business gain a competitive edge.

Besides, agencies are usually represented by a team of specialists. In doing so, you get access to experts in absolutely all areas of search engine optimization—from technical development to the creation of text content—without needing to hire each specialist separately.

2. Cost-Effectiveness

It becomes more affordable than making an in-house team, especially for small to midsize businesses. You are spending money on a monthly retainer basis with the agency or probably on a project basis, rather than having to pay several full-time salaries. This fee will typically get you fully covered with all areas of your SEO strategy Junk from an initial audit up until actual continuous optimization.

Furthermore, agencies already have access to all kinds of tools and software that you are going to need, so you do not have to invest in costly subscriptions. These cost savings can be huge and will save you money to be used more productively with your budget.

3. Scalability

Probably of the many advantages that go along with partnering with an SEO agency, scalability is the most important. As your business increases in size, most probably so will your needs regarding SEO. This also includes scaling services up or down when requirements change—for example, targeting new ones, optimising new pages, or increasing the number of links back to your website.

On the other hand, an in-house team is difficult to scale. Most of the time, this involves new hires, which is a very resource-intensive and time-consuming process. An agency, however, will quickly gear you up with whatever need be to help you realise your goals efficiently.

4. Accountability and Results

A good SEO agency will be results-driven and focused on delivering measurable outcomes for your business. They usually provide regular reporting and activity updates regarding the performance of your SEO strategy, providing you firsthand view of progress in terms of ranking positions attained, website traffic, and conversion rates.

Since the agencies are responsible for the results, there is a high motivation towards the continuous optimization of your strategy and making improvements whenever required. This level of accountability can be hard to achieve with an in-house team where it might prove a little more difficult to measure and track performance.

5. Flexibility and Focus

By Hiring an SEO company, you will free some time to do other important activities in the business. SEO is a very time-consuming activity that requires constant action. Outsourcing it to the Agency will allow your team not only to deal with Product Development and Customer Service but also with Sales-related activities.

This becomes especially poignant for small-to-mid-sized businesses, where the resources might be limited. Using the services of an SEO agency will enable your business to have expert search engine optimization without taking attention away from core business goals.

6. Consistency and Continuity

SEO requires consistency. It means developing a strategy and then letting it run on its own. It entails ongoing monitoring, adjustments, and improvement in order to keep, let alone improve, your rankings. An SEO agency brings this continuity through active, ongoing management and optimization of your SEO efforts over time.

In contrast, internal teams are always prone to disruptions through loss of employees, shifting priorities, or other factors within their companies. An agency, on the other hand, will ensure that your SEO strategy is consistent and long-term effective, with very minimal chances of setbacks and at steady progress.

Overcoming Possible Challenges by the SEO Agency

This would demand awareness of the likely challenges and strategies to ensure that such problems are effectively dealt with. Some common issues businesses face when working with an SEO agency and their solutions can be found below:

1. Communication Gaps:

One of the most prevalent challenges in dealing with any external agency would be that there are bound to be gaps in communication. The fact that they are outside the organisation will naturally imply there may be times when a change in internal developments, marketing campaigns, or even just a change in business strategy could affect your SEO directly and go outside their circle of awareness.

Solution: Establish open and frequent lines of communication from the outset. Designate an internal point of contact who will liaise with the agency, thereby becoming responsible for keeping them informed. Regular meetings—weekly or biweekly—may be a means of keeping everyone on board and allowing agencies to re-strategize continuously against the objectives of your business.

2. No Immediate Access:

An independent agency is not physically present in the office, which at times will delay decisions or some strategies a bit. This can be particularly challenging when quick changes are needed—like during a product launch or in a crisis that has affected your brand’s online reputation.

Solution: Pick one that allows flexibility and fast response. Be sure to discuss expectations of availability and turnarounds before you sign their contract. Some agencies will offer dedicated account managers who may react quickly to urgent needs. Further, collaborative tools like Slack, Asana, or Trello definitely help bridge the gap by ensuring real-time communication and project management.

3. Alignment of business goals:

Another huge challenge was how to make sure the efforts taken by the SEO Agency are fully aligned with the bigger business goals. If an agency focuses too much on these specific SEO metrics—ranking for some keywords—but not at the bigger picture, either overall sale or lead generation sanity, you fall short of seeing the expected ROI.

Solution: Clearly articulate your business objectives and let them know how SEO fits into this. Be sure to collaborate with the agency in setting specific, measurable objectives that are certain to give you results related to your business outcomes—things like growing organic traffic by double digits or improving conversion rates. Regular performance reviews can help in keeping the strategy focused on those goals.

4. Cultural and Industry:

Fit Not all SEO agencies are similar; a few of them may well be beyond your culture of industry/company. That could result in strategies that do not reverberate with the target audience or line up per values of the brand.

Solution: While choosing an SEO agency, ensure they are experienced within the relevant sectors and request any case studies or references from other businesses in similar sectors. As you filter through this ongoing selection process,resdeness above all if the approach and values of the agency dovetail well with your company’s culture. A good cultural fit can dramatically enhance the quality of the working relationship and therefore drive the effectiveness of the SEO strategy.

How to Hire an SEO Agency?

Provided the need to hire an SEO agency is justified, there needs to be a structured procedure so that the appropriate choice of search engine optimization partner for any business is made. Here is a step-by-step process for hiring an SEO agency:

1. Define Your SEO Goals

Firstly, before proliferating the search for an agency, you should have a very clear idea of what you want to achieve through this SEO exercise. Do you want to generate more organic traffic, rank your website higher on certain keywords, increase visibility in local search, or raise conversion rates? The answer shall help in finding an agency specialising in the areas most important to your business.

2. Research Potential Agencies

With the description of your goals, begin researching potential agencies. Target agencies with proven records in SEO, preferably with some experience in your industry. Check for reviews online, testimonials, and case studies to get an idea regarding their capabilities and reputation. Never hesitate to ask for references from any current or past clients.

3. Request Proposals and Conduct Interviews

After trimming down the list of probable agencies, demand proposals. The proposal needs to be good enough to outline what approach the agency takes toward SEO, strategies recommended in view of the goals, expected timeline, and costs. This should also contain case studies or examples showing past successes.

Conduct interviews with shortlisted agencies to know them better—what they could do, and how. You have the opportunity to assess their communication style and cultural fitting with your company.

4. Pricing and Contractual Terms

SEO services can indeed range significantly in pricing, depending on the levels of experience that Character an agency holds, the scope of its services, and the measure of expertise one requires. On pricing, it is not about what will it cost you, but more on the lines of ‘value for money.’ A costlier agency can turn out to be cheaper because of better deliverables.

In particular, make sure you understand the length of the contract, the payment terms, and any exit clauses before committing your name on paper.

5. Set Expectations and Set Communication Procedures

As soon as an agency has been chosen, it is necessary to put expectations clearly on the table from the beginning. What will define success has to be Paramountly written at the very start of the campaign: organic traffic growth, keyword rankings, or conversion rates. The frequency at which reporting shall be provided needs to be agreed upon and what reporting will entail.

Establish communications routines to catch up and align frequently. This may include weekly check-ins, monthly performance reviews, and quarterly strategy sessions.

By following these steps and acting well in advance to handle probable problems, you’ll be in a position to establish a strong and successful partnership with your SEO agency.

Conclusion

In the totally digitalized world, it’s more imperative to ensure that SEO is necessary. A great SEO plan translates into the maximum attraction of traffic toward your website and better brand visibility, which essentially amounts to enhancing your bottom line. However, in order to perform effective SEO, you need skills and knowledge about this perpetually changing search landscape.

For most businesses, especially small to medium-sized ones, it’s much better to outsource SEO than to build an in-house team. The functional expertise loaded with several benefits, such as cost-effectiveness, scalability, and a result-oriented approach, shall help realize business goals. Working with an external agency may have a few challenges, which can easily fall into place by the virtue of clear communication, proper alignment, and careful selection of the partner.

At Webzilla, we are committed to offering comprehensive SEO services that cater to your business needs. Our team of experts is fully dedicated to ensuring that you attain improved search rankings, better online visibility, and greater success through our work. Do contact us today if you wish to take further steps with us in improving your business growth and development through SEO.

References

Google Search Central. (n.d.). What is search engine optimization (SEO)? Retrieved from https://developers.google.com/search/docs/beginner/seo-starter-guide

Google Analytics. (n.d.). Using Google Analytics to improve your SEO. Retrieved from https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/12941105?hl=en&sjid=3391429940326119832-AP

Moz. (n.d.). The beginner’s guide to SEO. Retrieved from https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo

HubSpot. (n.d.). The ultimate guide to SEO in 2023. Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/seo