Why You Should Hire An SEO Agency vs. Hiring A New Employee
The very first thing every business owner must do is devote a significant amount of attention to the marketing aspect of their business regardless of the size, type, and age.
Because at the end of the day, success comes down to one thing: the ability to make informed business decisions.
You may be at the start-up phase or already established by now, but it’s going to be tough out there since over 3 million online businesses are competing to rank high on search engines.
The one right decision we are going to discuss today is why you should hire an SEO agency rather than hire a single employee.
We will review each method individually and discuss its pros and cons.
In either case, hiring your own in-house SEO specialist or contracting out to a professional SEO agency is a big decision with many factors to take into account.
The survey, conducted by more than 100 companies as well as industry experts, revealed that 81% of participants of the survey favored hiring an SEO agency over hiring a new employee to handle their day-to-day SEO tasks.
The choice depends mostly on your needs, as both have their advantages. Even though they do essentially the same thing, both in-house and outsourced marketers offer unique advantages to businesses.
When hiring a digital marketing expert to be a truly transformational asset to your business, you should take into consideration a number of factors, such as, the budget you have for marketing or your own knowledge of SEO to determine which expert to hire.
Let’s find out which one is the right one for you based on your current situation.
Keep reading.
Working With New Hire In-house SEO Professional
Working with an in-house SEO professional comes with its own set of benefits, and those benefits mostly revolve around management, coordination, and the cost involved.
If you are a type of guy who likes to work closely with his team, in that case, you may want to consider hiring an in-house SEO expert. Since they are under your direct management and accountable to you.
They Are More Attentive And Devoted
The careers of in-house SEO managers depend on the success of your business, which is why they devote 100% of their efforts to it.
You’ll have a dedicated freelancer who’s only concerned with the work you assign them, as opposed to an agency representative who may have many clients to take care of.
They Possess A More Thoughtful Nature
It’s easy for priorities to shift, so it’s important to have an in-house SEO manager who stays on top of the changes.
He/She will be in close proximity to others on the team, making it easier to work together and create more productive relationships.
Somewhat Effective In Terms of Cost
Finally, the cost is another reason why people hire in-house professionals. As you don’t have to go through paying for multiple layers of strategic oversight. In addition, you can hire someone junior and grow him internally for cost savings.
Working With An SEO Agency
SEO agencies can be of great help to any business, particularly in the long run. A key benefit of working with a search engine optimization agency is that they have experience, expertise, and a client-facing approach.
Experts do all the heavy lifting for you. They handle hiring, tracking, and managing the SEO campaign.
An SEO agency’s team of experts develops a set of best practices and tools based on their experience.
Their Experience Sets Them Apart
Many companies choose to outsource their SEO needs to an agency due to their experience.
An SEO agency is staffed by marketers who are well-versed in the field. Even with the high rate of change in the industry, they can readily understand the essential principles of SEO in collaboration with others.
In spite of this, hiring an individual SEO specialist would not be able to match the collective experience of these agencies. It would still be difficult to match the typical size of an SEO company having 3 specialists, especially if the individual hasn’t worked in the industry for very long.
Experienced professionals have the ability to handle this process much more effectively.
Established Processes Stem From Their Experience
An SEO agency also has established processes, which are a big plus over hiring an in-house employee.
SEO agencies are already familiar with the most effective strategies to achieve a client’s desired result. Additionally, they conduct routine checks and reports in order to determine whether their plans are working or not.
In other words, SEO agencies are ready for virtually everything.
Your marketing team has a similar system in place to make sure your strategies work, too.
But when you jump into SEO for the first time, you will spend a log of your early months establishing protocol instead of actually promoting your business.
SEO Agencies Go Easy On Budget
Budgets for SEO agencies are usually more flexible since the agency’s team typically consists of multiple individuals with specific roles, which ensures that the right experience level is applied to the right tasks.
Yet, regardless of how much SEO agencies charge, it’s still far less than the expense of hiring someone in-house to do the job.
You will have to deal with these things when you hire a new employee:
- An employee’s salary
- Collaborative work
- What to measure and how
The SEO agency, however, does not work this way. Eventually, senior members will devise SEO strategies, while juniors will prepare reports. In this way, we can expect a better result and therefore higher efficiency.
For example, according to Statista, SEO is the marketing strategy that yields the highest ROI – according to 32% of marketers worldwide, while 41% say it yields merely a medium ROI.
So when you hire an SEO company, you’re saving money because any costs are offset by the value it brings to your business.
SEO Agencies Can Maximize Your Revenue
When it comes to determining return on investment, SEO agencies are experts at estimating the amount of money you can expect to make. This is due to the fact that internet marketing uses detailed metrics in order to calculate the return on any investment.
Most of these measurements are provided by Google Analytics, but there are plenty of third-party systems that provide even more details.
You Can Hold SEO Agencies Accountable
As part of the deal with an SEO company, they have to meet monthly deliverables that are outlined in the agreement.
It is possible that an in-house specialist very well intends to write blog posts as well as outreach for backlinks, conferences, etc., but that daily routine keeps getting in the way.
You Can Save Time
Having an SEO agency handle your search engine optimization efforts will be one of the most important benefits you will receive from outsourcing these services. Time and energy will be saved, as well.
Having been around for some time, they can start working as soon as you sign the contract.
Recruiting in-house SEOs or creating your own internal SEO team would require putting out job postings, screening applications, interviewing candidates, along with providing employees with a 2-week notice period.
In this way, you may end up wasting your 2 months if the person is not capable of handling the work. Rather than doing research, the agency could have started developing the website by now.
Hybrid Methodology
A hybrid methodology has been found to be an effective way to improve SEO results. It is a good option if you or someone on your team has already acquired a solid knowledge of SEO, is capable of hiring, managing, and strategizing, or if you have the budget to hire someone to complete the work for you.
In either case, if you do not have this hiring expertise, your SEO program may lack growth strategy or actually hurt your company.
However, there is no need to choose one or the other.
The new hire can manage the day-to-day operations of the agency. He or she should be able to adjust quickly to the agency’s nuances. By providing SEO recommendations, the agency will be able to improve a person’s SEO skills.
Time To Make A Decision
If you plan to hire an agency with an established track record or hire someone new for your SEO needs, both options are acceptable, though the decision really depends on your situation.
A number of factors will need to be considered, including the financial aspect, competition, and the ability to build an outstanding team. You don’t have to make a decision right away.
As your business grows, you may need to hire in-house talent aided by digital marketing agencies.
