Companies of all sizes grapple with the same question: Does it make sense to outsource local SEO services or should we hire someone in-house?
There are pros and cons to each, but you have to consider your results. You need to make sure that your investment pays off.
You need to rank on the first page of search results to have any chance to get traffic from the web. Most clicks go to the top three results.
Will outsourcing SEO or keeping it in-house be the best solution to get the results that you need? Read on to find out.
1. Costs to Do SEO In-House
You’re likely going to have to take on additional costs to do SEO in-house. You have a few options to add it to your marketing arsenal.
The first is to do SEO yourself. That can be a good option only if you know SEO and you have the time to do it. Most business owners don’t.
Another option is to delegate SEO to someone on your staff. They may already be doing some content marketing and it may make sense for them to take over SEO, too.
They’re going to have the same problems as you. They probably don’t have the expertise and they don’t have the time with their current duties.
The final option is to hire more staff to handle SEO. That will increase your overhead. You’ll need to pay for benefits, payroll, and payroll taxes.
Don’t forget about the costs to hire and train a new person at your company. Plus, if you hire the wrong person, you could be out thousands of dollars.
2. Having Right Tools In-House
There are additional costs that you have to consider no matter who does your SEO in-house. You’re going to need several reporting and research tools to do SEO right.
There are some free tools that you can use to your advantage, but the best tools cost money. Some cost between $100 – $200 a month.
If you decide to outsource local SEO services, you won’t have these additional costs. The service provider probably has a full suite of tools at their disposal.
3. The Value of SEO to Your Business
The main consideration when you’re weighing outsourcing SEO vs. keeping SEO in-house is whether or not SEO can add value to your business.
If you don’t value SEO, then lower your expenses and do it yourself or delegate. If you believe that SEO can drive sales and results, then you’ll need to rely on an expert in SEO.
That person could be hired in-house, but good talent isn’t cheap. Your best option here would be to outsource local SEO services.
4. Which Will Bring Faster Results?
If you’re investing in SEO, do you want fast results or do you want to wait a long time? While SEO takes a long time to build momentum and see consistent results, outsourcing has an edge here.
There’s a learning curve to SEO and that will cost more time than hiring a firm that already knows what they’re doing.
5. Knowing What Works in SEO
SEO is changing fast. You need to be up to speed with what works now and what will work months from now.
There are a few things that you can rely on, such as E-A-T and backlinks. Those are consistently among the top ranking factors, according to experts.
For example, let’s say that you want to get more backlinks to your site. You can buy spammy links, but that could get you penalized by Google.
You need to run an organic link campaign. That means doing outreach to other sites and providing content that’s worth ranking too.
You’ll need to take the time to research, like reading this article that answers the question How Many Backlinks Does A Website Need To Rank On Page One?
Once you do that, then you can run a long backlinking campaign.
6. SEO Isn’t a Short Campaign
SEO results don’t happen overnight. Good search rankings are the result of a sustained effort over time. The one common issue for businesses is that they start SEO marketing and then they get busy.
They stop doing what’s working, and the results drop. Things slow down, they pick up SEO again. Then they drop it when work gets busy.
This is enough to kill your results. Outsourcing ensures that your SEO is consistent over time.
7. Outsourcing SEO is Easier to Scale
If you have a business with multiple brands or multiple locations, you’re going to need to do SEO for each brand or each location.
If you do them in-house, you may need to hire more staff to handle the responsibilities. However, outsourcing can give you leverage to scale.
They already have the staff on hand to handle more work. You just need to find the right SEO partner to work with.
8. Keep All of Your Marketing In-House
The one advantage that keeping SEO in-house has over outsourcing is that you get to keep all of your marketing efforts in-house. You have total control over what’s going on and where money is being spent.
It becomes much easier to coordinate all of your marketing efforts under one roof. With outsourcing, there is a chance for things to get lost or miscommunicated.
On the other hand, if your marketing is in-house, you may miss the value of an outside perspective. You can’t see potential holes in your strategy. An outside perspective can give you an unbiased view of your strategy and make it even stronger.
Outsourcing Local SEO Services vs. In-House
If you’re looking at ways to increase your marketing efforts, there’s no doubt that focusing on SEO is a good investment.
The real question is whether or not you should outsource local SEO services or keep them in-house. There are advantages and disadvantages to each.
It really comes down to your business. How much time and resources do you have at your disposal? If you have an infinite amount, then keep SEO in-house. If not, then consider outsourcing.
Do you want more SEO content? Check out this site often to learn about starting a blog and SEO.