As a small business owner with a limited budget, time, and marketing knowledge, it’s easy to wonder whether search engine optimization (SEO) is a worthy marketing investment.
Pay per click (PPC) and social media ads offer immediate traffic and leads, but SEO offers long-term benefits, as well as helps you stay ahead of your competitors in an increasingly aggressive digital market. On the downside, SEO takes time.
Since this marketing technique is time-consuming, it’s best to have someone else do it for you. But is it better if you build an in-house team or invest in outsourced digital marketing services?
SEO In-House vs. Outsourcing
What is In-House SEO?
In-house SEO involves hiring internal staff (full-time or part-time) to build and execute your company’s SEO strategy. An in-house SEO professional can work alone or as part of your internal marketing team.
One of the major benefits of working with an in-house professional is their proximity to you and your business’s goals. Since they are a part of your staff, they combine their deep knowledge of your product and service with their understanding of on-page and off-page SEO. They can easily communicate your business’s USP without needing you to outline it for them.
On the other hand, hiring another employee can be more expensive compared to outsourcing. You have to pay their salaries, as well as spend on Social Security, Medicare, workers’ comp, and unemployment insurance.
What Is SEO Outsourcing?
When you outsource your SEO efforts, you are hiring an external contractor or agency to handle off-page and on-page SEO for your website. This may include creating and implementing strategies, link building, content marketing, local SEO, web design, and digital PR.
The main benefits of outsourcing your SEO are expertise and cost savings. Initially, this argument seems counterintuitive; isn’t outsourcing an entire agency more expensive than doing the optimization yourself? On the contrary, hiring an in-house expert might cost you more than $45,000 annually. Outsourced SEO teams charge retainer amounts that are lower than hiring an in-house expert.
Another reason you should outsource your SEO is the diversity of talent. With a full team of outsourced professionals, you can tap into their different strengths. An agency might consist of web developers, SEO strategists, content writers, and link builders.
Should You Outsource SEO?
Or should you trust outsourced experts or build a team in-house?
Your decision depends on your priorities. If you have more space in your budget and want better control of your SEO, in-house SEO might be the best for you. But if you’re working on a limited budget and time, outsourcing is the best way to go.
As mentioned, SEO takes time. The more time you spend on link building, the less you’ll have for other tasks.
One way to determine whether you should outsource your SEO or not is to calculate the time and costs involved in your project. Also, calculate how much SEO work you’d be able to fulfill at the same time as an outsourced company. Consider this: you might be able to do link building in five hours while an experienced SEO specialist might finish the job in two hours.
SEO plays a vital role in your marketing campaign. Consider how you can handle SEO within your company first. If you need outsourcing services, 365 Outsource is here to help. Talk to us today about outsourcing your SEO plan.