In today’s digital landscape, there’s no debating the importance of SEO. With more than 5.6 billion searches happening on Google every month, delaying SEO simply isn’t an option if you want your business to grow.
The real question isn’t whether to invest in SEO, but how to do it in the most effective way.
Should you hire an in-house SEO specialist?
Should you outsource to an agency?
Or does a hybrid approach make the most sense?
That’s where things can get confusing, but don’t worry, we’re here to help.
Getting your SEO resourcing right from the start can have a huge impact on your return on investment. Today, we’re breaking down the pros and cons of managing SEO in house versus outsourcing it to an agency, so you can decide which approach is best for your business.
What does it mean to use an agency?
Using a digital marketing agency means working with an external team of specialists to manage your SEO and related marketing tasks. This could also include an independent SEO freelancer, but more commonly it involves an agency with a dedicated team of SEO experts covering strategy, content, technical SEO, and link building.
You can choose to outsource just one part of your marketing, such as SEO, or engage an agency to manage your entire digital strategy.
Regardless of who you outsource to, one thing is non-negotiable. You should be receiving regular reports and updates on rankings, performance, and results so you always know how your investment is tracking.
Should I use an agency for my SEO?
Outsourcing your SEO will almost certainly impact your Google search visibility and can influence other areas of your business as well.
With a skilled team working on your campaigns, you gain access to expertise that can drive higher rankings, stronger visibility, increased organic traffic, and improved return on investment.
That said, the best option will vary from business to business. The right decision depends on several factors, including your budget, internal expertise, timelines, and how much control you want to retain.
Budget and resourcing
One of the biggest considerations when deciding between in-house SEO and outsourcing is resourcing, both in terms of money and time.
Hiring an in-house SEO specialist means covering their salary, benefits, onboarding, ongoing training, and recruitment costs. On top of that, you will also need to invest in SEO tools, which are essential for running an effective strategy.
Working with an SEO agency, on the other hand, typically involves a fixed monthly engagement fee. This fee covers the strategy, execution, reporting, training, and the cost of the tools required to deliver results. The agency handles the heavy lifting, allowing your internal team to focus on other areas of the business.
Finding experts in the field
Whether or not you should outsource your SEO largely depends on who you are outsourcing it to.
If you partner with an agency that has proven experience and a strong track record, the payoff in rankings and ROI can be significant. On the other hand, working with an agency that is not results driven, or worse, relies on black hat SEO techniques, can end up doing more harm than good.
Another advantage of outsourcing is access to a wider range of specialists. Agencies typically have copywriters, designers, analysts, and technical SEO experts working together. An in-house hire would need to cover many of these areas themselves, which is a big ask for one person.
Speedy timelines
Because agencies work with multiple clients across different campaigns, it is important to allow a reasonable amount of time for them to handle requests.
You may not always receive an instant response to every question or change request. This does not mean a good SEO agency is unresponsive or inflexible. It simply means that non-urgent requests may not be actioned immediately.
Clear expectations and communication help ensure timelines remain realistic on both sides.
Level of focus and control
For teams that are comfortable being flexible and outcome focused, outsourced SEO can be a great fit. If you are happy to let experts take the lead, outsourcing is often the most efficient option.
If, however, you want constant visibility and hands-on control over every aspect of your SEO, an in-house team may suit you better.
What are the advantages of outsourcing SEO?
There are many benefits to outsourcing SEO. Below are some of the key advantages.
Access to a team of specialists
Strong SEO teams have experience working across different industries, business sizes, and campaign types. Outsourcing gives your business immediate access to this collective expertise.
An experienced agency can draw on previous campaigns to recommend the right tactics, optimise performance, and identify where your efforts should be focused to achieve the best results.
A team that stays up to date with changes and trends
Google rolls out multiple algorithm updates every year, including major changes like Penguin, Panda, and Hummingbird.
Missing these updates can have a serious impact on search rankings. In-house teams can sometimes become heavily focused on specific campaigns or internal priorities, making it easier to miss shifts in the broader SEO landscape.
SEO agencies, by nature, need to stay on top of industry changes as part of their day-to-day work. A good provider actively monitors updates, tests new approaches, and adapts strategies to ensure your campaigns remain competitive and aligned with best practice.
description.Because of this, a good SEO provider will stay up to date with these changes and trends, making sure your campaign is at the forefront.
Using an agency is scalable
One of the biggest advantages of outsourcing SEO to an agency is scalability. You can easily scale services up or down based on your current business needs.
For example, you may require more intensive SEO work during the early stages of growth, then gradually reduce the level of activity once performance stabilises and momentum builds. An agency model allows for this flexibility without the need to hire or restructure internally.
You have the gift of object perspective on campaigns
Because an external agency does not have an emotional or internal attachment to your business, their perspective is completely objective.
This fresh viewpoint can uncover issues that may have gone unnoticed internally, as well as identify opportunities that are harder to spot when you are too close to the day-to-day operations of the business.
Access to better tools
Effective SEO relies heavily on data, and the tools required to do this properly are often expensive.
To run a strong SEO campaign, you typically need access to tools for:
- SEO analytics and performance tracking
- Keyword research
- Technical SEO audits
- Content marketing insights
- Competitor analysis
A reliable SEO agency already has access to these tools, which means you save on costly licensing fees.
More importantly, you are also paying for the expertise behind the tools. An experienced agency knows how to interpret the data correctly and use it to make informed decisions that drive results.
What are the disadvantages of outsourcing SEO?
While outsourcing SEO has many benefits, there are also a few potential drawbacks to be aware of.
Finding the right SEO company can be challenging
The SEO industry is crowded, and many agencies claim to be the best.
Finding a reputable, white hat SEO agency requires research, due diligence, and an understanding of what good SEO actually looks like. If you do not have prior experience working with SEO agencies or limited in-house SEO knowledge, this process can feel overwhelming.
Not having a dedicated specialist within your marketing team
Outsourcing SEO means you will not have a full-time, in-house specialist focused exclusively on your campaigns at all times.
While this is rarely an issue for most businesses, it can sometimes feel like you have less immediate control or the ability to jump on tasks instantly.
That said, many SEO agencies help bridge this gap by offering training sessions, documentation, or workshops to improve SEO knowledge within your internal team and keep everyone aligned.
What is the cost of outsourcing SEO?
The cost of outsourcing SEO depends on several factors, including your current level of SEO investment, business goals and timelines, available marketing budget, and how competitive your industry is.
There is no one-size-fits-all pricing model. Instead, most SEO agencies offer a few common structures depending on your needs.
Fixed-rate contracts
This model is best suited for clearly defined, one-off projects, such as a technical SEO audit or a site migration. You engage a team of SEO specialists for a specific scope of work at a fixed cost.
Monthly retainers
Monthly retainers are the most common approach to outsourcing SEO. Under this model, you pay a fixed monthly fee for ongoing SEO services, which typically include strategy, content, technical optimisation, link building, and reporting.
Pay-for-performance pricing
This model involves paying an agency based on specific outcomes, such as ranking for certain keywords. While it may sound appealing, it is often risky and not always aligned with long-term SEO best practices, as rankings alone do not guarantee meaningful business results.
Hourly consulting
Hourly SEO consulting offers flexibility and is often used for short-term guidance or specialist input. While this option can be effective, it is usually more expensive on a per-hour basis and can be harder to scale consistently.
For mid-range SEO services, businesses can generally expect to invest between $2,000 and $6,000 per month. This typically covers technical audits, keyword strategy, link building, reporting, local SEO and ongoing optimisation.
What are the advantages of inhouse SEO?
There are several benefits to managing SEO internally, particularly for larger organisations or businesses with highly specific requirements.
Focused efforts
Unlike agencies, which divide attention across multiple clients, an in-house SEO specialist works exclusively on your business. Their time and focus are fully dedicated to improving your search visibility, without the constraints of predefined deliverables or client capacity limits.
That said, this level of focus can sometimes come at the cost of broader industry awareness. Without exposure to multiple campaigns or industries, in-house teams may be slower to spot emerging trends or algorithm changes.
Deep understanding of your business
An in-house SEO specialist has the advantage of being fully embedded within your organisation. They understand your products, services, priorities, internal processes, and company culture at a much deeper level.
This insider knowledge allows for more tailored SEO strategies and makes collaboration with internal teams such as marketing, sales, and development far easier. It can also speed up decision-making and execution, as fewer handovers are required.
What are the disadvantages of inhouse SEO?
Like anything, there are trade-offs when managing SEO internally. While in-house SEO can work well for some businesses, there are a few downsides worth considering.
More generalised skill sets
As mentioned earlier, SEO agencies are made up of specialists across different disciplines such as technical SEO, content strategy, copywriting, digital PR, and analytics.
An in-house SEO hire is often more of a generalist. While having a jack-of-all-trades can be helpful day to day, it usually means sacrificing deep expertise in specific areas. This becomes especially noticeable when dealing with complex or high-risk tasks like site migrations, large technical audits, or advanced link building strategies.
Because of this, many businesses with in-house SEO still end up outsourcing specialist projects anyway.
Costs can add up quickly
The average salary for an SEO specialist sits around $83,218 per year, which works out to roughly $6,900 per month. That figure alone does not include additional costs such as recruitment, onboarding, ongoing training, superannuation, or paid leave.
On top of that, SEO tools are essential and can be expensive. Once you factor in software, the real monthly cost of an in-house SEO hire can easily exceed $7,000.
For a similar investment, you could engage a premium SEO agency that provides access to a full team of specialists, proven processes, and all the tools required to execute an effective SEO strategy.
The final word
The decision to outsource your SEO or manage it in-house really comes down to your business, your budget, and what you’re trying to achieve.
For smaller businesses with tighter budgets, outsourcing to an experienced agency can be the smarter move. You gain access to proven expertise, tools, and strategy without the overheads of building an internal team, helping you get the most value from every dollar you invest.
Larger organisations, on the other hand, may benefit from bringing SEO in-house. Keeping expertise under one roof can make collaboration easier, speed up decision-making, and align SEO more closely with internal timelines and priorities.
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The key is to focus on return on investment and choose the approach that supports your growth goals in the most practical way.
If you’re still weighing up your options, we can help. As a premium SEO agency, we work closely with businesses to build strategies that actually deliver results. Get a free proposal with Local Digital today and see how we can help move your business forward.
