SEO, or search engine optimisation, is vital in increasing your visibility with the big search engines like Google, resulting in more traffic and sales. It’s also highly cost-effective, plus you can use it no matter the size of your business, and regardless of the sector in which you operate.
One key decision is whether to enlist the services of an SEO consultant or SEO agency to help you with the strategy for your campaigns, or to keep this function in-house. Here, to help you make an informed decision, we look at the differences between each one.
The Differences between SEO Consultants, SEO Agencies, or In-House SEO
Scale of Services
SEO agencies typically provide a broad line-up of SEO services, including everything from content creation to technical elements to link-building, social media and paid search. They also run quite big teams with extensive resources and can tackle multiple tasks at once. So, they’re a great option if you need significant support across various aspects of the SEO discipline and can often tackle complex or larger-scale projects.
For their part, SEO consultants tend to be more specialised, focusing particularly on SEO and adopting a tailored, direct approach, often taking on fewer projects at once. So, it depends on whether you want broad or deep expertise. Quite often, you might engage consultants for shorter periods than you would an agency, and for an extremely specific task.
Personalising the Service
Agencies have their tried-and-tested approaches, and that can be great. But if you want a tightly tailored service which concentrates specifically on your goals, a consultancy could be highly effective as your business grows and changes.
Choosing a consultancy also often means you have a dedicated point of contact and so always deal with the same person. There is a real sense that you’re working with an experienced, skilled expert. This is also possible within SEO agencies like Simply Search.
Costs
If you do not need the full range of services of an agency, or are on a limited budget, you may find a consultant more cost-effective in some situations, and that their pricing model suits your needs.
An agency, on the other hand, may use a retainer pricing model, i.e., a monthly fee, and have higher overheads, whereas an SEO consultancy can sometimes be more flexible.
Ongoing Monitoring and Awareness of Industry Trends
This is where SEO agencies can come into their own, with continual monitoring and frequent reports on how your website is performing, plus regular competitor analysis. Equally, agencies stay abreast of the most recent SEO best practices and algorithms, so that your strategy adapts to the latest sector trends.
In short, an SEO agency could be for you if you’re after more extensive, continual management of your SEO strategy, with a broader line-up of services. An SEO consultancy, however, might suit if you need a more targeted approach, including deep analysis, technical audit, or strategy development.
What about Hiring In-House for SEO?
This is another option – plus you could always take on an employee dedicated to SEO and then buy in any extra support you need via a consultancy as and when needed.
Staff SEO specialists do bring a number of other benefits, such as:
- Being focused on your business and nothing else means they can introduce strategy changes very quickly. Attention is focused exclusively on your goals.
- You’ll remain in control of the in-house hiring process throughout.
- Full-time staff will have an exceptional understanding of your business; after all, they are immersed in it all day every day.
- You’ll be able to see their efforts first-hand, allowing for greater transparency and a better understanding of what they are doing.
- They may be able to share their expertise with other staff members through cross-training.
As with anything else, there are also potential drawbacks. It can be more expensive given the additional costs for an in-house full-time employee. There can also be less accountability, and less motivation for them to stay across the latest industry developments once they have the job. (Unlike an agency, which is always competing for more clients).
SEO Consultancy and Agency Services from Simply Search
At Simply Search, based in Basingstoke, we’re all about expert SEO packages across a wide range of business sizes and industry sectors. Thanks to us, you can enjoy the best of all worlds, including SEO consultancy services incorporating tailored strategies aligned with your business goals.
At the same time, if a full-service SEO agency is what you need, talk to us. We can look after all aspects of your SEO campaigns, from keyword research through to content creation, link building and on-page optimisation, making sure that all the elements come together so that you have the strongest possible digital presence, together with tangible results. Our customised strategy will meet your business’s individual requirements for e-commerce, international or localised websites and businesses.
Take the first stage today with our SEO or Google Analytics services – get in touch for your free website review.