Many business owners have heard about SEO and how important it is for their business. Once they have decided that they need SEO for their website the questions comes up “Should I work with a SEO company or hire my own in-house SEO manager?”.
The answer here is: It depends!
There are a couple of factors to consider when making this decision. Here are 4 important ones you should know about:
1. Scale
What is the scale of your SEO projects? Do you have enough SEO projects to keep a full-time employee busy? If you are not sure about this we advice to talk to a SEO company first to at least get an estimate for your SEO needs. There are always some situations where it might make sense to hire an in-house SEO expert just based on the scope of the project. For example if you are building a large online store that will need a lot of SEO setup work and a fast turnaround.
If you have been working with an SEO company make sure to evaluate how much work they are doing for you to get a feeling if a full-time SEO person would be a good investment.
2. Budget
A full time SEO employee can cost you $5000 per month or more (see this survey from SEMPO for more details on SEO salary numbers). You might be able to find someone with less experience for less, but then you will also have to invest a lot of time and budget in SEO training to get them up to speed. A professional SEO consultant can provide great results for you for the same budget or less and they already bring the experience to the table. They will also only bill you for the time spent on your project, while your employee will spend a lot of time learning about SEO and updating his or her knowledge. If you are just starting out with SEO and your budget is less than $5000 per month it might make more sense to find a SEO company that is a good match for your needs and see what results you can achieve this way, before hiring a full time person.
3. Software, Tools and Training
SEO is a constantly evolving area. Any professional SEO spends a lot of time staying up to date about recent search engine changes and new SEO strategies. This requires a considerable amount of time. Additionally, to perform SEO effectively SEO companies use a wide range of SEO tools. If you hire an in-house SEO employee you will have to purchase certain SEO software and tools and also invest in training and education for your employee. All this can add up fast and increase your overall cost apart from just the salary.
SEO companies already have the required tools and spend their own funds on training and education. When you hire an outside SEO expert you can stay focused on your business goals and pay for the work on your site instead of spending your budget on software or training materials. However if you are building a large SEO department and plan to expand your SEO team in the future such an investment can be very valuable. To avoid unnecessary expenses make sure to evaluate your future website plans before you make a hiring decision.
4. Talent
Good SEO talent is hard to come by. These days many good SEO experts are working for themselves because they know how valuable their expertise is. If you are training your own SEO staff be aware that they might leave your company once they realize how valuable their skills are on the market. Make sure to establish incentives and bonuses to keep your SEO stars happy and lower the chances of them leaving your company. For a good SEO employee plan to increase their salary based on performance and consider this when setting up your budget before making a hiring decision.
In this article I have mentioned 4 main issues to consider that you need to be aware of when making the decision to hire a full time in-house SEO employee or working with a professional SEO consultant. Evaluate all these 4 points very carefully for your situation and needs.
I have seen a lot of businesses not allowing enough time to evaluate their true needs before hiring full time SEO help. If you are not sure what would be the best way to proceed in your specific situation feel free to contact Three Palms Media. We are more than happy to offer our experience to consult with you on your specific situation.
Tags: hiring seo, how to hire seo expert, in house seo, inhouse seo, seo employee
