The process of search engine optimisation (SEO) is a long one. If executed effectively a well-planned SEO campaign can return a business owner a good return on their investment in the long term; however there is often a period of months where time/capitol needs to be invested without immediate results and without any guarantee of success.

A commitment needs to be made from the beginning of an SEO campaign, to carry it out to fruition. The question is, do you select yourself or an in-house team to carry out your SEO, or a third-party agency?

When deciding whether you want to search for an agency to outsource your SEO to, or do your SEO in-house, there are four main factors that you consider:

Expertise and Experience

This is one of the biggest determining factors when selecting who will do your SEO, and the main reason businesses look elsewhere to handle their SEO. A truly qualified, and seasoned search engine optmiser (SEO) should have the experience to know which pitfalls to avoid (i.e. using methods which may get your website penalised), and have the creativity to promote your website and brand in an original way (i.e. producing engaging content that gets noticed and shared).

Doing your own SEO may allow you develop skills which you will be able to reap a benefit from for years to come, but hiring in an expert will help ensure that you avoid making costly mistakes early on.

If you have some knowledge of SEO, but don’t quite feel confident enough to build your campaign, it is definitely worth considering hiring an SEO consultant on an hourly basis in order to support you or your in-house team and ensure that your campaign gets off to the right start and remains moving in the right direction.

Cost

Controlling the cost is another crucial factor and one of the main reasons that companies choose to bring their SEO in-house. With your own employees working on your campaign for a set number of hours per week you have direct control over the costs of your SEO. Agencies are not often transparent about what it is exactly that you are getting for your money, so by bringing your SEO in house you see clearly where your money is being spent.

Passion

SEO to a large extent is about networking and connecting to other websites and their owners, sharing content and ideas. Thus it is important that the person doing your SEO and promoting your brand has a genuine passion for your subject area. Passion can be a difficult thing to fabricate and this is a good reason for carrying out your own SEO.

The Trust Factor

With an intangible service like SEO it immensely important that you are able to trust the person doing your SEO, especially if you do not have the expertise to understand and monitor the work that they are doing. Not only can they underperform, they can also negatively impact your site’s ability to rank. Make sure to do your due diligence on any agency that you considering hiring. > https://jseo.com/business/five-questions-to-ask-seo-agency/

For complete peace of mind however, entrusting the job to staff who are stakeholders in the company is a good option and helps ensure that the person/people doing your SEO is motivated to attain the best results possible.

Summary

Weighing up each of these factors will help you come to a decision about option is going to be best for your website and business. The success of your campaign will depend greatly on the competency of the person carrying out your SEO and you would be well advised to give great consideration to whoever you choose, whether they are a third-party agency or someone in house. There is also always the option of combining the two by having a third-party consultant coach your in-house team and keep them on the right track.