SEOClerks

Clear
Sign In Join

Hire a full time SEO specialist or buy SEO services through a digital company?

  • Cristian Level X3
    • 7

    Write the reason you're deleting this FAQ

    Hire a full time SEO specialist or buy SEO services through a digital company?

    I get asked very often the following question: Should I hire a full-time SEO specialist to work as an in-house employee or should we sign a contract with an SEO or digital company? 
    Hire a full time SEO specialist or buy SEO services through a digital company?
    I personally worked on each side of the fence and each one has its pros and cons but which one should YOU as a business owner choose? Which solution would bring you a more profitable business at the end of the day, this is what we need to figure out! 

    Let's start with the full-time in house SEO. 

    There comes a point in any businesses life when the task of managing everything SEO becomes too much for the entrepreneur, blog posting, search engine positions, on-page SEO, backlinks building, social media posting and everything in between. It is simply too much and you will eventually need some specialist help and you may fix that by hiring someone that knows SEO to work as a full-time specialist in your company. 

    Pros:

    • The SEO specialist you will hire will work only for you. Having just one client as an SEO is great, it means you get to focus on only one "problem" and eventually once things start moving up you will get a lot of satisfaction from your work.
    • You can get the SEO specialist to handle other digital business like social media, maybe some PPC or even content building. Depending on how skilled your SEO specialist will be you can have him/her do other jobs outside the narrow SEO world if SEO is just too little to complete a full-time working day. 
    • Your SEO specialist will probably have a fixed salary. This means you don't have to deal with contracts and extra costs digital agencies may ask for. 
    • You can monitor the results closely.
    • Communication and direct interaction are easy. Having an in-house SEO specialist can be great. He/She can participate in all your meetings making sure everything you are planning for the future is SEO friendly. 
    Cons:
    • You SEO  specialist will probably get lazy and stop developing on a professional level. Without proper interaction with other SEO specialists or at least with other digital marketing experts, your employee will probably lose a lot of new developments and become stale over time. This happened to me when I was freelancing by myself, I stopped evolving on a professional level. You can avoid this by constantly sending your SEO specialists to digital and SEO conferences and courses, but all of this essentially means extra costs. 
    • You need to make sure you hire the right person. At the interview, you will probably need another SEO specialists to make sure whomever you want to hire knows the ropes and understands what you need. 

    Why in my opinion the SEO digital agency is better. 

    As I said I worked both as an in-house SEO working for one client but also as an SEO in a digital company (as I am at the moment). And by far I think the best results a client can get is hiring the agency over the lone wolf as an in-house specialist.
    Why? Because managing another employee is difficult, especially one that you know little about what he/her needs to be done. 

    Pros:

    • Great for small companies. Why hire a full-time SEO that will probably ask you for a pretty decent salary when you can hire a digital agency working just a few hours every month for you doing very strategic implementations. 
    • Digital agencies have experience. With multiple clients on multiple problems, agencies are capable of resolving and implementing SEO because they have the skills as well as the manpower to make everything happen, faster and better than your in-house SEO couldn't. 
    • Digital agencies are teams of multiple people with specific roles. Not only SEO but also social media specialists, programmers, designers, sys admins and everything in between. The point is you will probably need multiple things done online, I think is for the best to sign a contract with a full digital agency capable of delivering everything and having the specialist to deliver it at the highest level. 
    • If you negotiate correctly and ask for the right services I bet most contracts signed with digital agencies are cheaper than hiring a full-time SEO. 
    Cons:
    • The only major problem would be hiring the wrong digital companies. And believe me, there are a lot of them out there! Companies that promise a lot but only want to suck you dry, month after month, offering very weak results in return that won't cover your investments. So make sure you double check on their track record as well as understanding exactly what they are offering and how much good can be done for you. 

    #Seo #Inhouse #Digital Website Management
    Share post:

    Comments

    Please login or sign up to leave a comment

    Join
    TommyCarey

    TommyCarey

    I've never actually worked for a company doing in house SEO, so I'm a little biased towards hiring an SEO company Hire a full time SEO specialist or buy SEO services through a digital company?

    I do get a lot of clients coming to me because they didn't know what to look for when hiring someone, so they get someone under qualified who actually harmed their rankings and website instead of helping out. That isn't a huge problem because I know how to use the disavow tool lol. A lot of my clients have been with me for 10+ months because we give them consistent results. Of course we get the random person who comes to use because they think we can make them $1,000's every day, which just doesn't happen. They eventually leave us because the think we're not doing anything, when in reality we had been doing plenty of work and they're steadily getting an increase week after week Hire a full time SEO specialist or buy SEO services through a digital company?

    Outsourcing the work to a credible SEO company is usually safer as well because you can get something written in the contract that will break it if a certain scenario happens to arise. In all of my contracts I add a clause that states if we do not increase the clients rankings for any of their keywords, they get a full refund and the contract is null and void. Now to them this is a great deal because it means we have to do the work. To me it's a great deal because I know we're going to do the work and the rankings will increase slightly after a little bit of good work and then that clause is null and void itself lol Hire a full time SEO specialist or buy SEO services through a digital company? I track everything and take before and after screenshots so that I can send them to the client after their rankings begin to increase Hire a full time SEO specialist or buy SEO services through a digital company?

    I usually give the clients access to my tracking dashboards, only their website of course, so that they can watch everything on a day to day basis if they'd like. Of course I get a flood of emails a week after their rankings start to dance, but that's when I send them my 2 page explanation of what the Google Dance is and then they're fine with it Hire a full time SEO specialist or buy SEO services through a digital company?
    9 years ago

    Are you sure you want to delete this post?

    Corzhens

    Corzhens

    I guess you have the advantage over a digital company that provides SEO work because you already have an established track record with your past and present clients. An SEO company has the image of cost which gives the potential client a scare when it comes to price while an individual SEO worker is always open to compromises especially when the client is honest about his budget.
    7 years ago

    Are you sure you want to delete this post?

    overcast

    overcast

    I think it depends on the project context. Some projects can be done by single person. And some of the projects are to be done by the company. I have found that some projects require too much help on many counts. And it's really hard to do if you can't easily manage the deadline. So in that case you can see that digital company is lot better choice. I'd treat it on per project context though for better outsourced options.
    9 years ago

    Are you sure you want to delete this post?

    ajlancer

    ajlancer

    Hi there
    Thanks for your query. I think you already explained both good side or bad side for hiring SEO specialist. It is depend on your project goal. It you expect permanent and long time project and for big project, here digital company may better for you. But, for any short project you have hire SEO specialist by task basis. Because, sometimes it is depend on your budget. If need some short and quick project, you can purchase service basis from anywhere and hire someone. I think if you want to manage your business for whole facts of SEO, digital company may better. But as per as I know service basis SEO specialist always charge less than digital SEO company. Sometime digital SEO company also outsource expert from several marketplace too.

    So, both side has pros and cons, choose best as your task needs or project needs.

    Regards by Ajlancer
    9 years ago

    Are you sure you want to delete this post?

    PinkTurtle

    PinkTurtle

    Hi!
    So I agree with most of you that said that it really depends on yourproject! Because if you have a short project I don’t think it’s good to hire
    your own SEO person- you’ll be spending much more money-, otherwise if it’s a
    really extensive project with a lot of time/ people involved I would say that’s
    the best idea. I say this because I really like knowing well the person that’s
    going to work with me and I would have to see it personally in an interview at
    least and I’m one of those people who believe in first impressions.
    9 years ago

    Are you sure you want to delete this post?

    vinaya

    vinaya

    It depends on how much budget you have and what type of website you have. If you are selling products and services through your website, you are already making money from your website,. Thus you should not hesitate to hire a full time SEO expert. However, if your website doe snot earn you money, yet you can to get ir ranked high, go for SEO service through a digital company.
    9 years ago

    Are you sure you want to delete this post?

    Corzhens

    Corzhens

    I guess it will depend on the kind and size of your business on whether to hire an SEO specialist or enter into a contract with an SEO company. For sure, the SEO company has an advantage over the SEO specialist since a company has many brains that it can use. However, the services of the SEO company will definitely be more expensive since it is understandable that it has to maintain an office even if the office is just virtual in nature. If your business is so large then you probably will benefit more if you get a service contract with an SEO company.
    8 years ago

    Are you sure you want to delete this post?

    Order Now
    Process Time: 1.2155508995056

    Possible Duplicate queries found!
    MatchCountSQLScript
    SELECT * FROM `questions` as q JOIN categories_faq as c ON q.catid=c.CATID WHERE (q.status=1 OR (q.status=2 AND userid='') ) AND q.quesid='23639'1SELECT q.*, c.seo as CatSEO, c.name as CatName, c.parentid FROM `questions` as q JOIN categories_faq as c ON q.catid=c.CATID WHERE (q.status=1 OR (q.status=2 AND userid='') ) AND q.quesid='23639'

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php 496 () ()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='134'1SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='134'

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/includes/member.php 445 GetAllUserDetails() ()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID=1341SELECT googleplus_profile FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID=134

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 16914 GetGooglePlusProfileFromId() ()

    SELECT * FROM ratings_faq as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=23639 LIMIT 51SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faq as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=23639 LIMIT 5

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()

    SELECT * FROM answers a, seoclerks.members b WHERE a.quesid='23639' AND a.userid=b.USERID and b.status='1' AND a.status=1 ORDER BY a.combined_votes DESC, a.date_answered asc1SELECT a.answer, a.USERID, a.upvotes, a.downvotes, a.ansid, a.parentid, a.combined_votes, a.date_answered, b.username, b.userlevel, b.profilepicture FROM answers a, seoclerks.members b WHERE a.quesid='23639' AND a.userid=b.USERID and b.status='1' AND a.status=1 ORDER BY a.combined_votes DESC, a.date_answered asc

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php 1245 () ()

    SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=126228 LIMIT 51SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=126228 LIMIT 5

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()

    SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=172966 LIMIT 51SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=172966 LIMIT 5

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()

    SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=126273 LIMIT 51SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=126273 LIMIT 5

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()

    SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=126314 LIMIT 51SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=126314 LIMIT 5

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()

    SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=126629 LIMIT 51SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=126629 LIMIT 5

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()

    SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=129319 LIMIT 51SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=129319 LIMIT 5

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()

    SELECT * FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=158441 LIMIT 51SELECT m.username FROM ratings_faqanswers as r, seoclerks.members as m WHERE r.USERID=m.USERID AND r.upvote=1 AND r.PID=158441 LIMIT 5

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 17159 GetVoters() ()

    UPDATE questions SET total_views = total_views + 1 WHERE quesid='23639'1UPDATE questions SET total_views = total_views + 1 WHERE quesid='23639'

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/include/functions/main.php 1765 update_Faqviewcount() ()

    SELECT * FROM questions WHERE quesid!='23639' AND status='1' AND (question like '%Hire full time SEO specialist buy SEO services digital company?%' OR question like '%Hire%' OR question like '%full%' OR question like '%time%' OR question like '%specialist%' OR question like '%services%' OR question like '%digital%' OR question like '%company?%') -- ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 151SELECT quesid, question, seo, userid FROM questions WHERE quesid!='23639' AND status='1' AND (question like '%Hire full time SEO specialist buy SEO services digital company?%' OR question like '%Hire%' OR question like '%full%' OR question like '%time%' OR question like '%specialist%' OR question like '%services%' OR question like '%digital%' OR question like '%company?%') -- ORDER BY RAND() LIMIT 15

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() ()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='2077' limit 11SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='2077' limit 1

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='3250' limit 11SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='3250' limit 1

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='4987' limit 11SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='4987' limit 1

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='9' limit 11SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='9' limit 1

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_member_profilepicture()

    SELECT * FROM members_ledger WHERE script='/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php' AND querystring LIKE '%id=23639%' AND added>=UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW())-1200 GROUP BY USERID 1SELECT USERID, username FROM members_ledger WHERE script='/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/viewfaq.php' AND querystring LIKE '%id=23639%' AND added>=UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW())-1200 GROUP BY USERID

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() ()

    SELECT * FROM categories1SELECT * FROM categories

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() parseRedundantQueriesCache()

    select * from categories_software order by name asc1select * from categories_software order by name asc

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_GetSoftwareCategories()

    select * from categories_wanttobuy order by name asc1select * from categories_wanttobuy order by name asc

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_wantcategories()

    select * from categories_wanttotrade order by name asc1select * from categories_wanttotrade order by name asc

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_get_tradecategories()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='19821.png'1SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='19821.png'

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='600657.jpg'1SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='600657.jpg'

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='589438.jpg'1SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='589438.jpg'

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='4987.jpg'1SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='4987.jpg'

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='605129.jpg'1SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='605129.jpg'

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()

    SELECT * FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='585810.jpg'1SELECT profilepicture FROM seoclerks.members WHERE USERID='585810.jpg'

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() getUserProfileImage()

    select * from categories_faq order by name asc1select * from categories_faq order by name asc

    		/opt/clerks-staging/docroot/libraries/adodb5/adodb.inc.php 1899 CacheExecute() insert_GetFaqCategories()

    Invalid SQL

    count(*)sql1error_msg

    Expensive SQL

    Tuning the following SQL could reduce the server load substantially
    LoadCountSQLMaxMin

    Suspicious SQL

    The following SQL have high average execution times
    Avg TimeCountSQLMaxMin