SEO-Agency vs. Inhouse SEO

Why an external SEO agency is the better choice and collaboration essential

Why SEO is indispensable for companies

Every business is unique and so is also the attitude towards SEO actions different. What is certain, however, is that search engine optimization offers great opportunities for your company. Especially for local companies or very traditional industries, the implementation of a uniform SEO strategy can lead to long-term success. But SEO in particular is very sensitive and requires constant further development. Those who approach it without the appropriate knowledge, skills and experience can ruin more than use it.

But who can do the better job: in-house employees and internal SEO teams or hand everything over to an external SEO agency? Not an easy decision! Here you can find out the advantages of an external SEO agency in cooperation with trained contact persons in your company!

Creating the conditions for successful SEO

The first step is done, your company has decided to use SEO as a marketing channel. If the approach is right and if online marketing measures are implemented quickly and correctly, you can rank very high in the Google search results and in the long run be at the forefront and thereby achieve set goals such as customer acquisition, market share or sales increase. But before each search engine optimization your enterprise should ask itself the question, which goals you would like to reach concretely, which must be mediated also to the cooperating agency.

Inhouse vs. Agency

You are now faced with the choice of implementing your SEO strategy in-house, commissioning an SEO agency or choosing a hybrid form. If you choose in-house SEO, there are some important aspects to consider:

Advantages of Inhouse-SEO

• Internal SEO teams always have an eye on the company and its online performance and can react quickly if necessary.
• You know the internal processes, the products or services and the corporate philosophy down to the smallest detail.
• Decisions can be implemented more quickly than with an external agency. In addition, they know the most important contact persons so that various concerns can be dealt with directly.
• Normally, an in-house SEO position is cheaper than an external agency, and communication and coordination costs are lower.

Disadvantages of Inhouse SEO

• Often, operational blindness is also an important topic here.
• In-house SEO teams can only communicate with each other, but they need input from outside. They only get new incentives and ideas from outside via SEO conferences and training courses. SEO requires not only strategic thinking, but also creativity and fresh new ideas.
• Staff changes have a negative impact on the strategy, because SEO needs a certain degree of continuity and uniformity. The departure of employees interrupts SEO measures and processes that have already started. New employees have to be trained again, because they know neither the history of the domain nor the SEO measures that have already taken place in detail.
• Many applicants may have learned their trade in an agency, but over the years they have become accustomed to tunnel vision. However, SEO must complement the complete marketing strategy and interdisciplinary thinking is indispensable.
• SEO tools cost a lot of money
• “Bad air” within the organisation when the SEO employee is the only one allowed to attend a training or conference five times a year. In addition, these are also extremely expensive again.
• They often lose sight of the “big picture” because they don’t think outside the box like an agency. New opportunities and risks are often overlooked.

First of all, an employee who has the necessary and up-to-date SEO expertise is indispensable. This person needs the appropriate qualification in order to successfully carry out the practical implementation of individual measures. An employee with a degree in business informatics, marketing or Internet affinity alone is not enough. Many years of practical experience and learning by doing are essential here.

Their tasks include coordinating information from different departments and motivating their colleagues to provide it. An SEO team must have more than just knowledge and experience with Google services and SEO tools, PR contacts and Internet affinity. It also requires qualities such as communication skills, analytical thinking, technical understanding, passion for the field and a certain mental agility and willingness to identify and implement new trends.

This should not be given to a hobby SEO, nor after an online crash course even tackle. As you may have already noticed, this is not the easiest job and according to a survey, only 11% are satisfied with the performance of your in-house SEO.

Small and medium-sized companies often do not have sufficient resources to carry out search engine optimization in-house. In this case it is worth getting an SEO agency on board and providing professional advice.

Successful with an SEO agency

Advantages of a SEO agency

• Know-how is there right from the start: You support different companies from different industries and can contribute so much from other areas and already know the market.
• Agencies focus on further education and training, often the level of knowledge is fresher than with in-house SEOs.
• Concentrate on your core business: SEO agencies are flexible and services can be booked without having to hire new employees.
• Competent and up-to-date expertise and years of experience. For example, they can better interpret and compare figures from tools and KPIs, as they have a “look beyond their own nose

Disadvantages of agencies

• They often do not have the interfaces like an in-house employee.
• Target group, market and products are not as well known as in internal teams
• Decisions take longer and the contact persons are of course more difficult to reach than an employee sitting directly in the company.

The Best Solution: SEO Agency and Inhouse Collaboration

A professional has the appropriate infrastructure in the company to be able to put his SEO knowledge into practice. For a more concrete determination of the company goals it is important to first deal with the company itself, its structure, resources and special features, competitors and online competitors, as well as borders. It is advisable to go through this process together with your employees, above all management, web team, marketing and PR. With the knowledge of the position and the goals of the company, targeted measures can be derived with the SEO consultant.

The prerequisite for success, however, is above all communication with your employees. Everyone must pull together if the success of your company is to be increased by search engine optimization.

Therefore, one of the basic prerequisites for successful cooperation with an agency are trust and communication. For a successful search engine optimization the agency needs a comprehensive insight into your company. In the end it can develop and implement effective and successful measures. If the agency is not informed of all decisions, important opportunities are lost all the time and the screws have to be touched twice. That’s money, and there’s no shortage of delays in achieving the desired results. A basis of trust between your company and the agency must therefore be developed. A meaningful contract and an NDA (non disclosure agreement) form a good basis for this. This strengthened basis of trust will generally facilitate communication. There should be a continuous flow of communication between the agency and the company. They inform the agency about relevant innovations in the company, problems, questions, ideas and opinions. In return, the agency will give you hints and tips that should be implemented promptly. It is best to appoint an “SEO manager” to act as an interface between the agency and your departments. In medium-sized and smaller companies, copywriters and web managers or marketing assistants work very well for this job in practice.

Search engine optimization for small and medium-sized companies

In order not to be left behind by the competition, the importance of SEO for small and medium-sized enterprises can no longer be dismissed. In small and medium-sized companies, communication, coordination, planning and implementation often work faster. Goals can be discussed directly with the responsible person and to-do’s can be implemented faster. Information does not fall by the wayside like in the silent mail game.

Search engine optimization for large companies

The collaboration between SEO agency and large companies allows other benefits. If the company is already a recognized brand, Google more easily forgives blunders and uncleanly executed actions can be corrected more easily. Large companies also often have more budget available. In some cases, this is also needed so that SEO consultants can sufficiently familiarize themselves with the mostly complex and extensive domain structure and company goals and reconstruct their long history.

For large as well as small and medium-sized companies, the introduction and implementation of an SEO strategy is always associated with a learning and upheaval process. Here it is of great importance to take your employees actively by the hand and to be at your disposal for questions and concerns. The successful integration of the SEO strategy into the work processes of the employees is a decisive step in the right direction. If the communication and coordination between your employees and the agency works, nothing stands in the way of the successful implementation of your SEO strategy. It goes without saying that we will support you in word and deed during this process.

Fazit

From our point of view it is important to have an easily accessible contact person in the company, cooperation is the A&O here. Give the agency or your SEO in-house team a comprehensive insight into your company and make sure that they have an easily accessible contact person to act quickly and effectively. In this way, opportunities can be quickly identified and implemented and decision-making processes can be shortened. A good solution would be to hand over certain tasks and competencies to an SEO agency and implement recommended OnPage measures internally. It is important to maintain a lively exchange with the agency and to pull together.

Whether with an agency, in-house or a mixed form, the following applies to the implementation of your SEO strategy: Patience. SEO is always a long-term marketing strategy! The span between SEO measures and effect is time-consuming and can only lead to sustainable success by using brain fat and heart blood. Fast piled up measures for the fast success at any price go today mostly fast backwards and Google’s punishments do not take long for themselves. Take the safe path and give your SEO measures the chance to help your company achieve long-term success.