Agencies and contractors each have strengths and weaknesses to consider.
If you want to start a search engine optimization (SEO) campaign, you’ll probably want to hire someone to help you out. SEO is fairly complex, and takes a great deal of time to learn and execute on your own. The question is, do you want to hire a full SEO agency, or stick with independent contractors to do the work on your behalf?
Agency Advantages
These are some of the advantages of working with an agency over a team of contractors:
- Working with an agency is more reliable than working with an individual, because an individual might leave you after a week. Agencies are typically under contract, and aren’t as volatile to work with.
- Agencies also employ multiple experts in niche fields, rather than relying on generalists, giving them deeper knowledge in each of several areas.
- Agencies have full teams of people, giving them a wider range of capabilities; most SEO agencies are full-service, meaning they can do everything marketing-related for your company.
- If there’s something your agency can’t do, they likely have contacts who can do it, giving you an even broader reach.
- Agencies need to keep customers happy. If you don’t see results, they’ll work overtime to get you where you should be.
Contractor Advantages
These are the advantages of contractors:
- Hiring contractors gives you more control over the individuals working on your campaign, and reduces the need for a long-term contract.
- In many cases, contractors are less expensive per month than agencies.
- Some SEO managers prefer to work one-on-one with the people actually doing the work, rather than account managers who dispatch requests to the execution team.
Overall, agencies are the better option, though contractors are great for filling in weak points or complementing a team you already have in-house. If you’re interested in learning more about what an SEO agency can do for your campaign, contact us today!
