Deciding between an SEO audit agency and your in-house team can be a big deal for your digital marketing success. What matters most—budget, expertise, or long-term growth? Agencies bring a wealth of knowledge, scalability, and skills that can boost your SEO efforts quickly. In contrast, in-house teams offer more control and respond immediately to your business's needs.
At tiny lever, we make the choice between an SEO audit agency and an in-house team much easier. Our expert audits uncover growth opportunities, while our content and backlink strategies increase your visibility. We offer the scalability to fit right into your existing efforts. With our data-driven approach, you can count on measurable results to boost your search rankings.
Leveraging our deep understanding of search engine optimization best practices, we’ll explore the benefits of hiring an SEO company versus keeping it in-house. We'll discuss how an agency can provide advanced tools and expert knowledge. We'll also highlight the advantages of conducting audits internally. By the end, you’ll know which option better fits your needs.
Let’s get started!
Benefits of Using an SEO Audit Agency
An SEO audit agency identifies and resolves critical ranking blockers. They focus on technical, on-page, and off-page factors, like site structure, keyword gaps, and backlinks. Speed and mobile optimization are key priorities, too. In short, they find and fix your gaps in SEO.
Here are some benefits of working with an SEO audit agency:
Unlocks Expert Knowledge
Partnering with an SEO audit agency provides more than insights; it gives you access to expert strategies that can transform your digital presence. These agencies specialize in the essential aspects of SEO—technical optimization, content strategy, and link building—and work together to strengthen your online performance.
For instance, they perform thorough keyword research to reveal valuable search terms your competitors may have overlooked, ensuring you’re targeting the most effective opportunities.
Beyond keyword analysis, their technical team of experts resolves complex issues like crawl errors and page speed problems that might quietly hinder your site's success. Meanwhile, content strategists focus on optimizing your current assets and developing new content that aligns with high-impact keywords and user intent.
SEO agencies also ensure your strategy evolves with algorithm changes and trends. They also build high-quality backlinks and enhance mobile performance to maintain rankings and prevent penalties.
Utilizes Advanced Tools
Using an SEO audit agency offers significant benefits, particularly regarding advanced tools and technologies. These SEO professionals have access to and expertise in using sophisticated software that provides deep insights into your website's performance and areas for improvement.
Here are some examples of advanced tools used by SEO audit agencies and their specific applications:
- Screaming Frog: Used for comprehensive technical SEO audits. It identifies broken links, duplicate content, and missing meta tags. This tool is handy for large websites where manual checks would be impractical.
- Semrush: Runs over 120 checks. These include page speed, crawlability, backlinks, and security, for a holistic view of a site's SEO health.
- Ahrefs: Utilized for in-depth backlink analysis and competitor research. This helps agencies uncover high-quality link-building opportunities and assess the strength of a site's backlink profile.
- Google PageSpeed Insights: Gauges and optimizes a site's speed, providing recommendations to improve load times. It’s crucial for user experience and search rankings.
- Google Analytics: A powerful tool for tracking website performance, user behavior, and traffic sources. Agencies can analyze data and make informed decisions to improve SEO strategies and overall site effectiveness.
Navigates the Ever-Changing Landscape
An SEO audit agency offers invaluable benefits. These agencies navigate the ever-changing digital landscape with expertise and agility and adapt swiftly to the latest trends and algorithm changes, ensuring your SEO strategy remains effective. For example, when Google released its "Helpful Content Update," it quickly analyzed its impact and adjusted content strategies to focus on user intent and value. Similarly, during the "Mobilegeddon" update, agencies optimized websites for mobile responsiveness to maintain rankings.
SEO audit agencies prove their worth in specific situations. They conduct controlled experiments to validate assumptions about algorithm changes. For example, when a client's website experiences a sudden drop in rankings, the agency can perform A/B tests.
They make controlled adjustments to pinpoint the cause and implement corrective measures. Additionally, they use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google Search Console to monitor real-time website rankings and traffic fluctuations. These tools help them quickly identify and respond to algorithm updates.
Delivers Insightful Perspectives
An SEO audit agency can offer invaluable external perspectives on your website's performance. They provide objective assessments that internal teams may overlook, and they uncover hidden issues and opportunities.
For instance, they can analyze your content structure. This helps enhance user experience and engagement, allowing visitors to find what they need quickly and easily. In another scenario, an agency could discover untapped keyword opportunities. They can also benchmark your site against industry leaders to see gaps in your strategy. This external insight leads to more comprehensive and effective SEO strategies.
Their team of SEO professionals can identify patterns and trends across multiple clients in your industry. For example, they can highlight local SEO trends by showcasing competitors' successful optimization tactics in specific geographic areas.
Maximizes ROI
Partnering with an SEO audit agency can maximize return on investment (ROI) in several ways:
- Comprehensive Analyses: They conduct in-depth analyses of your website's performance, identifying technical issues, content gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
- Increased Organic Traffic: Agencies can boost organic search traffic by optimizing on-page elements, improving site structure, and building quality backlinks.
- Higher Conversion Rates: Increased visibility often leads to higher conversion rates and enhanced brand awareness.
- Resolution of Technical Problems: SEO audits help resolve technical issues hindering your site's performance, ensuring long-term success.
Advantages of Conducting SEO Audits In-House
Hiring an external SEO audit agency can yield valuable insights. However, conducting audits in-house also has numerous unique advantages:
Enhanced Control Over SEO Processes
Keeping the audit process internal lets companies in various industries tailor SEO to their broader business goals, such as increasing market share or expanding into new areas.
For example, if a company wants to capture more local markets, the in-house SEO team can optimize local search terms and enhance Google My Business listings. If the brand strategy focuses on thought leadership, the audit can prioritize industry-specific keywords and find opportunities for authoritative content.
In-house audits allow for faster changes and more frequent assessments. This way, businesses can adapt quickly to market trends or algorithm updates. Ultimately, these factors can lead to more targeted and effective optimization strategies.
In-Depth Brand Knowledge
Conducting SEO audits in-house provides the advantage of deep brand knowledge. Teams can tailor their efforts to align with core business values and optimize strategies based on the company’s goals and market focus. This approach ensures that SEO efforts are relevant and directly support the brand's objectives.
Leveraging this intimate understanding of the brand and target audience, in-house teams can align SEO strategies with broader business objectives, making them more impactful and effective in achieving desired outcomes.
Direct Access to Company-Specific Data
Conducting SEO audits in-house offers the advantage of leveraging company-specific data. With direct access to proprietary information, in-house teams gain deeper insights into website performance, user behavior, and conversion metrics. This enables them to quickly identify and resolve issues specific to their industry while integrating SEO findings with content marketing for a cohesive strategy. Real-time analysis allows immediate adjustments based on internal data, ensuring a tailored approach to digital marketing.
In contrast, external SEO audit agencies provide fresh perspectives and expertise, offering tools and experiences gained from diverse clients. However, they often rely on generalized data and industry benchmarks, which may only partially capture a company's unique online presence. Despite this, their broader perspective can uncover insights that in-house teams might miss, adding value to the overall SEO strategy.
Cost-Effectiveness of In-House Audits
In-house SEO audits can be more cost-effective than outsourcing, where companies can allocate their budget to other essential initiatives. By utilizing existing staff and resources, businesses can reduce costs for hiring external agencies or consultants.
The savings from in-house audits can be redirected to various initiatives, including:
- Technical Improvements: Upgrade website infrastructure or implement new SEO tools to improve performance.
- Link Building: Develop strategies to acquire valuable backlinks that boost authority and search visibility.
- Training and Development: Upskill the in-house team with advanced SEO techniques and tools to stay competitive and effective in their SEO responsibilities and roles.
Flexibility and Responsiveness
Conducting SEO audits in-house offers flexibility and quick responses. This adaptability can be helpful in fast-changing markets. For example, if demand for home fitness equipment suddenly rises due to a global health crisis, an in-house SEO team can quickly adjust keyword targets. They can also change content strategies to seize the moment.
Similarly, when a competitor launches a new product line, the internal team can swiftly analyze its impact on search rankings. They can then make necessary changes to maintain competitiveness.
Cost Considerations: Agency vs. In-House
Hiring an external SEO agency or building an in-house team is one of the biggest decisions businesses face when driving traffic and boosting their online presence. Each option has pros and cons, and the costs can vary significantly. So, how do you make the right choice?
Cost Comparison: External SEO Agencies vs. In-House Teams
Building an in-house SEO team involves significant upfront and ongoing costs, while external SEO agencies often provide a more cost-effective alternative. Below is a comparison of the costs and benefits of each approach.
While in-house SEO teams may suit larger organizations with extensive resources, external agencies offer a more scalable, flexible, and budget-friendly solution for small to medium-sized businesses.
The Long-Term Expenses of Building an In-House SEO Department
While hiring an in-house SEO team might initially seem cost-effective, it can become more expensive. Below are the long-term expenses and challenges of building an in-house SEO department.
- Ongoing Investments Beyond Salaries: Building an in-house SEO department involves significant ongoing investments beyond salaries, including employee benefits, training, and professional development.
- Continuous Skill Development: The SEO field evolves rapidly, requiring companies to invest in conferences, courses, and certifications to keep their in-house team's skills current.
- Employee Turnover Costs: Employee turnover leads to recurring recruitment and onboarding expenses, adding to the long-term costs of maintaining an in-house team.
- Scaling Challenges: As a company's SEO needs to grow, scaling an in-house team by hiring additional specialists can dramatically increase costs.
- Flexible Agency Pricing Models: In contrast, agencies offer flexible pricing models and adaptability, helping businesses optimize their SEO strategies without needing an in-house team.
Ultimately, while the idea of an in-house SEO team may seem appealing initially, the long-term costs often make partnering with an agency the more economical and efficient solution.
Choosing the Right Approach: How Business Size, Budget, and Goals Influence SEO Strategy
Consider the business size, budget, and goals for the most cost-effective SEO strategy. Larger companies often have more resources for comprehensive SEO campaigns. They may have in-house teams or partner with top agencies, including an SEO audit agency, so they can focus on keyword targeting, blog content creation, and technical optimizations.
Budget Considerations for SEO
Smaller businesses often focus on local SEO or niche markets to maximize their limited budgets. In this context, the budget allocated to SEO efforts is crucial. It directly impacts the scope and depth of the strategies implemented. For instance, higher budgets provide access to advanced tools, enable broader keyword targeting, and allow more frequent content updates.
The Risks of Cheap SEO Solutions
While it may seem counterintuitive, opting for cheaper SEO solutions or cutting corners can be more costly in the long run. Below are the risks of choosing low-quality SEO practices and why investing in quality SEO is essential.
- Search Engine Penalties: Low-quality SEO practices might lead to short-term gains, but they can also result in search engine penalties, which require expensive recovery efforts.
- Wasted Resources: Ineffective strategies can waste resources on tactics that don’t yield meaningful results, often necessitating repeated investments to correct course.
- Competitive Disadvantage: As search algorithms become more sophisticated, businesses focusing on high-quality, sustainable SEO practices risk falling behind competitors.
- Loss of Organic Traffic: The result of poor SEO practices? A loss of valuable organic traffic and potential customers.
- Higher Dependency on Paid Advertising:
Businesses may become increasingly reliant on paid advertising to maintain visibility. However, this often comes at a higher acquisition cost than well-executed organic SEO strategies.
Working with a reputable SEO audit agency can help identify weaknesses in your current strategy, ensuring that you invest your resources wisely. Investing in quality SEO is essential for long-term success and growth.
Key Takeaway
Deciding between an in-house SEO audit or hiring an agency can take time and effort. Agencies offer specialized expertise, keeping up with the latest trends and best practices. They bring experience handling various technical issues, often with cost-prohibitive tools for individual businesses. Ultimately, hiring an agency means accessing collective knowledge and fresh strategies for your SEO.
However, the value of an in-house SEO team should be noticed. They bring deep brand knowledge, aligning strategies closely with business goals while fostering cross-department collaboration. Their agility allows for quick responses, which can be ideal for some companies. For others, an agency's specialized expertise might be more beneficial. A hybrid approach often strikes the perfect balance, combining both strengths.
Are you looking for an SEO audit agency? tiny lever is an SEO marketing agency that provides comprehensive SEO audits that dig deep into your website’s performance to uncover missed opportunities. We also offer expert SEO content writing to attract the right audience and drive traffic that converts. Contact us via david@tinylevermarketing.com or fill out this form to elevate your digital presence.
