Hiring an SEO Agency vs. In-house 2025

Do I need an SEO agency?
Every marketing manager, business owner, and boardroom has this conversation around budget planning time.
As an agency owner, it would be easy for me to be biased and suggest hiring an agency. However, every business is different, and several factors must be considered before deciding.
One thing I am biased about, though, is the need for SEO as part of your marketing strategy. We see firsthand the revenue SEO brings to brands every day, and it’s one of the highest ROI activities you can invest in long-term, especially when compared to other channels like Paid.
Another factor is that if you’re not investing in SEO, your competitors likely are. The longer you aren’t actively working on SEO for your brand, the more ground your competitors will gain, taking top positions in search results and generating more revenue.
In this post, I’ve outlined key observations I’ve made while pitching over £3 million worth of projects in the last year.
Agency Pros and Cons
Here’s a list of the pros and cons of hiring an agency (starting with the cons to avoid bias).
Cons
Quality Concerns
“If an agency hasn’t burned you, you haven’t been in the game long enough.”
I’ll never forget this quote from a prospect discussing SEO agencies.
There are many “cowboy” SEOs out there due to the low barrier of entry, and I’ve heard enough horror stories to understand why people hesitate to commit to long-term contracts with suppliers offering SEO services.
My recommendation for businesses starting with an agency is to begin small—test their quality with a project like an audit, keyword research, or something similar to see how they work. From there, you can negotiate and plan a longer-term agreement.
Short vs. Long-term Cost
Agencies typically have a higher initial cost compared to hiring in-house.
However, hiring a “jack-of-all-trades” marketer to handle all marketing in-house can be inefficient and lack the deep subject knowledge required for SEO.
SEO is highly nuanced, and there is a lot of misinformation online. If you’re considering someone for this role in-house, it’s crucial to hire a specialist rather than a generalist. Otherwise, you risk penalties or slower growth.
Revolving Teams
Many agencies experience high employee turnover, which can lead to breakdowns in communication, project quality, or even staff quality (e.g., swapping an exec with 5 years of experience for one with only 6 months).
When speaking with your agency, ask who will lead your project, how long they’ve been with the company, and try to speak with them directly to ensure they are a good fit. You can also check websites like Glassdoor for any red flags about staff retention.
Communication Challenges
Time zones, different communication tools (Slack, Teams, etc.), or slow response times are common challenges when working with agencies.
This is different from in-house, where you can easily contact someone during the working day. When hiring an agency, it’s essential to clearly define communication expectations and response times to ensure you understand the level of service being provided.
Pros
Access to Specialists, Not Generalists
SEO involves many elements, each requiring deep expertise, such as technical SEO, content optimization, link-building, and digital PR.
When hiring an agency, you gain access to a team of experts who specialize in each of these areas, which often results in higher-quality work than relying on a generalist.
Hiring for each of these specializations in-house would be far more expensive than working with an agency. The decision comes down to whether you’re comfortable with a generalist for a lower cost or would prefer experts.
Protection Against Economic Uncertainty
Hiring in-house comes with fixed costs, HR responsibilities, and additional overheads. These can add stress for business owners already facing daily uncertainties.
More regular legislative updates, like the UK’s 2025 Employee Rights Bill, although beneficial for employees, add extra pressure on businesses.
Agency contracts, on the other hand, can be flexible, meaning if you need to cut costs quickly, you can do so without impacting your employees or overheads.
Hidden Costs of Hiring In-house
In-house SEO staff come with baseline salaries, but also additional costs such as:
- Office equipment
- Tech stacks
- Holiday pay and benefits
- Expenses for growing the team, freelancers, or consultants for support
- Hiring more staff as the workload increases
It’s important to factor in these hidden costs when doing your calculations.
Short-term Projects
Although SEO is an ongoing process, there are times when short-term projects are needed to complement your in-house efforts.
These might include:
- Regular audits
- Keyword research
- Content plans
- Digital PR/link-building campaigns
Working with an agency for these short-term projects is a great option, allowing you to “stop and start” without the need to hire additional in-house staff.
Access to Tools and Processes
At Minty, we spend over £40k annually on software, tools, and training to ensure our team is at the top of their game. We also continually refine our processes to deliver services efficiently.
By hiring an agency, you can access these tools and processes without bearing the costs yourself.
So, do I need an agency?
As SEOs often say, “it depends!”
Several factors need to be considered when deciding whether or not to hire an agency for your business. If you decide to hire one, make sure you check:
- Case studies are up-to-date
- Testimonials are real
- They have relevant experience within your industry
- Who will be working on your account
- A clear roadmap of services is provided
Google also provides a helpful guide that can assist in determining whether you need an SEO, which can support your decision-making process.
We hope you found this post useful. If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email or connect on LinkedIn.