SEO Consultant Versus SEO Agency which to hire?

We all know SEO is an important consideration when running a website, be it a blog or business. It is essential to invest the time into generating traffic for your site for reach, audience, and revenue.

You've worked hard to optimize your site; you've read and researched all you can regarding SEO and applied it to your work. But let's consider what happens when you just aren't getting the results for your input. You can double down on your efforts, sure, but there are other options to consider.

It may be time to contemplate hiring an SEO expert. But who do you choose? With so many options out there, it can appear daunting. The last thing you want to do is invest your hard-earned money in a service that doesn't yield results.

Today we are going to look at the differences between two primary SEO Specialist options - the agency vs. consultant. We will look at what they are in some detail, then compare the two and point out why we consider the consultant as the best choice in the final analysis.

SEO Agencies - what are they?

As an SEO professional, an agency's primary job is to yield the best search results for your site.

Typically, you employ an SEO agency for a project - for example, setting up a new web site, or performing an audit on an existing website's SEO.

Let's look at what an agency might provide and why they might not be the best choice for you:

Company Footprint - good or bad?

As a company of specialist staff, an agency will provide a certain amount of reputation and networks you may be able to tap into for your own purposes. Still, their size may make them less agile and less responsive to your personal needs.

Having said that, a good consultant will have the networks and reputation to mitigate this point of comparison between the two.

Specialization

An agency may provide a range of staff, but this tends to make them more expensive. It may also mean repeating yourself to several different staff, which can be frustrating and time-wasting.

On the flip side, an SEO Conjurer is one point of contact for you, and any consultant worth their salt will have a range of specialized skills, plus a variety of industry network and connections to tap into.

SEO Requires ongoing work, not a single project

Once an agency completes a project and the contract is ended, that is typically it. However, SEO content requires an ongoing commitment and effort to maintain, so you would have to engage an agency multiple times to yield consistent results, which is costly and inefficient.

Bad Agency, Bad Project

If you're not happy with your results, you're locked into a paid-for project, which is not great for you, for obvious reasons. You may have to ride out the project or chalk the lost investment down to learning a valuable lesson.

Higher Cost than Consultant

As an agency that hires many staff, the cost will typically be higher for you. You may also be paying for resources that you do not even require from the agency.

SEO Consultant - what do they do?

Just like the agency, a consultant is an SEO professional and provides you with insight into getting the most for your site's SEO. The big difference is that a consultant is a single contractor, as opposed to the multiple-staffed agency, so you have one relationship and a convenient point of contact.

You'll mostly engage a consultant as an ongoing concern - you'll have a continuing dialogue and relationship with a consultant, potentially over several projects. This intimacy means a contractor will get to know your business in a way an agency cannot.

Let's take a look at the many benefits of retaining a consultant:

One point of contact - and a meaningful relationship

Engaging a consultant means you'll have a single professional: this equates to more 1-1 time and less confusion across multiple channels. They will be up to speed on your conversations as they'll have been there for all of them!

More personalized and more customized service

A consultant enables you to build a stronger relationship and dialogue to get more individualized, specific service. This seems to be a significant point of feedback from those who used consultants and agencies for their website.

Ongoing dialogue and coaching

Consultants typically provide a more ongoing type of service, rather than a project-by-project basis. They will inform and guide you so you can learn for future projects that require SEO skills.

Attention to Detail

The more personal nature of the consultant suggests they have more time to immerse themselves in your business and understand your needs more.

More cost-effective

Paying for one consultant as an ongoing SEO expert means that they know your business and your needs over the long-term. This longer-term prospect spreads out

your cost, but also saves having to reexplain your business every time you employ a new SEO agency for each project.

Consultant vs. Agency - We say choose the Consultant

So, which one do you choose?

The answer?- We think, in the final analysis, the consultant provides all the benefits of an agency and then more.

The significant perceived advantages of an agency - footprint and multiple skills - are mitigated by a good-quality consultant. The consultant will have the networks in place and the skills to do all the jobs an agency can do.

On top of this, they are more cost-effective, agile, and take the time to know your business in a way an unwieldy company never can.

Final Thoughts

It is never bad to have options, but we suggest you go for the consultant in the end.

But do your homework - not all consultants are created equal. Know the consultant you're engaging with and know that a good one will retain all the benefits of an agency - they are just more agile, cost-effective, and more aligned to listening to your specific needs.