There are different types of SEO businesses that can help you get more customers from Google depending on your needs as a business owner or company director/manager.
If you want complete control over your company’s SEO strategy consider building an in-house team but be aware this option requires more time and money than other options.
Hiring a small agency specialising in SEO can be advantageous because they have multiple people working on projects which allows for greater attention to detail.
However if you’re looking for an experienced team that can handle any type of project then hiring a large SEO agency might be the best decision, if you have the budget.
Ultimately the decision comes down to what’s best for your business given available resources and desired level of control.
But what kind of SEO business should you hire to help you achieve your SEO and company goals?
There are different types of SEO businesses, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
Here are 6 of the most common types of businesses that can help with SEO to get more customers from Google:
1. The SEO Freelancer
The freelancer is the lone wolf of the SEO world.
He or she is typically a one-person operation and often works remotely.
The price of an SEO freelancer is normally more affordable than other options. But while this can be a cost-effective option, it also has its drawbacks.
Because the freelancer is usually working alone, he or she may not have the same knowledge or resources as a larger SEO agency.
Additionally, because the freelancer is usually only working on one project at a time, he or she may not be able to give your project the attention it deserves.
You could be paying for a months SEO service, while they put most of their time into another client.
But there are many decent hard working SEO freelancers around, so they key is to make sure they’re doing the right type of SEO work each month, and enough of it.
2. SEO Consultants – are they different to SEO freelancers/specialists?
You have SEO freelancers who are also called SEO specialists, who usually do the actual hands-on SEO work on a monthly basis.
You then have SEO consultants who are focused more on helping you get the best from your SEO efforts, including strategy, measuring ROI.
Some SEO consultants may also do hands-on work, but they’re not independent/impartial consultants as they will tell you all the things that need fixing, and saying “I can fix it all for you, just pay me”.
I’ve seen that backfire before. A food PR company that I know hired an SEO specialist who charged £1000 to tell Google to remove lots of spammy links pointing to their site – this is called disavowing.
The trouble is that Google already ignore these links, and so they paid £1000 for nothing. The SEO specialist made his recommendation, they trusted him. The problem is he probably wasn’t malicious, but didn’t take enough care with his recommendations. It usually pays to get an impartial SEO consultant on board who doesn’t then try to sell you the solution to the exact SEO solution they just mentioned.
There are lots of different signals that affect your search rankings, but links from other websites are a major signal for Google.
A few years on from that story, using industry leading SEO tools, the estimates show that the Food PR company hasn’t made many improvements in their levels of Google organic traffic.
With an impartial SEO consultant, they won’t sell you the monthly hands-on SEO services, but they will be at your side, helping you whenever you need impartial SEO advice.
3. The Web/Digital Marketing Company/Agency
The focus of many web/digital marketing agencies is to build websites, and they build websites that should be optimised for the search engines.
If you search for an SEO company locally on Google, you’ll usually find that many web agencies who show in the search results, will have an SEO service page, but they may not be specialists in SEO.
if you visit the service section on the website of web/digital marketing agencies, you’ll often see see a long list of services, such as SEO, Web Design, PPC, Social Media, Branding, Content Marketing, Email Marketing etc. That’s a lot of knowledge to stay up to date with.
The focus of the web agency is often building and enhancing websites. They can still help you with SEO, but you will really need to dig deep to uncover how competent at SEO they are.
Of course, SEO takes place on websites, so there’s huge overlap, but there is a lot of SEO knowledge that many website designers/developers don’t have.
So if you want to make specific headway with your SEO efforts, it may be worth finding an SEO specialist/agency, rather than the web agencies that Google seems to send you toward.
That being said, I’m sure that if you do your research, you will find some web agencies who can definitely help you with SEO, but if they have employees who are true SEO specialists/experts, they will likely be a larger web agency.
Quite rightly, many web agencies focus on providing solid websites with SEO in mind, but if they focus on being SEO specialists too, they could spread themselves too thin.
So why do almost all web agencies say they do SEO? Because they do to a point. They know their clients need websites that have a strong foundation to do well in Google.
But if you’re serious about SEO, a specialist SEO freelancer or agency could be the way to go.
4. The Small SEO Agency
The small SEO agency is similar to the freelancer in that it’s usually a smaller operation with fewer resources than a larger agency.
However, because the small agency employs multiple people, it has some advantages over the freelancer.
For one, because the small agency has several employees, there is likely someone who specialises in each area of SEO (e.g., link building, keyword research, etc.).
Additionally, because the small agency has multiple clients, it may have more experience dealing with different industries and business types.
5. The Large SEO Agency
The large agency is just what it sounds like—a big operation with lots of employees and resources.
Because they have so many employees, they are able to specialise successfully in different areas of SEO and they likely have experience working with all sorts of businesses in different industries.
However, because they are so big, they may not be able to give your project the personal attention you desire.
Additionally, because they work with so many clients, they may have difficulty keeping up with industry changes and trends, or at least, dripping that knowledge down to everyone within the company.
6. The In-House SEO Team
The in-house SEO team refers to an internal team of employees that handles all aspects of your company’s SEO (as opposed to outsourcing to an external company).
While this option gives you more control over your company’s SEO strategy, it also requires more resources (e.g., time, money, etc.).
Additionally, unless someone on your team has extensive experience with SEO (which is unlikely), chances are your team will need outside help at some point to ensure that your website is optimised correctly for Google search.
It’s also challenging to lose your SEO specialists, and have to retrain another in what is a fast moving area of marketing.
But hiring inhouse will give you the control that you need to make sure the content is getting done.
Conclusion
The 6 most common types of SEO businesses are:
- SEO freelancer/specialist
- SEO Consultant
- Web/Digital Marketing Company
- Small SEO agency
- Large SEO agency
- In-house SEO team
There are different types of SEO businesses that can help you get more customers from Google depending on your needs as a business owner or company director/manager.
If you want complete control over your company’s SEO strategy consider building an in-house team but be aware this option requires more time and money than other options.
Hiring a small agency specialising in SEO can be advantageous because they have multiple people working on projects which allows for greater attention to detail. However if you’re looking for an experienced team that can handle any type of project then hiring a large SEO agency might be the best decision, if you have the budget.
To get impartial advice, an independent SEO consultant can hold your hand to help you make the right decisions.