Should you hire an SEO agency, a freelancer, or do SEO yourself? A small local business can usually handle much of its SEO itself, as Google’s own guidance notes. A freelancer suits a limited budget and a clear, narrow scope. A specialist SEO agency suits businesses that need several skills at once, and an in-house specialist suits companies where organic search is a core revenue channel.
Key Takeaways
- There are five practical routes: extend your marketing agency, hire a freelancer, hire a specialist SEO agency, hire in-house, or train existing staff.
- Google says a small local business can probably do much of its SEO work itself, starting with Google’s free SEO Starter Guide.
- In Ahrefs’ survey of 439 SEO providers, the average monthly spend was $2,917 and the average hourly rate was $111.
- No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google; treat any provider who promises one with suspicion.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential part of a good marketing strategy. To not be entirely dependent on advertising and to have the right marketing mix, SEO is essential for every company.
Businesses usually choose between three broad routes for SEO: an agency (a full-service marketing agency or a specialist SEO agency), a freelancer, or doing it in-house (hiring a specialist or training existing staff). This guide breaks those routes into five scenarios and lists the pros and cons of each.
Scenario 1: Add SEO to your current full-service marketing agency
Are you already working with a full-service online marketing agency, for example, for Google Ads or social media advertising? Then you can consider expanding the activities there. Another option is to reduce the advertising budgets so that the marketing agency can free up hours for SEO work.
Benefits
- You already know the marketing agency and how reliable it is. You don’t have to build a new relationship with other marketers or SEO specialists, and you don’t have to get used to a different way of working.
- The marketing agency is familiar with your company. This way, they know what works well and what doesn’t work for your target group. That saves time: Google Ads data can, for example, be used for your SEO strategy.
- All work under one roof is often straightforward. You probably have a permanent contact person at the marketing agency, so you do not have to communicate with multiple parties and marketers.
Cons
SEO is often not the main focus of a marketing agency. Many marketing agencies concentrate on paid online advertising, for understandable reasons:
- Online advertising sells quickly.
- You achieve ROI faster.
- For SEO, you need more patience.
Many marketing agencies have expanded their advertising services with SEO or other specialist SEO Services. The drawback is that even medium-sized and large marketing agencies may employ only a handful of dedicated SEO specialists.
- Moreover, knowledge is often not available in all SEO areas (technology, content, authority). Small agencies usually do not employ SEO specialists, so the work is carried out by an “online marketer”. You probably already feel it coming: you won’t get the best results like that.
- At many full SEO Services marketing agencies, the SEO work is carried out by juniors or interns, so you miss professionals’ necessary knowledge and attention.
- SEO specialists at a broad agency often have a large number of clients they work for. Because of this, they cannot give you all the attention you need. It is because online marketing agencies often only employ one or a few SEO specialists.
- SEO is a separate discipline from online advertising, and SEO expertise at a general agency is not always “the best of the best”. As a result, you may not get the best advice, and the best optimizations are not implemented, which is a missed opportunity.
- Some online marketing agencies treat SEO as a side service, putting it “on the side” because they want to maximize their sales and not risk losing customers. As a result, you do not benefit from the optimal knowledge and expertise you need to achieve excellent SEO results.
Scenario 2: Hire a freelance SEO specialist
Another option is to hire a freelance SEO specialist. Various agreements can be made with an SEO freelancer. For example, the specialist can work remotely, at your office or a combination of both. Most freelance SEO specialists have years of experience and have often worked as an SEO specialist at a marketing agency.
Benefits
- With an SEO freelancer, you always know who will work for you and with whom you work. It is easy to see how many years of experience the freelancer has, which references they have, and how SEO aspects excel.
- An SEO freelancer’s knowledge level is often high, partly because they often have years of experience.
- A freelancer will always feel pressure to deliver quality. After all, if you are not satisfied, they will lose an important client, while they often depend on a few clients.
- Hiring an SEO freelancer is often cheaper than hiring a marketing agency or an SEO agency. Rates of €75 to €150 per hour were cited when this article first appeared (unverified); in Ahrefs’ survey, $75–$100 per hour was the most common rate.
Cons
- Finding the right SEO freelancer can be very difficult. Good SEO freelancers are scarce because they have often already reached their maximum in terms of clients.
- Within the field of search engine optimization, you have various activities and areas of knowledge. It is tough to find a freelancer who has knowledge in all fields or performs all activities. For example, many freelancers have difficulty performing link building or lack extensive knowledge of technical SEO.
- Over the long run, a freelancer who works many hours a month can cost more than an in-house hire doing the same volume of work.
- You depend on one person. Is the freelancer sick or on vacation? Then your SEO will not be worked on.
Scenario 3: Hire a specialized SEO agency
If you don’t want to build an internal SEO team but need broad SEO knowledge quickly, a specialized SEO agency is often the best fit.
A specialized SEO agency knows all areas to help you to the next step. You can outsource all the SEO work to an external agency, although no agency can guarantee rankings; Google’s own guidance says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.
Benefits
- You will have access to an experienced and multi-disciplinary team of SEO strategists, consultants, technical SEO specialists, link builders, copywriters and data analysts. Setting up such an SEO team yourself takes a long time and is often too expensive.
- You don’t have to go to the trouble of finding specialists in all SEO areas, which is very difficult. There are simply few excellent SEO specialists to be found.
- Specialized SEO agencies work for a variety of companies. All knowledge that is gained can be applied for your website, webshop or platform.
- A specialized SEO agency is well informed about the latest algorithm updates, SEO developments, the best tools and the best working techniques. It allows you to work with the best people out there and to achieve better results faster.
- An agency often has licenses for the best SEO tools in the world. The costs of this can be too high for a freelancer or own team. SEO agencies can spread these costs over multiple clients, allowing you to take advantage of these tools’ various benefits.
Cons
- The costs of hiring an SEO agency are often high. That’s because SEO requires a lot of attention, time and knowledge. SEO is not something you can do quickly in between. Proposals of €2,500 to €25,000 per month and hourly rates of €100 to €185 were cited when this article first appeared (unverified); Ahrefs’ survey found agencies charge 138% more than freelancers.
- As a relatively small customer, there is a chance that you will be assigned a junior or even an intern for your work at various SEO agencies. Of course, there is nothing wrong with that, because you have to start somewhere. But this means that there is a chance that your SEO process will not receive the attention of the experienced specialists, while it is necessary.
- You will not always learn everything about SEO yourself. After all, the SEO specialists work at the agency and not with you as a customer.
Scenario 4: Hire an in-house SEO specialist
You can also choose to carry out all the SEO work in-house. It is often the best choice when SEO is crucial for your company or when your marketing team is so large that an extra FTE is not a problem.
Just keep in mind that you’ll need to go through a learning curve and hire specialists in all areas of SEO. It takes more time than you expect in advance.
Benefits
- Your employees know your company better than external parties. To achieve optimal results, you must optimize your website to benefit the visitors. The better someone knows your customers, the better the SEO result will be.
- When you have one or more SEO specialists around, you can easily switch. The specialist is part of your company, and you don’t have to wait until an appointment is made with an agency or freelancer.
- You have no delay in communication, something you often do with external parties. If you need something, you can immediately turn to the SEO specialist or the SEO team.
- Most of the knowledge obtained is safeguarded within your organization.
Cons
- Finding experienced SEO specialists is very difficult. Many companies have vacancies open for a long time. Few SEO specialists are looking for a new position, and SEO specialists are in high demand. So you have to be patient to find the right specialist.
- Hiring an SEO specialist can be very expensive. A senior SEO specialist may cost €4,000 or more per month in gross salary (an unverified estimate; salaries vary widely by country). On top of this are all insurance, social security contributions, workplace costs, pension premiums, vacation days, vacation pay, licenses, costs for training, et cetera.
- A freelancer or an agency often has a wealth of tools with which significant efficiency benefits can be achieved. As a result, a freelancer or agency does not need as many hours as an internal SEO specialist.
- When someone works internally, they will often be less aware of all new developments. If the specialist has just come from an agency, that will not be a problem, but there is a chance that the knowledge will lag when you are several years later.
- Few SEO specialists master all facets well, just like with freelancers. That does not have to be a problem, but for many companies, this means that you immediately have to build a team with multiple SEO specialists.
- It’s not easy to get rid of employees if they don’t perform as expected. Often you will not find out immediately, because SEO takes time. If you discover after a while that the SEO specialist is not performing, ending an employment contract can be slow and depends on local employment law. Contracts with freelancers or agencies are usually easier to end.
Scenario 5: Train SEO specialists yourself
When it is difficult to find SEO specialists, you can train people yourself. You have several options for training SEO specialists: online SEO courses, meetups, events, workshops, external coaching, guest speakers or an in-house training program.
Benefits
- If you already have someone in mind internally, you don’t have to hire new people. This saves a lot of time in the search for a (potential) SEO specialist.
- By training people internally you give your current employees the opportunity to develop further.
- You can choose in which areas you want to train someone and which courses, education or training you will use for this.
- The acquired knowledge remains within your company.
Cons
- It takes a long time to train someone properly. Before you have trained an SEO specialist who has knowledge of various facets (keyword research, strategy, data analysis, technical analysis, copywriting, link building, etc.), it can easily take two years or more.
- When you let someone follow a training or course you only learn the basics. Learning SEO is primarily a matter of spending many ‘flying hours’.
- Because you have to gain a lot of experience, it takes a lot of time before you master everything properly. In addition, there is a high chance that someone who is being trained will make a number of mistakes, which will have an impact on the result. It is important to take this into account.
How your current SEO maturity shapes the choice
For the best choice, it is essential to determine how you are doing with search engine optimization. Are you just starting to perform search engine optimization? Then it is essential to map out your strengths and weaknesses.
Questions to ask before choosing an SEO option
What does your business look like for SEO? What can you invest in SEO, and what should be the return on it? Keep in mind that the return on SEO takes time: many practitioners plan for 6 to 12 months, and Google says some changes take effect in a few hours while others can take several months. What is the current internal SEO knowledge like? What knowledge is not available? And which knowledge gives you a significant boost?
So what’s best for you?
We hope you have a better idea of the options you have for getting more out of search engine optimization. The comparison table and checklist below summarize the trade-offs. If you have questions about this guide, feel free to contact us. We are happy to help you.
SEO Agency vs Freelancer vs In-House vs DIY: Comparison Table
| Option | Best for | Main strength | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing marketing agency | Businesses already running ads with one agency | One contact, shared data from paid campaigns | SEO may be a side service handled by generalists |
| Freelance SEO specialist | Small and mid-sized sites with a defined scope | Direct access to one experienced person | Single point of failure; rarely covers every SEO area |
| Specialist SEO agency | Sites needing technical, content and link work together | Multi-disciplinary team and paid tools | Highest monthly cost; small clients may get junior staff |
| In-house SEO hire | Companies where organic search is a core channel | Deep product knowledge, fast communication | Salary, benefits and tools; hard to hire |
| Train existing staff / DIY | Small local businesses and tight budgets | Lowest cash cost, knowledge stays in-house | Slow learning curve and early mistakes |
How Much Does SEO Cost?
SEO pricing varies widely by country, provider type and scope. According to Ahrefs’ SEO pricing study, based on a poll of 439 SEO service providers (page last updated August 2024, the newest edition available as of October 2026):
- The average spend was $2,917 per month, and local SEO averaged $1,557 per month.
- The average hourly rate was $111, and $75–$100 per hour was the most common bracket.
- Agencies charged 138% more than freelancers, and providers with two or more years of experience charged 33% more.
These are survey averages, not quotes; ask for a written scope. For a budget-first approach, see small business SEO on a shoestring budget.
How to Vet an SEO Agency or Freelancer
Google’s guidance on hiring an SEO suggests interviewing candidates with questions such as:
- Can you show examples of previous work and success stories?
- Do you follow Google Search Essentials?
- What results do you expect, and in what timeframe? How do you measure success?
- Will you share every change you make to my site and explain the reasoning?
Google also lists warning signs: guaranteed rankings, a claimed “special relationship” with Google, “priority submit” offers, secrecy about methods, link schemes, and unsolicited emails offering SEO. Google adds that site owners are responsible for the actions of any company they hire. More tips are in this guide to finding the right SEO services company and the article Should You Outsource Your SEO?
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I do SEO myself?
Yes, for many small sites. Google says a small local business can probably do much of its SEO work itself and recommends its free SEO Starter Guide as the starting point. This overview of how anyone can do SEO covers the first steps.
How much does an SEO freelancer charge per hour?
In Ahrefs’ survey of 439 SEO providers, $75–$100 per hour was the most common rate and the average hourly rate across all providers was $111. Rates vary by country and experience.
How long does SEO take to show results?
Google says some changes take effect within a few hours while others take several months, and suggests waiting a few weeks before assessing a change. Larger SEO programs are often planned over 6 to 12 months.
Can an SEO agency guarantee first place on Google?
No. Google states that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google and advises avoiding SEOs who promise one.
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