The comparison of SEO Freelancer vs SEO agency depends on your budget and comfort zone. Either you hire a freelance SEO expert or a well reputed SEO agency both are going to do almost same job.
So, the important thing is which party is more dedicated, comfortable and have ability to produce results for your website. Both have their own plus points as well as minus points, which are described in this article.
SEO Freelancer vs SEO Agency
This can be explained in a way like if you need a medical treatment will you visit a private practitioner or a hospital. A private practitioner is similar to a SEO freelancer who have his/her personal experience and can offer you dedicated time. Whereas a hospital is similar to a SEO agency which have their own setup of medical tests, laboratory etc.
This article is specifically for small business’s needs. So the following comparison is specifically for the understanding of small business owners.
SEO Agencies Pros
- Team Work
SEO agency means there is a team behind this agency that runs it. The team’s strength depends on the SEO agency size, expertise and experience in the market. Companies normally hire SEO experts which are qualified, experienced and suitable for their positions. SEO agencies also offer regular training for their staff to stay updated and compete in market. - Strategy and Process
Good SEO agencies have everything in place. They have proper team managers, dedicated staff, content writers, designers and developers. Every SEO project goes through a regular process. They have experts to keep an eye on their client’s website progress and strategy. This strategy can be evaluated, improved or can be modified as per the market trends. - Trustworthy
If you are very sensitive about your website, then you must choose SEO agency. As they are registered entities with your government and can be held accountable by country law. There are some kind of companies which cannot share their company website details without proper documentation, so SEO agency is an answer for you.
SEO Agencies Cons
- Cost
Well, this is natural. Agencies have to pay high expenses of office rents, SEO expert salaries, taxes and other departmental costs. All this goes on clients head and that is why their costs are mostly higher then freelancers. - Contracts
As I mentioned earlier in SEO agency pros that they are trustworthy. So, they try to keep themselves away from all type of threats from clients. Agency lawyers make sure that their clients cannot take them to law suits. This results in creating heavy contracts and most of the SEO agencies try to bound clients with at least one year contract. - Careless
Do not take me wrong here. I do not say that all SEO agencies are careless. But I found many SEO agencies who have over burden on them. They try to compete in market with lower rates and take more projects than they can handle. I personally know an SEO expert who started job in an SEO agency and company asked him to handle 30 projects by his own. Now definitely, how can he manage all these projects well?
Second complain which I often get from clients is that companies does not response properly especially to low budget clients. They send them some lengthy reports by the end of the month which are very complicated to understand. Companies handle hundreds of projects at the same time and they do not bother if few clients leave them every month.
SEO Freelancers Pros
- Affordable
SEO freelancers are usually working from their home or they are digital nomads. They do not have overheads like the agencies have. SEO freelancers have less financial burden so as a result it impact on the bills of clients. - Flexible
Compare to agencies, mostly freelancers are very much flexible. Agencies do not want to go out of their contracts whereas freelancers love to help their customers (But not all). They are more flexible with timings as well. Freelancers mostly like to take challenges as compare to agencies. They love to work on new and creative ideas. - Dedicated
When it comes to dedication, freelancers seems to be more dedicated to their work. Mostly SEO freelancers focus on building their reputation and improve their skill sets. They tend to be more focused on your projects.
Another reason for their dedication is to have less clients. They work with limited clients and wish to keep limited clients. Suppose if a SEO freelancer is working on 10 projects in a month and if he/she lost few in a month than it can be a very big deal for him/her.
SEO Freelancers Cons
- Solo Players
One of the challenge freelancers face is that they are solo players. It could be a plus point in some cases but mostly it’s not. SEO is a combination of good writers, designers, developers and SEO expert skills. You may find some SEO freelancers who does not know that how to handle your website CRM, etc. Ask first. - Digging Challenge
Finding the right SEO freelancer could be a challenge though. Because, there are a lot of websites which offer freelancers and there you see a big list of SEO freelancers. So, most of the time it becomes really exhausting challenge. As SEO is one of the most important part of any digital marketing campaign, it cannot be handled by just any one. - Skill Sets
Some freelancers provide only consultancy and you need to find execution team by yourself. Many work only on onsite and you need to find offsite SEO experts by your own.
Tip: Assign your project to a SEO expert who takes full responsibility, it will save you from many issues.
It was a comparison of SEO freelancer vs SEO agency. Now the choice is yours. Either you hire agency or freelancer.
Combo of SEO freelancer & SEO agency
After spending more than a decade in digital world, I decided to work as a full time SEO freelancer. During this time, I have arranged a team of best designers, developers, content writers and SEO experts.
I tried to cover the pros of both freelancers and agencies. My SEO packages are affordable and being managed and tested by best experts. This creative methodology have decreased the cons of both parties. In this way all of us (freelancers and clients) have a winning situation.
You may whatsapp me at +1 631 515 4818 or check out my services here.
Conclusion
- You need to find that who seems more interested in your project
- Your SEO budget matters a lot here
- Both have pros and cons, check which one suites you well.
Please feel free to let me know in comments if I have missed any of the pros or cons of SEO Freelancer vs SEO Agency. I would love to add them as well.