Many businesses have begun to recognize the crucial role that link building plays in SEO and are allocating significant budgets toward it. Picture a startup founder, standing at a crossroads: should they assemble an in-house link building team or outsource to a specialized link building agency known for their impressive track record?
To make it easier for you to decide, we have gathered insights from 19 thought leaders who share their perspectives on the most important factors to consider when choosing between an agency and an in-house team for SEO and link-building.
Their advice can help you make an informed choice tailored to your organization’s unique needs.
Here is what 19 thought leaders have to say.
- Assess Agency’s Compatibility with Existing Strategy
- Outsource for Expertise and Strategic Focus
- Consider Bandwidth and Internal Capacity
- Evaluate Goals for SEO and Link-Building
- Weigh Specialized Expertise Against In-House Control
- Check Agency’s Industry-Specific Experience
- Ensure Longevity of Link Placements
- Prioritize Direct Oversight and Control
- Assess Agency’s Know-How and Success
- Access Specialized Knowledge and Tools
- Balance Expertise and Long-Term Consistency
- Align Agency with Brand’s Vision and Goals
- Fill Identified Skill Gaps with External Help
- Seek Expertise Beyond Internal Team’s Capabilities
- Identify Unique Skills and Connections Needed
- Evaluate Expertise, Scalability, and Focus
- Compare ROI of In-House vs. Outsourcing
- Prioritize Specialized Innovation and Advancement
- Align Decision with Long-Term Goals and Strategy
Assess Agency’s Compatibility with Existing Strategy
It really comes down to how well an outside agency can work with what we already have. Our in-house team knows our brand inside and out, so they’re good at making quick adjustments when things change. However, an outside agency can bring skills we might not have, like building high-quality links or finding new ways to improve our website’s ranking. The trick is finding a team that can add their ideas without clashing with what we already do. If they can do that and bring a fresh perspective, then working with them can be worth it.
Shane McEvoy, MD, Flycast Media
Outsource for Expertise and Strategic Focus
We’re constantly evaluating how to best utilize our resources. When it comes to SEO and link building, the decision to outsource versus keeping it in-house boils down to two key factors: specialized expertise and strategic focus.
SEO is a complex and ever-evolving field. Sometimes, it makes more sense to partner with an agency that possesses deep expertise and a dedicated team of specialists. They live and breathe SEO, staying ahead of the latest algorithm updates and industry best practices. This allows us to tap into a level of knowledge and experience that might not be readily available in-house.
Equally important is the ability to maintain strategic focus. By outsourcing SEO and link building, we free up our internal team to concentrate on our core competencies—developing innovative products, providing exceptional customer service, and driving business growth. It’s about playing to our strengths and recognizing when specialized external support can help us achieve our goals more effectively. Ultimately, the decision to outsource or keep SEO in-house is a strategic one, driven by the unique needs and priorities of each business.
Michael Gargiulo, Founder, CEO, VPN.com
Consider Bandwidth and Internal Capacity
I routinely talk with potential clients about the strategic choice to outsource SEO instead of creating an internal team. Being the CEO of an SEO firm, I understand that the “correct” response really relies on the particular requirements and objectives of a business. But there’s a notable change I’m seeing: even businesses with strong internal marketing teams are looking more and more toward specialized agencies. Search engine optimization is now much more than simply keywords and backlinks. To keep ahead of algorithm upgrades and competitive demands, this complicated, always-changing field calls for specialized tools, ongoing training, and committed resources.
For instance, we just teamed up with a finance firm with an internal content marketing staff. Though they were producing excellent content, organic traffic was not being generated. We improved their content strategy, performed an extensive site analysis, and brought in our knowledge of technical SEO. The outcome was a considerable increase in search ranks and organic leads.
Tell yourself honestly about your bandwidth and internal capacity. Can your team maintain up with the industry’s best standards while really devoting the required time and money to SEO? If not, an agency may provide the specialized knowledge, scalability, and quantifiable outcomes to hasten your online expansion. See outsourcing as a strategic investment in your digital success, not as evidence of weakness.
Rohit Vedantwar, Co-founder & SEO Expert, Supramind.com
Evaluate Goals for SEO and Link-Building
I’ve worked with both internal teams and agencies. I think the most important thing to consider is your goal. Some only want to try SEO and link-building for a few months or just for a particular campaign, so I think agencies will work best for them. Since it’s easier to direct the agencies about the needs and if you have researched well, they can deliver the results you need. As for the others who want to do it long term, I believe it’s best to create an internal team to do this. Due to the lack of time constraints, it might take a little bit longer to achieve your desired result, but the good thing is you can always redirect or re-strategize and find the best method that works for your business.
David Rubie-Todd, Co-Founder & Marketing Director, Glide
Weigh Specialized Expertise Against In-House Control
An external agency often brings a high level of specialized expertise, especially if they have a proven track record with similar businesses. They stay on top of the latest SEO trends, algorithm changes, and link-building strategies, which can be hard for an in-house team to match unless SEO is their sole focus.
However, in-house teams provide greater control over the brand voice and alignment with broader business strategies. They’re more deeply integrated with other departments, which can lead to more cohesive execution across marketing, content, and product. With an in-house team, there’s also more flexibility to shift priorities quickly without needing to renegotiate contracts or wait for agency timelines.
Ultimately, the decision comes down to the scale of the SEO needs and available internal resources. For smaller, focused campaigns, in-house can work well. But if rapid growth and extensive link-building are priorities, an external agency with a clear history of delivering results may provide the necessary bandwidth and expertise.
Connor Gillivan, Entrepreneur, Owner & CMO, AccountsBalance
Check Agency’s Industry-Specific Experience
The niche capability is very important, especially for a specialized service like a garage door repair, where local SEO and link-building is a huge asset. When deciding to partner with an external agency or do our SEO in-house, one of the most important considerations I have is the agency’s background in the home improvement industry and their experience with similar local companies.
Since there are very unique characteristics to our industry, such as knowing what local search terms are relevant, when home improvement is in season, and what kind of content appeals to homeowners, it’s imperative that the third-party agency we engage isn’t only well-versed in SEO but highly conversant with our niche. An in-house home improvement agency will be better equipped to take care of everything from generating city-level content for the right target group to creating authoritative, relevant backlinks for our business.
Craig Focht, Cofounder & CEO, All Pro Door Repair
Ensure Longevity of Link Placements
The longevity of link placement is the most important factor for link-building agencies.
Most vendors who sell links eventually remove them because they aren’t the legitimate owners or webmasters. It is important to work with a vendor who has genuine connections rather than one who’s just a third-party seller.
With in-house teams, you can control the outreach process and ensure that link placements or swaps are measurable.
Victor Hsi, Founder & Community Manager, UGC Creator Agency
Prioritize Direct Oversight and Control
I consider oversight. I run my business alone, and I prefer having direct oversight over our teams, including the SEO team. Oversight ensures that our goals, brand voice, and values are well-represented. That is why I chose an in-house team. As part of us, they are more familiar with our culture, programs and products, and customer base, so there is a better personalized strategy in their SEO efforts. They can quickly adapt to changes in the strategy and are more cost-effective in the long run.
Oleksiy Torokhtiy, Founder, Torokhtiy Weightlifting
Assess Agency’s Know-How and Success
When choosing between outsourcing SEO and link building to an outside agency or keeping an in-house team, I think the key thing to consider is how much know-how and success the agency has. A good SEO agency will understand how search engines work, have solid ways to get links, and be able to show real results. Teaming up with an agency that checks all these boxes makes me feel confident my website will get a boost from their SEO and link-building work.
Another key aspect to think about is how well the agency fits with my company’s aims and beliefs. It’s crucial to find an agency that understands your vision and can help with your overall business plan. A solid agency will spend time to grasp your specific needs and adjust their methods to match.
Lastly, I’d also look at the agency’s costs and ability to grow. While price matters, it’s important not to cut corners by picking the cheapest choice. A good agency will be clear about their prices and can expand their work to keep up with your changing needs. By taking a close look at these points, I can make a smart choice about whether to hire an outside team for SEO and link building or keep it in-house.
Shambhu Kadel, Founder, KBA Global
Access Specialized Knowledge and Tools
For me, the most important factor when deciding to work with an external SEO and link-building agency versus keeping everything in-house is the ability to access specialized knowledge and tools that might not be available internally. Running my company has taught me the value of leveraging external expertise, especially when nuanced technical skills are necessary to tackle specific challenges. For instance, we partnered with an agency to handle complex SEO audits that directly contributed to reducing a large client’s operational costs by 20%.
Another critical consideration is efficiency and focus. Managing an SEO project internally often diverts resources away from core business operations. When we outsourced social media management and content creation, our internal team had more bandwidth to focus on strategic growth initiatives. This change directly resulted in an impressive 300% increase in online revenue for a small startup client. Collaborating with experts allowed us to maximize efficiency and substantially grow client portfolios.
Dylan Cleppe, Co-Founder & CEO, OneStop Northwest LLC
Balance Expertise and Long-Term Consistency
Smaller projects or specific campaigns benefit from the expertise and tools of external agencies, which are not encumbered by permanent hire. We consider agency support when scaling to new regions in high-stakes SEO, since they bring in the specialized skills and insights that would otherwise be difficult to maintain in-house. However, in-house teams allow for control and consistency over the long term. Balancing such factors will then help get the right skill at an appropriate level while avoiding excessive strain on any particular thing.
Tornike Asatiani, CEO, Edumentors
Align Agency with Brand’s Vision and Goals
The most critical factor is the alignment with our brand’s vision and goals. Hiring an external SEO and link-building agency can offer fresh perspectives and specialized expertise that our in-house team might not possess. However, their strategies must integrate seamlessly with our existing brand narrative and objectives. I ensure they understand our unique value proposition—how we strive to transform each photograph into a meaningful story. This means evaluating their previous work, assessing their adaptability, and ensuring open communication. It’s about creating a partnership where both parties enhance each other’s strengths to achieve superior results.
David Zhang, CEO, Kate Backdrops
Fill Identified Skill Gaps with External Help
For me, working with an external SEO agency is only worth it if they are filling a skill or competency gap that I have identified in my team and would take too long to train up to meet. That way, I can focus on finding agencies that fill that specific need.
Working with external contractors is a hassle—from finding and vetting them to training them on our brand voice and values to incorporating them into our billing system. That is why I only do so if I know that they will bring on something that my team can’t contribute.
Dan Brown, CEO & Founder, Textun
Seek Expertise Beyond Internal Team’s Capabilities
The most important factor for me when deciding between an external SEO agency and an in-house team is expertise. If the external agency has a proven track record in areas that go beyond what my team can handle—like high-quality link building or specialized SEO strategies—it makes sense to bring them on board. You want to ensure you’re getting a level of skill that will truly boost your visibility, rather than stretching your internal resources too thin. It’s about complementing what your team can already do, not just outsourcing for convenience.
Austin Rulfs, Founder, SME Business Investor, Property & Finance Specialist, Zanda Wealth
Identify Unique Skills and Connections Needed
The most important factor is assessing what unique skills, assets, and connections they bring that we might not have in-house. One example from my experience running a local SEO agency shows this clearly.
A key client wanted to improve their ranking on Google Maps, and we had already done everything in terms of GBP optimization. What we needed was high-quality backlinks from industry-recognized sites to take things to the next level. One specific target was getting featured on SEMrush, but our internal team didn’t have connections to authors or contributors at SEMrush.
We knew this type of high-authority link would significantly impact the client’s visibility. So, we partnered with an external agency that had the right connections in place. They helped us secure a valuable backlink from SEMrush, something we couldn’t have achieved on our own.
This partnership resulted in a noticeable improvement in the client’s rankings, and the traffic increase helped their local visibility dramatically. The key was identifying that gap and finding an external partner with the specific leverage we needed.
Ramzy Humsi, Founder & CEO, Vortex Ranker
Evaluate Expertise, Scalability, and Focus
The decision to work with an external SEO and link-building agency versus handling everything in-house boils down to a few critical factors: expertise, scalability, and focus.
- Expertise and Specialization: One of the most important considerations is the level of expertise required. External agencies often bring a depth of experience and specialization that might be challenging to develop in-house, especially if SEO isn’t our core offering. They keep pace with the latest industry trends and algorithm changes, which is crucial for effective SEO strategy. If we’re targeting particularly competitive keywords or need advanced technical SEO, an agency’s expertise can be invaluable.
- Scalability and Flexibility: External agencies offer scalability that can be difficult to achieve with an in-house team. If we’re launching a new product or entering a new market, an agency can ramp up resources quickly to meet those needs. This flexibility is beneficial for handling fluctuations in demand without the long-term commitment of hiring additional staff.
- Focus on Core Competencies: Managing SEO and link-building in-house requires significant time and resources. By outsourcing these tasks, we can free up our team to focus on our core competencies, like web design and IT services, ensuring we’re delivering the best possible value to our clients.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Cost is always a factor, and sometimes it’s more economical to outsource rather than invest in full-time specialists, tools, and ongoing training. An agency might provide a broader range of services for a similar investment compared to maintaining an in-house team.
Ultimately, the decision is about aligning with our strategic goals and ensuring that we have the right resources in place to support growth and deliver results. Partnering with external experts when necessary allows us to maintain high standards while staying agile and focused on what we do best.
Josh Matthews, Director, LogicLeap
Compare ROI of In-House vs. Outsourcing
The number one criterion that I look at when comparing outsourcing SEO and link-building to doing it myself is ROI (Return on Investment). Simply put, it comes down to which has the highest return on the investment. After exploring a lot of different layouts, I’ve found a special sweet-spot that works just right for us: creating a hybrid team with in-house and freelancers.
In this way, we can balance the rich and nuanced knowledge of our business and sector that our in-house team provides with the niche knowledge and novel thinking of the freelancers. For example, our in-house team works on foundational SEO techniques and content strategy involving extensive understanding of our products and customers while freelancers are hired for specialized projects such as massive-volume link-building or local SEO campaigns. This format helps us optimize our budget (so we’re not dumping millions of dollars into an external agency) and allows our strategy to evolve.
Tyler Hull, Owner and General Manager, Modern Exterior
Prioritize Specialized Innovation and Advancement
When deciding to work with an external SEO and link-building agency, I prioritize the need for specialized innovation and advancement. With my background in scaling businesses, leveraging external expertise often provides cutting-edge advantages that we might not have internally. For example, integrating AI technologies into our campaigns has helped us maintain our edge in a rapidly-changing digital landscape.
Another key factor is the ability to focus on core business functions without spreading the internal team too thin. Keeping a nimble internal team allows us to focus on high-impact strategies, like optimizing on-page and local SEO, while an external agency can handle extensive link-building. This division of labor keeps efficiency high and ensures quality execution on both fronts.
Furthermore, I’m driven by the potential for undeniable, measurable results. By working with a premier partner, we consistently ensure top-tier service delivery. The impact of this collaborative approach is clear: clients’ websites have consistently soared in search ranking, showcasing the power of external expertise combined with robust internal strategy.
Kerry Anderson, Co-Founder, RankingCo
Align Decision with Long-Term Goals and Strategy
Most of our traffic comes through SEO. We actually hired an external SEO consultant, but we handle all the execution in-house ourselves.
If you’re a founder or CEO deciding between an SEO agency and an in-house team, the choice really comes down to what best aligns with your long-term goals and overall strategy. Here are a few factors to think about:
First, strategic alignment. An in-house team will have a deep understanding of your brand, mission, and audience, which can make them highly aligned with your company’s goals. They can also pivot quickly as business needs change, offering greater control and flexibility.
Cost and scalability are also big considerations. Agencies bring specialized expertise and can scale up or down as needed, often without the overhead of full-time hires. But for larger companies, building in-house expertise can be more cost-effective over time.
Another key point is integration. In-house teams can work more seamlessly with departments like product, engineering, and content, which helps align SEO efforts with your broader business strategy.
Data security and confidentiality are worth thinking about too. For some companies, especially in highly regulated industries, keeping sensitive information in-house can feel more secure.
Ultimately, the best choice depends on your company’s size, resources, and growth stage. Many companies find success with a hybrid approach-using in-house teams for core strategies and daily tasks while bringing in agencies for specialized projects or extra support when needed. The key is choosing the option that aligns with your business goals and allows your SEO strategy to evolve as you grow.
Jay Yue, Growth, Wanderboat
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, deciding between a link building agency and an in-house team is a pivotal choice that depends on your organization’s unique needs. As highlighted in the article, an in-house team can promote greater collaboration and ensure that your brand’s voice remains consistent. However, outsourcing to an agency can bring specialized knowledge and fresh perspectives, which is especially beneficial for companies lacking in-house expertise.
At Tanot Solutions, we aim to combine the best of an in-house team with the agency expertise. We start by understanding each client’s unique goals and tailor our strategies from day one. With clear communication and regular client input at every stage, we ensure that each step aligns with their values and objectives.
Our transparent, collaborative approach builds a genuine partnership and delivers effective, customized solutions.
But don’t just take our word for it—let our work speak for itself. Book a call, and see firsthand what we can do for you!
