For nearly 20 years, SEO has been, and continues to be, a game-changer in digital marketing. It boosts visibility, improves traffic, and ultimately, creates connections with your potential customers. Through exploring SEO, we uncover user needs that can be satisfied through curated content and communication.
These days, the question shouldn’t be whether to prioritize SEO, but how to do it. Many organizations, when they don’t handle SEO in-house, outsource these key activities to experts and professionals. External services provide valuable guidance because of their experience with various projects and clients. They may even promote internally researched data-driven strategies that consider both search intent and the latest algorithms.
Companies typically have two main options to offer flexible, cost-effective services: SEO freelancers and agencies. Both can deliver great value, but with a few caveats.
Freelancers tend to limit collaborative opportunities and may lack broad-based expertise, while some agencies could spark pricing concerns.
Which approach is better? There’s no easy answer, but when long-term visibility is the goal, agencies certainly deliver.
Unique Opportunities and Obstacles
Freelancers promise specialized (outsourced) skills and sometimes, affordable rates. SEO, graphic design, site audits…their services are vast, yet tailored based on client needs. However, keep in mind that most freelancers don’t do the work themselves; that would be impossible. They use outsourced services and act as managers, moving pieces around tailored to their services.
When not overburdened with work, SEO freelancers can adjust their workloads and creative solutions to reflect specific schedules and values.
These advantages may seem compelling, but they don’t tell the full story. Every perk comes with a trade-off.
Perhaps the most concerning? Limited capacity. Unfortunately, even the most talented and driven freelancers can only accomplish so much. They could work around the clock, and they’d still struggle to deliver results on a tight schedule.
This means limited scalability. Freelancers may excel on small projects, but they might struggle to keep up as SEO needs grow. Keep that in mind.
Low-cost freelancers often take on multiple jobs to make ends meet. The more work they handle, the less time they can spend on your campaign. As they stretch themselves thin and add more clients, their current work could suffer.
Ignore these problems, and bottlenecks are more likely to occur.
Exploring the Agency Approach
Imagine capturing the advantages of working with a freelancer but without scaling back to accommodate their limited bandwidth.
This is where SEO agencies make all the difference. Echoing the passion and drive of the modern freelancer but adding diverse expertise (and an extra dose of accountability), agencies promise reliable solutions.
Advantages of working with an SEO agency include:
- Teams of specialists. Agencies prioritize collaboration. They draw on diverse expertise, allowing specialists to shine. These teams cover all the essentials: content strategy, SEO, and graphic design.
Instead of working with just one person, when you choose an agency, you gain the expertise of the entire team and years of experience to deliver customized, insightful strategies that grow with your campaign. - Premium tools. Talent is essential, but it must be supported by advanced tools that enable specialists to reach their full potential. Most agencies have the budget and requirements for these tools, which may be unavailable to many freelancers.
Agency experts know which tools produce the best results and how to seamlessly incorporate them into human-focused campaigns. - Up-to-date industry insights. Committing to staying ahead of the trends, agencies excel with cutting-edge solutions that reflect the latest algorithm updates. While some members may be working directly on a campaign, others are researching and teaching others on new strategies.
Agency experts understand how to seamlessly weave in relevant trends without compromising the long-term, consistently impactful strategies that brands depend on.
For example, at Motoza, our founders leverage their combined 30+ years of experience to teach the whole team how to adjust campaigns during both good and bad times. From reading books to researching community discussions, that continued growth as a team is unmatched when compared to freelancers.
The Agency Advantage
Agencies promise stability but can also adapt to reflect new challenges and circumstances. Upfront costs can be expected, but the payoff is swift and impressive. Think of this as a business-savvy investment that can pay long-term dividends.
SEO agencies promise many qualities that freelancers struggle to match. Examples include:
- Reliability. A team of one is always vulnerable to circumstances. From sick days to workload spikes, even the most reliable SEO freelancers may struggle to fulfill their promises. With agencies, one individual’s struggles aren’t likely to derail entire projects because there’s always someone available to pick up the slack.
- Technical expertise. Even multi-talented freelancers can be limited by nature; they cannot possibly find the time to become true experts in every area that counts. Meanwhile, agencies hire diverse professionals with proven experience in many specializations. These experts draw on deep knowledge but can also collaborate to deliver well-rounded SEO services.
- Scalable support. SEO demands can increase dramatically alongside business evolution. At first, freelancers may seem like they can tackle major SEO workloads, but that can change as SEO needs increase. Agencies can adjust their approach to reflect new priorities, allowing content strategy to level up in tandem with business growth.
These qualities join forces to create one core advantage: peace of mind. Agencies can be trusted to deliver.
Long-Term Growth With an SEO Agency
Don’t chase short-term SEO victories. In this arena, it’s all about the long game. Work with an agency to score sustainable results and long-term growth.
Look to Motoza for practical support and a path toward sustainable SEO. Get started today with a free consultation and a custom proposal.
