Outsourcing vs. Insourcing SEO Services: What’s Best for Your Business

One of the inevitable decisions that comes with scaling your content marketing business is the choice between insourcing and outsourcing SEO and other IT operations.

As projects pile up, there is only so much that you and your limited staff can do. This is where outsourcing comes in. However, not many businesses can afford outsourcing services.

While outsourcing crucial aspects of the business is a net positive for your business, there are some drawbacks to the process.

How can you choose between insourcing and outsourcing SEO and IT Services? This guide aims to help you address and resolve this conundrum.

Outsourcing VS. Insourcing SEO Services

Insourcing and Outsourcing are two opposite models of business operation. Let us understand them in more detail.

1. Insourcing: Insourcing is the practice of handling a task using in-house personnel. Consequently, the entire business operations are internally maintained and the departments and sub-departments handle crucial business operations, such as marketing, SEO, and IT.

2. Outsourcing: Outsourcing is the practice of hiring a third party to take care of necessary business operations/departments. Hence, an entire department is handled by an external agency with expertise in the domain.

Key Differences In The Benefits Of Insourcing And Outsourcing

Contrary to popular belief, outsourcing is not the mere delegation of tasks or services. It is entering into a contractual agreement with a third party as it overtakes an entire department of your business.

However, insourcing is when you create sub-teams within your organization to manage a department and its operations.

Here are the major differences between insourcing and outsourcing benefits:

What Are SEO Services?

SEO services are a crucial part of internet marketing. They fall under the technical domain and require special expertise. Outsourced IT services, including SEO optimization, can offer a lot of value-add to an organization.

SEO is the pillar of digital marketing and SEO agencies take care of every aspect of the process. They can be categorized into three sections—web optimization, link building, and content management.

Efficient SEO operations help you unlock top search rankings, generate leads, and increase brand awareness for your online business. All of this contributes to capturing more readership, traffic, and revenue for your business.

Should Your Business Outsource Or Insource SEO Services?

The answer to this depends on a series of questions that you can ask yourself. They are as follows:

1. Is Your Business Ready To Scale?

SEO is a huge operation that requires expertise and committed working hours. It is a full-time job and one of the main aspects of building a recognizable brand. You cannot scale your business operations and bring in more customers without a dedicated SEO stronghold that can grow your business online.

On the contrary, if you are comfortable with the operations of your business and can make do without the assistance of a third party, then insourcing is the best option for your business. Instead of outsourcing SEO services, you can also hire a small team of dedicated SEO professionals who can get the job done for you.

2. Is Your Business Creating New Content Assets?

If your organization is seeking to expand its products or services to different markets and requires a brand-new website and content strategy, then the limited SEO infrastructure may not be enough for you.

However, if your agency or business is in a linear growth phase, then adding SEO-trained personnel to your payroll may be beneficial at this stage.

3. Is Your Business In A Cash Crunch?

Both insourcing and outsourcing are expensive and require allocations of funds. However, outsourcing SEO services can come at a larger cost, particularly in the first few years. If your business is in the middle of a crunch and you are curtailing expenses, then you should be wary of outsourcing these services

Similarly, if you are looking to expand operations, then you can view business outsourcing services as an investment.

4. Are You Handling Propriety Information?

The undeniable risk of bringing third parties into your business is having to share proprietary information. Given that most SEO agencies work with multiple clients from the same niche, the risk of data breaches and leaks may increase.

If your business is privy to exclusive information, then you should cultivate an in-house SEO team. However, if exclusivity is not your top concern, then outsourcing your SEO services is better for your business.

5. Are You Seeking Expertise?

The prime difference between insourcing and outsourcing is the presence of career experts in the field to handle the ever-evolving world of search engine optimization.

A small agency or business can work with limited SEO infrastructure, tools, and an in-house team. However, large businesses need a team of experts who can take over SEO operations. The decision between insourcing and outsourcing may depend on your business needs at the moment.

Final Thoughts

Outsourcing is a world-renowned industry with more than $500 billion in market value. While the decision about outsourcing services is dependent on plenty of factors, the scale of your operations should be the biggest point of consideration. A majority of large-scale businesses hire professional SEO services to handle the optimization of their brand website and content operations.

If your business is stuck at a juncture and you are not able to choose between insourcing and outsourcing SEO services, Rank-Jacker SEO is here to help you. Our team of SEO marketers and specialists can aid you in making the right decision.

Hop on a call today and let’s figure it out together. Book a demo now.