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12 Reasons Why You Might Never Want to Hire an In-House SEO by Neil Patel #297
Hiring an in-house SEO is often too costly and limited in skill set; agencies offer broader expertise, fresh perspective, and ongoing audits that a single employee typically cannot match.
Key takeaways
- An in-house SEO salary ranges from $45,000 to $100,000 according to Rand Fishkin, often exceeding agency monthly costs when overhead is added.
- In-house SEOs risk tunnel vision and may keep using outdated tactics that were acceptable years ago but now trigger penalties.
- Agencies conduct ongoing site audits that surface major shortcomings an in-house hire may lack the skill set to find or interpret correctly.
it's unlikely that a single SEO has all the skills necessary to take a comprehensive approach to your business's search marketing strategy
About this episode
Hiring decisions are always tough. Here are a few reasons to consider one perspective, 'not' hiring an in-house SEO.
Questions this episode answers
Why is hiring an in-house SEO potentially too expensive for small businesses?
According to Rand Fishkin, an in-house SEO salary ranges from $45,000 to $100,000, plus overhead, insurance, and training costs. An agency may cost around $3,000 per month with none of that additional burden, and brings a broader range of expertise.
What are the three core SEO skill areas a single in-house hire usually cannot cover?
The three areas are technical SEO, which covers site speed and mobile friendliness; on-site SEO, which covers keyword research, title tags, and meta descriptions; and link SEO, which covers local setup, directory submissions, and guest blogging. One person rarely excels at all three.
Can a company use both an in-house SEO and an agency at the same time?
Yes. Neil Patel notes it is not always an either-or issue. The hosts add that clients who have a dedicated internal person to collaborate with the agency tend to get better results than those who rely solely on the agency without an internal marketing contact.
What is RankBrain and why does it matter for SEO content strategy?
RankBrain is an artificial intelligence created by Google that interprets search queries by mapping language into related entities, so a search for one term can return results tied to related terms. The hosts say it covers over half of the Google search algorithm and that supporting content with related terms on the same page helps pages rank.
In their words
if you have a single SEO on staff, but his to-do list is the length of war and peace, then you may have more work than a single mortal can accomplish in a lifetime
Host
SEOs are like doctors. They diagnose problems and prescribe remedies.
Host
Terms defined in this episode
- RankBrain
- An artificial intelligence created by Google that embeds written language into entities called vectors, allowing it to interpret vague or indirect search queries and return results for related terms.
- Technical SEO
- The SEO discipline focused on site speed, correct coding, and mobile friendliness, distinct from on-site content optimization or link building.
- Remarketing
- An advertising approach that targets users who have previously visited a site or viewed a product, serving them ads to bring them back toward a conversion.
- Site audit
- A comprehensive review of a website that uncovers SEO shortcomings, identifies what is performing well, and guides ongoing improvement decisions.
Full transcript is being added.
This episode answers
Matthew Bertram
AI keynote speaker · Owner & CEO, EWR Digital · President, ModalPoint
Matthew Bertram is an AI keynote speaker, creator of DIG™ (Digital Information Governance), and owner and CEO of EWR Digital. He helps energy and industrial leaders win visibility in AI search (GEO and AEO), is President of ModalPoint and CMO of the Oil & Gas Global Network, hosts The Best SEO Podcast, and has authored eight books including LLM Visibility. More about Matthew Bertram.
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