Outsource link building Vs Doing it in house
Should you go for outsourcing link-building or do it in-house?
In SEO, link building is used to improve a website’s rankings. When links point to your website Google considers your website to be a valuable source of information and trusts your brand. The more high-quality and authoritative backlinks you have pointing to your website the more the chances of your website getting ranked higher in the search results.
Category | In-House Link-Building | Outsourced Link-Building |
Budget | - Requires payment for manager, digital marketing coordinator, writers, and tools like Ahrefs, Buzzsumo, Majestic, etc. | - Single package fee; minimal staff involvement required. |
Control | - Offers more control, especially for specific SEO requirements. | - May lack detailed control; dependent on the agency's processes. |
Small Budgets | - Suitable if the marketing budget is small and specific requirements need to be addressed. | - Less suitable for very tight budgets but offers scalability. |
E-commerce Websites | - In-house team works closely with design, development, and marketing teams. Can tailor results to understand specific SaaS features. | - Experienced team brings proven strategies for multiple brands, ensuring efficient SEO results. |
Time and Effort | - May involve trial and error, requiring more time and effort to refine processes. | - Provides access to experts under one roof with an established system for efficiency and faster results. |
Method | - Beneficial for businesses with custom SEO requirements. | - Offers established systems for quicker scalability and broader reach. |
Focus | - In-house experts focus solely on your business for timely results. | - Saves your team’s time, allowing focus on activities that directly affect the bottom line. |
Network Diversity | - Limited to the in-house team’s connections. | - Access to a diverse and extensive network of link opportunities. |
Reporting | - Reports depend on internal processes. | - Agencies typically provide regular performance reports. |
Risk | - Fully controlled by the business, minimizing the risk of black-hat SEO. | - Must ensure the agency doesn’t use black-hat techniques by reviewing their past work before hiring. |
Link-building can get more exposure for your brand as the brand name appears in blog comments, forums, guest book comments, guest post signatures and more. It also helps to increase your outreach and reach more audiences. This will lead to your website getting more referral traffic.
The strategies used in link building are creating quality content to attract links, guest posting, competitor link analysis, broken link building, Help-a-Report-Out (HARO), infographics and business citations.
You can build links in-house or outsource them. Link-building needs expertise and you will need more than one person to do them. Link building agencies are experts in the field. They will have a team of trained and skilled persons. Before you make a decision it is best to know the benefits of each type of method.
The comparison of the two methods is as follows:
1.First, you will have to know your link building budget. If you employ an in-house team then the cost will be more than that of outsourcing without compromising on the quality.
For your in-house team, you will have to pay the manager, digital marketing coordinator and writers. You will also pay for the tools used like Ahref’s, Buzzsumo, Majestic, and more. When you outsource you just have to pay one package fee and your staff's involvement time.
2. When you build links in-house you get more control over it. If you require very specific SEO requirements then it is better to do it in-house if you have a small marketing budget.
3. For Saas and E-commerce websites your in-house team will have to work with the design, development and marketing teams. Your team of link-builders can understand your Saas features and produce tailor-made results. When you outsource you get an experienced team who has achieved SEO results for many brands.
4. When you hire an in-house team you will have to go through hits and misses. It will require more time and effort. When you outsource link-building you will get all the experts under one roof. You will get access to an established system where the work will be more efficient and results will be good.
5. An in-house link-building method can be beneficial if you have custom business requirements. When you outsource you get access to established systems and you can grow faster.
6. The in-house team consists of link-building experts who focus on giving you timely results. By outsourcing you can get stronger results at a lower cost. You will get more time to focus on the activities that affect your bottom line.
7. When you outsource link building services you can get links from a diverse and extensive network. You can get timely performance reports and have the final say on link-building activities. You will have to be careful of agencies using black-hat SEO. If you do your homework and check the past work you can outsource safely.
How do you decide the best method for you?
If you have a strong SEO team and have enough time to spend on link-building and expertise then you can consider in-house link building. If you have a strong link of publishers and are able to scale your link-building efforts then you can go for in-house link-building.
Link-building also includes relationship building and it requires time. You can build relations by investing consistently or hiring an outsource link-building service that has already done it.
Some brands have all the resources that are required for link-building but those who do not have such resources can outsource link-building as it can be cost-effective and offers a higher ROI.
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