WordPress SEO Consultant vs. SEO Agency: Which is Best for You?

The decision to outsource your search engine optimisation (SEO) needs is a big one. The business you’ve built up is ready to bring in organic traffic from search engines, but you’re unsure of how to do it properly, so you need the help of an expert.

The choice is clear, though. Do you opt for the help of an SEO agency or go for an SEO consultant? If your business is run on a WordPress website, there are a multitude of SEO agencies and consultants that are familiar with the platform.

The digital marketing industry is a tough nut to break, but SEO consultants and agencies offer the expertise you’re missing.

However, you first must understand what SEO agencies and consultants are.

What is an SEO consultant?

An SEO consultant does exactly what the name suggests; they consult. An SEO consultant – or consultancy – is usually somebody who has worked in-house or at an SEO agency for many years and has built up the knowledge, experience and confidence to go it alone in the industry.

They offer their expert services in the world of digital marketing to companies that lack the expertise to tackle search engines.

Depending on their background and what you’re seeking, they may offer some technical SEO help, link-building services, SEO strategies and much more.

They differ from a full SEO company because they’re more likely to be a singular person who is just offering a consultancy service compared to full-blown hands-on SEO services.

What are the benefits of an SEO consultant?

Hiring an SEO consultant can be the difference between a struggling company suddenly climbing search engine rankings and increasing impressions, leads and conversion rates.

An SEO consultant is an experienced individual you can lean on for advice who may be able to help your internal team with a specific problem that they’re highly knowledgeable in, such as lead generation. Another benefit of working with an SEO consultant is you can increase the size and skill set of your in-house team without adding to the headcount.

Also, an SEO consultant is somebody you don’t need constant interaction with. You simply speak to them when you need their advice or services. When working with an SEO agency, you’ll be in constant communication.

The final benefit to working with an SEO consultant is that they’re – more often than not – cheaper than an SEO agency as they have fewer overheads, like staff salaries.

What is an SEO agency?

An SEO agency is a company that is filled with talented and experienced individuals with years of expertise in digital marketing.

Agencies include teams of individuals with different skill sets. In any SEO agency, you’ll likely find a paid advertising team, an SEO team and a content marketing team. Each of these teams is filled with experienced and talented individuals who can help you take your business to the next level online.

Working with an SEO agency involves letting them in completely behind the scenes to see how your website works. From there, they’ll work out what needs to be done to improve your website and will then get to work implementing a strong SEO strategy that enhances your ranking on search engines.

What are the benefits of SEO agencies?

There are many benefits to working with SEO agencies, especially compared to SEO consultants.

There is quite a lot of poor advice in the SEO industry, but choosing the right SEO agency (like us at Paramount Digital) is a game-changer for your business. You can lean on an SEO agency for their incredible expertise who already have proven their worth with a successful SEO strategy for multiple clients.

SEO agencies also have a lot more staff than lone SEO consultants, further extending the knowledge and expertise you require to achieve your business goals.

Another benefit of working with SEO agencies is that they’re a fully resourced company that is used to dealing with big projects on a budget and within a set time.

They can deliver their SEO strategy in the agreed-upon time thanks to the level of skill their wider team possesses.

Allowing all of your off-page and on-page SEO work to be run by SEO professionals at an agency allows you to let go of some of the pressures the online marketing industry creates.

Running a business is hard and trying to rank high on search engines when you’re not experienced enough to truly understand the industry will lead to even more pressure and strain internally.

Letting an SEO agency take care of this side of your business frees up your time and energy to focus on other business needs.

SEO consultant vs SEO agency

So, what is better for you and your business?

Outsourcing SEO to an agency – that will run an in-depth SEO campaign for your website – means trusting a team of experienced individuals to produce high-ranking results on search engines. This is ideal for a company that doesn’t have the internal knowledge of search engine results pages (SERPs), or that just wants to focus more of their energy on other company needs.

Another key difference between an SEO consultant vs an agency is the workload. A consultant may also be working with other companies, just like an SEO agency. The latter will have the manpower to be able to deal with a range of complex projects at one time while a consultant may not be able to offer you as much time as they’re juggling a lot on their own.

When it comes to creating a keyword strategy, working on organic rankings and producing excellent levels of content writing, an agency has the team to be able to produce the results you require.

An SEO consultant may not have the time to be able to offer the same level of work and is more likely to support your in-house team.

What’s best for you?

We hope this guide has given you the complete picture to allow you to make an informed decision on whether to work with an SEO consultant or an agency.

It’s worth noting that no decision is wrong and you should make the best choice for your company, but at Paramount Digital, we believe an agency is the best way to go to achieve your business goals.

We have a team of experienced and skilled digital marketers who know the industry inside and out. If you’re a company looking to climb the rankings on search engines, we can work with you.

Contact Paramount Digital

If you would like to work with one of the very best SEO agencies in the industry, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Paramount Digital.

You can either email us at marketing@paramountdigital.co.uk or give us a call at 01744 747474.