SEO agency vs in-house: who should do the work?

For most small trade businesses the choice between an SEO agency and in-house SEO is really a question about time and skills. Think of it as deciding who writes the pages, who fixes the website and who knows enough about your jobs to say what is true. This guide helps you list that work, price the options and decide who should do each part.

Here’s an example. A plumbing business in the Inner West has an office manager who knows every job and customer but has no spare time to fix the website. A bigger firm already has a writer and a developer and only needs someone to direct them. Both want more search enquiries yet they need very different help.

In-house means someone you employ does the work. An agency is an outside business you pay for an agreed list of work, which is what people mean when they talk about outsourcing SEO. If you want to see what a monthly agency fee covers, our SEO packages page sets out the work and the price of each plan.

What work needs doing each month?

Start with the list of tasks and not the people, because the list tells you what skills you need. Mark each row as me, my team or outside help.

Kavera note: Our monthly plans start at Suburb SEO, $890/month + GST, which covers one suburb. Each month it includes one new suburb or service page, one article, one page upgrade and four Google Business Profile posts. Set your own list beside numbers like these to see how much work you are really weighing up.

Could you or your team do the work yourselves?

Possibly, if the work is small and someone has regular time for it. Google says that if you run a small local business you can probably do much of the work yourself.¹ It recommends starting with its SEO starter guide.¹

Your time is not free though, as this made-up example shows. If an hour on the tools would normally leave you $100, then ten hours a month spent on SEO costs you $1,000 in work you didn’t do. That is a real cost even though no invoice arrives.

Three questions help you decide:

• Do you have a regular block of hours every week or only the odd free evening?
• Do you know enough about your own jobs to write true pages about them?
• Will the work still get done in your busiest fortnight?

If the honest answer to any of these is no, plan on outside help for that part.

What does an in-house SEO hire cost in Australia?

SEEK’s October 2026 salary page says the average pay for an SEO specialist in Australia is between $75,000 and $95,000 AUD a year.² SEEK builds its figures from full-time salary ranges that employers disclose in job ads. Some of those salaries include super and other benefits while others don’t, so don’t add super to the whole range.²

To see the extra cost, here is a made-up hire on $85,000 AUD a year before super. It is a plain salary for ordinary hours with no commissions, bonuses or allowances. For pay from 1 July 2026 the minimum super an employer must pay is 12% of the employee’s qualifying earnings for the pay period.³ The ATO says qualifying earnings include pay for ordinary hours, with certain paid leave, allowances and bonuses, as well as all commissions.³ On a plain salary like this one the qualifying earnings equal the salary, so the super is 12% of $85,000.

That total leaves out several costs. Recruitment, software, training, equipment and the manager’s time all come on top. You also need cover for time off, because full-time employees get four weeks of annual leave each year.⁴

The figures above are a worked example and not SEEK’s average or a quote to employ anyone. They show why the real cost of a hire is higher than the salary on the job ad.

What does an agency fee cover and what doesn’t it?

An agency fee buys an agreed list of work and not a full-time person. Our monthly plans start at Suburb SEO, $890/month + GST. It has no setup fee and runs month to month, so you can cancel anytime. As a wider example, our Local SEO plan covers one area of up to three suburbs instead of one. It costs $1,500/month + GST with no setup fee. Each month it includes two new suburb, service or project pages, two articles, two page upgrades and eight Google Business Profile posts. It is month to month too. Twelve months of Local SEO comes to $18,000 + GST.

The hire in the table costs about $95,200 AUD for a year before the extra costs above. The Local SEO example is $18,000 + GST for a fixed list of work. They are not the same thing, so don’t compare them on price alone. A full-time person can do more hours of work and be in your office each day, while a plan gives you a defined amount of work for a lower fixed cost.

Even with an agency you still have jobs to do. You supply service facts and photos and you approve claims about your work. Some extras may sit outside the fee too, so ask for a written list of what is included. Our guide on how much SEO costs shows how to read a quote.

SEO agency vs in-house: how do the options compare?

The main difference is who does the work and who carries the cost. An agency does an agreed list of work for a fee while an in-house hire is a person you employ and manage. Sharing the work splits the jobs so that your team supplies the knowledge and specialists fill the gaps. The table gives the costs and questions for each route.

If you have people to do the work and want a plan for them to follow, our SEO consultant page explains that route.

When is an in-house hire the better fit?

An in-house hire fits when there is enough steady work to keep one person busy and someone to guide them. There is no fixed headcount that makes this true, so treat the points below as our rules of thumb.

• The work never stops, for example many services, many suburbs or a steady flow of new projects to write up.
• You want the person in the room each day, working beside sales and the crews who do the jobs.
• A manager has time to set priorities and check the work.
• The budget covers salary, super, tools and cover for leave, with room to spare.
• You want to build the skill inside the business and keep it there.

If most of these are true you are likely ready for a hire. If only one or two are true, a shared approach may cost less and carry less risk.

When can an agency or a shared approach make sense?

An agency or a shared approach makes sense when the work comes in bursts or needs skills you lack. A shared approach splits the job so that someone in your business stays responsible for the facts.

Picture the Inner West plumber again. The office manager picks the job photos and checks every claim about the work. The agency writes the pages and fixes the website. Neither side needs to be an expert in the other’s job, yet both know who does what.

Shared work only runs smoothly when you name one person on your side. Without that person approvals sit in an inbox and the monthly list slips.

Who does what when the work is shared?

Agree the split in writing before work starts. A short table does the job.

Kavera note: Every ongoing plan we offer includes Google Business Profile posts and review reply drafts. We prepare them from your real work and details. You keep approval over what the business publishes.

Google advises asking an SEO whether it will share all the changes it makes to your site.¹ Ask for a written handover too, so you can change provider later without losing your pages. Our guide on how to choose an SEO agency gives you questions for that conversation.

What should you decide before you ask for quotes?

Settle the work and the owner before you talk to anyone. Then price the options with real figures.

1. Fill in the task table and mark who can do each row.
2. Name one person on your side who will own the work.
3. Work out how many extra jobs would pay for each option, using is SEO worth it.
4. Ask each provider for a written list of the work and the terms.

Our SEO audit is free. It reviews your site’s technical health, visibility, keywords, competitors and Google Business Profile and ends with a prioritised roadmap. Implementation is separate unless retained. Compare the monthly plans on our SEO packages page, where monthly plans start at Suburb SEO, $890/month + GST. No SEO package guarantees rankings, leads or revenue.

The fine print

The two businesses in the example, the $100 hour and the $85,000 salary are all made up. Every dollar figure in this guide is in Australian dollars. SEEK’s page builds its figures from full-time salary ranges disclosed in its job ads, so it covers only advertised roles. The 12% super rate and the meaning of qualifying earnings come from the ATO page we read on 21 October 2026. The super example assumes a plain salary for ordinary hours, because commissions, bonuses and allowances could change the super. This guide is not payroll or tax advice.

The Local SEO example uses one of our published plans and is not a recommendation for your business. We haven’t priced recruitment, software, training, equipment or management time because they vary too much. We are an SEO agency, so we benefit when you choose one. That is why we show the hiring costs next to ours and give a case where an in-house hire fits best.