Authority SEO
In-House vs. Agency: what does it actually cost?
Most owners compare a salary to a retainer and stop there. That misses hiring, ramp, tools, and turnover. Answer four quick questions. See the real three-year number.
Question 1 of 4
If you hired in-house, how big would the team be?
Question 2 of 4
What level of agency support are you weighing?
Question 3 of 4
Have a monthly budget in mind? (optional)
Leave blank to use the tier estimate above.
Question 4 of 4
How soon would you need results?
Running the three-year model…
Your comparison
In-House Team
3-year total cost
Agency Partner
3-year total cost
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What does the In-House vs. Agency Cost Tool do?
Many business owners and CMOs only have rough math to decide the cost differences between In-House SEO and an Agency. They have salary on one side and retainer on the other. Now, just pick the smaller number.
For in-house marketing staff, executives can forget employer taxes, benefits, the software stack, and the recruiter fee. Don’t forget the vacations and other days were you pay full price for partial or no effort. What happens when your team member leaves? Does your costs reset?
Authority SEO is an agency. So, you’d expect this tool to say “hire an agency.” It doesn’t. It runs the model and shows you the numbers. What you decide to do with the data is up to you.
- Base salary, plus ~30% for taxes, benefits, PTO, and equipment
- Hiring and ramp costs
- Turnover priced in. SEO and marketing roles turn over.
- Rank tracking, crawlers, analytics, content tools.
Nothing here is a quote. These are modeled estimates on conservative national baselines.
Do you want to know how much to budget for SEO services? See the difference between local and national brands. Checkout our SEO Budget Calculator.