In-house vs agency
The choice between building an internal SEO team, retaining an external agency or consultant, or operating a hybrid of both.
BusinessEngagement models
Agency retainer models
The commercial structures used for SEO services: monthly retainers, project fees, day rates, performance-based arrangements or hybrids.
In full
Retainers suit ongoing programmes and give continuity but can drift into activity reporting without outcomes; project fees suit defined deliverables such as an audit or migration; day rates suit advisory work where the client implements. Performance-based pricing is superficially attractive but hard to structure fairly given attribution difficulty, long lag times and factors outside either party's control. Scope, deliverables and decision rights matter more to outcomes than the pricing model.
Example
A brand retains a consultant two days a month for advisory work and contracts a separate fixed-fee project for its migration.
Related terms
SEO ROI
The financial return generated by SEO investment, calculated from incremental revenue or cost savings against the fully loaded cost of the…
SEO governance
The processes and ownership that keep SEO requirements enforced over time — review gates, standards, documentation and escalation paths.
SEO strategy
A documented plan connecting business objectives to a defined search opportunity, the capabilities required, the sequence of work and how…
SEO audit
A structured assessment of a site's technical, content and authority position, producing prioritised, actionable findings rather than an…