More and more businesses are realizing that search engine optimization and search engine marketing are a necessity in today’s business world—check out this recent marketing budget report—and expert projections indicate this trend isn’t likely to change anytime soon. With online marketing becoming increasingly important to the success of new and existing companies, many people are now asking themselves whether they should hire an internal SEO expert/team or fulfill this need through another company that offers SEO services. The right answer to this question will probably vary from one business to another, but many companies are finding that working with an SEO company is the right solution for them. Here’s why.

For many people considering SEO options for their business, money is going to be at the forefront of their mind. Is it cheaper to hire an employee (or team of employees) or pay another company to do the work for you? Luckily, SEOmoz has put together some helpful numbers: average salaries for SEO jobs (check out the “In-House SEO” section) and average prices of services from SEO companies. Monthly prices for ongoing services from most companies range from $251 to $5,000. Let’s assume you’re paying this maximum amount every month for a full year, $60,000. Even this top-dollar monthly expense is going to be less than paying the median salary for any of the in-house SEO positions listed—and that’s for a single employee, without . What if you want to add a full search engine optimization team to your company? If we’re talking budget alone, paying an SEO company to promote your business is going to be more affordable than hiring your own employee(s) in most cases.

What if money weren’t an issue, though? What’s going to give your company the best results online? Because strategies and results can vary so much from one SEO company/specialist to another, it’s harder to give a definitive answer to this question. We can make some strong generalizations, though.

Let’s start by considering the search engine optimization industry as a whole. If the saying about change being the only constant has ever been true, it’s true in the realm of the Internet, the search engines, and SEO. Google is continually making updates to its algorithms, always trying to make sure search results provide what searchers want them to. This means that search engine optimization best practices are constantly shifting and adapting, as well. Tactics that worked well a year ago or even a few months ago may not provide great results now.

So, what does this mean for somebody looking to have SEO work done? It means your provider has to be constantly reevaluating methods, carefully testing new ideas and adapting to keep an edge. This is where the in-house approach can struggle, especially if you just have a single employee handling all your search engine optimization. Whereas SEO companies often have entire teams dedicated exclusively to research, testing, and implementing new tactics, an internal SEO specialist at your company will have to balance these high-importance, low-urgency tasks against all the high-importance, high-urgency tasks of actually “doing SEO” for your company. An SEO company can only survive if it stays on its toes and rolls with the punches of search engine algorithm updates. An in-house SEO guy won’t feel quite the same pressure.

You also have to consider the expertise level of any individual you might bring onboard to do the work internally for you. Many business owners don’t know much about search engine optimization. It’s a relatively new area of marketing, and a lot of businesses are just now starting to consider it. It might be hard for the average company to distinguish a true expert from somebody with only a basic level of experience in the industry. If you happen to select a true guru, great. But what happens if you end up with somebody who’s using outdated methods or, even worse, shady tactics that could get your site penalized by the search engines? SEO practices that might have been common a couple years ago can actually hurt your site’s rankings now. When you enlist the services of a reputable SEO company, you don’t have to worry as much about these things. An SEO company simply can’t afford to use subpar methods.

The final thing to consider is how much can be done and how fast. An SEO company can hit a variety of areas fast and hard—inbound links, site optimization, page content optimization, pay-per-click advertising, social media, etc. Advancing on all fronts, an SEO company can help you see strong results relatively quickly. An internal SEO specialist or team of specialists simply won’t be able to do as much as fast in as many areas.

Ultimately, whether it’s better to work with an SEO company or hire an employee or team of employees to handle SEO in-house will depend on the unique circumstances of any particular business. However, this article presents some of the reasons many businesses are choosing to hire SEO companies to do the work for them. From budget considerations to overall effectiveness, many business owners feel it’s a better choice.