SEO Agency vs Freelancer vs Doing It Yourself
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For most local businesses, the choice comes down to how much time you have and how much work your SEO needs. Doing it yourself costs time rather than money and covers the basics well. A freelancer usually costs less than an agency and gives you one direct contact, but depends on one person. An agency costs more and adds a team and processes, which matters more for larger or more complex sites.
Whichever you choose, judge them by the same questions.
The three options at a glance
Do it yourself | Freelancer | Agency | |
Typical cost | Your time | Usually lower than an agency | Usually higher |
Strengths | You know your business best; no fees | Direct contact; often flexible | Broader skills; cover for holidays and illness |
Risks | Time; gaps in technical knowledge | Availability; one point of failure | Account managers between you and the work; minimum terms |
Often suits | Sole traders, simple sites, tight budgets | Small businesses wanting hands-on help | Businesses with several locations, larger sites or ongoing content needs |
These are general patterns. A good freelancer can outperform a poor agency, and the reverse.
What you can do yourself
Much of local SEO is groundwork that an owner can do:
Verify and complete your Google Business Profile
Ask every customer for a Google review
Make sure your business name, phone number and service area match everywhere
Give each main service a clear page on your website
Set up Google Search Console and check it monthly
Where paid help is worth it
Writing service and suburb pages that are genuinely useful
Technical problems: indexing, speed, redirects after a redesign
Keeping things going every week when you're busy on the tools
Reporting that ties work to calls and enquiries
Questions to ask any SEO provider
Google suggests asking a potential SEO questions including "What kind of results do you expect to see, and in what timeframe?" and warns that "no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google" (Google Search Central). Also ask:
What exactly will you do each month, and what is one-off?
Who will do the work, and who will I talk to?
What will your monthly report show? Will it include calls and enquiries?
Can you show examples of local businesses you've helped, and what changed?
Is there a minimum term? What do I keep if I leave?
Who owns the content you write and the accounts you set up?
Warning signs
Guaranteed first-page or top-three rankings
Vague monthly "SEO work" with no list of tasks
Buying links or reviews
Refusing to give you access to your own accounts
Reports full of rankings for phrases nobody searches
A practical approach for most small businesses
Do the free groundwork yourself first.
If enquiries don't follow, pay for a one-off review or a set project, such as service pages or a technical fix.
Move to ongoing help only if there is ongoing work worth paying for.
Next step
If you'd like to talk through what your business needs before hiring anyone, book a free 15-minute call with Morphic, or see Morphic's Google Business Profile set-up and management.
Also see local SEO for Melbourne businesses.
Related reading: How Much Does Local SEO Cost in Melbourne? (Monthly Pricing Explained) and Is SEO Worth It for a Small Business in Australia?.
Key Takeaways
Choose between DIY, a freelancer or an agency based on your time and how much SEO work you need.
Owners can do much of the local SEO groundwork themselves, such as their Google profile and reviews.
Paid help is most useful for content, technical fixes and keeping work consistent.
Ask any provider what they will do monthly, who does the work and what the report will show.
Treat ranking guarantees as a warning sign; Google says no one can guarantee a number one ranking.
Emon Datta
Founder, Morphic Agency
Morphic Agency is a Melbourne-based UX design agency. We've shipped 50+ products across 15+ countries.
