Every business arrives at SEO with the same question: do it myself or pay for it? The answer is not "it depends" to be safe: it really depends on what your time is worth and where your business is. Let us break it down with numbers.
What doing SEO yourself costs
Doing SEO in-house is not free: it is expensive in hours. Learning the basics, auditing your website, creating optimised content, building links and reviewing metrics is real work. If your hour is worth EUR 30 and you spend 10 hours a month, your in-house SEO costs EUR 300 a month in your time alone.
- Hour by hour, a owner-run in-house SEO usually costs between EUR 200 and 500 a month in committed time.
- The initial learning (how Google works, content treatment, architecture) adds a heavy investment upfront.
- The risk: the urgent day-to-day of the business always eats the SEO hours.
What hiring an agency costs
In the Tenerife market, a serious SEO agency usually works between EUR 400 and 1,200 a month depending on scope. That pays for real hours from people who already know, analytics tools and tracking, and a responsibility for results you do not have when you work alone.
- Below EUR 300 a month, most is cheap promises or automation without strategy.
- EUR 400-800 is the normal range for a local project with content and tech.
- Above EUR 1,200 only makes sense with e-commerce or strong competitiveness.
When each option pays off
- Do it yourself — if you are starting out, have no budget and your business is in an area with almost no competition.
- Mix both — if you want to control content but delegate tech and strategy: the most common and healthy path.
- Hire — if you are selling and growing: at that point your hour is worth more than what you pay and SEO becomes an asset.
The test of a good agency
An agency that promises "first place in two months" is a red flag. A good agency starts with an audit, sets measurable goals, shows you its data and does not talk in invented numbers. If they ask for a blind quote without looking at what you have, run.
The hidden cost: the time to learn
Who defends in-house SEO usually forgets that time spent learning is time not spent selling. Learning to do SEO well, not just reading summaries, takes hundreds of hours of trial and error: site hierarchy, architecture, search intent, canonicals, sitemaps and tools. If your business already has clients to serve, that learning curve costs a fortune.
- The first year of a self-taught SEO is felt day to day: nobody is chasing the latest Google changes on your behalf.
- What you do not know may not hurt you until the algorithm shifts and you have no idea why.
- With an agency, the learning curve has already been paid for by dozens of earlier clients.
What your money buys with an agency
There is only one deep reason to hire: the agency has assets you cannot build by the hour. Tools (Ahrefs, well-used Search Console, position tracking), accumulated experience and a responsibility you cannot dodge: the contract is renewed or broken on the back of data.
- Professional tools: most cost over EUR 1,000 a year per active account.
- Proven processes for audits, content and reporting that reduce error.
- Benchmark: the specialist already knows what is normally good because they have seen 50 accounts.
- Accountability: an agency bets its renewal; you bet your free weekend.
The exact point where the answer changes
The practical rule we use at the Lab: if SEO is going to cost you more than 6 hours a month, or if your business already turns over above a threshold where the time of the owner is worth more than the saving, hire. Below that, do it yourself with simple tools, without burning out.
- 0-6 hours available per month: hire or lower expectations. Not enough time.
- 6-15 hours a month: hybrid model. Your content, tech and strategy delegated.
- 15+ hours a month: in-house with sense, as long as total cost is lower than the value it generates.
How to read an SEO proposal
A good proposal is not a list of badges or position promises: it is a plan with a hypothesis, tasks, a calendar and the metrics you will measure by. If it talks about visibility without defining it, or authority without explaining how it is built, it is not a proposal: it is a brochure.
- Who does what, with what monthly allocation and in which tool.
- Who holds the passwords and the data: always you.
- What happens if there are no results after 6 months: clean exit clauses.
- Which metrics you both agree on to renew the contract.
The middle ground most people miss
Between DIY and a big agency there is a middle ground that fits most local businesses: a consultant or a small studio that trains and executes on tighter budgets. You pay less than with a big agency and there is still a human face answering for the data. The key is the same as always: measure, do not promise.
At DoneByVek we do SEO as a service, but we also teach the path so you decide with data. If you are starting, the SEO service gives you the structure from day one.
The proof is the text. Published from the Lab.