Hi - we currently outsource our SEM/SEO and are considering bringing it in-house. Any ideas on what an SEM/SEO manager might cost?

thanks in advance for any info!

Hi - we currently outsource our SEM/SEO and are considering bringing it in-house. Any ideas on what an SEM/SEO manager might cost?

thanks in advance for any info!

50-80k per year.

It depends on the location, type of site you have and what level of soft skills you need. If you have a monster site with a lot of politics to navigate through, this can start getting into the mid hundreds, depending on locale. If you're a smaller, simpler site it's much less.

You can direct message me if you would like to chat for a few minutes.

The company I work for offers SEM service at a rate of $3,600 to $12,000.00 annually.... why have it in house? I offer basic SEO for no charge with SEM Portfolio management. Includes 3 local phone numbers (1 for google, 1 for yahoo, 1 for directories), recorded phone calls, proxy sites, and transparent per click reporting and click costs. No click mark-up, just management fee.

Does this sound about right? Why do it in-house unless you need attention daily vs weekly?

Why do it in-house unless you need attention daily vs weekly?

Good point, Sherpa's "2008 Benchmarking Guide" shows clients who outsource experience more lift than inhouse. Having worked inhouse and in an agency setting, I can say agency SEOs have an upper hand in their wide variety of clients and as a result the learning opportunity that setting provides.

Like seminhouse mentioned, it depends on your location, industry, competition, the skill set you require, site, technology and/or other but, like anything else you pay for what you get when it comes to SEO. Top gun SEOs with proven results can demand and get top dollar! I have no connection to Sherpa or the book I mentioned above which is over priced in my opinion but well worth the money in the long run. Either way, it might be a good resource for this kind of information. I'd suggest creating a job description and experience level in terms of years and amount you're willing to pay for relocation and so on. "Manager" could be someone who manages people or SEO/SEM tasks and could mean someone with 1 year of experience?

Providing base + percentage of increase might be one way to attract someone worth your time if you decide to go the in house route. Either way best of luck and be sure to check out the Search Engine Watch Job Board...

Like everything with an in house v outsourcing option - your in house experts may get a little 'stale' after time, rather than changing SEM agency every 18 months or so.

I'm sure if you explained to your current agency "We're thinking of bringing this in house due to cost", the agency will negotiate in order to keep the business.

I would say SEM cost won't be defined, it'll be judge by your marketing strategy and how much amount of marketing you need.
Doing an Inhouse will give you failure, but having an contract with SEO/SEM company they will make your job extremely very well, because they know market competition and value of their services.
I wouldn't suggest you to go for an inhouse seo/sem.
Get suggestions from your friends and other business person who have been running successful internet marketing and SEO campaigns. I must say you will find 9 out of 10 which managed by SEO company.
however the last choice would be your's.

The company I work for offers SEM service at a rate of $3,600 to $12,000.00 annually.... why have it in house? I offer basic SEO for no charge with SEM Portfolio management. Includes 3 local phone numbers (1 for google, 1 for yahoo, 1 for directories), recorded phone calls, proxy sites, and transparent per click reporting and click costs. No click mark-up, just management fee.

Does this sound about right? Why do it in-house unless you need attention daily vs weekly?

can you please explain the reason for phone numbers? is it the SEM agency taking calls on behalf of their customer?

Outsourcing SEM makes since, let your staff do what they do best since SEM should not take much time from an outside agency. DO NOT go with an agency that just charges a percentage of total PPC costs. The agency then has every reason to spend as much as possible to increase their paycheck. Just a word of advice.

Outsourcing SEM makes since, let your staff do what they do best since SEM should not take much time from an outside agency. DO NOT go with an agency that just charges a percentage of total PPC costs. The agency then has every reason to spend as much as possible to increase their paycheck. Just a word of advice.




http://img.superpages.com/sem/SMLocal_REV1008_post.pdf

Great post..... Flat Fee for SEM is the way to go. Unfortunately SEO should be done differently and bid by the job or classification. I dont believe charging $85.00 per page is a good value proposition.

I agree flat monthly rates are best - or a percentage based on ROI - then you become vested in profitability