Agency vs. in-house

Table of Contents

AlchemyLeads vs. hiring an in-house SEO team

The honest comparison: what each option costs, what you get, and when each one is the right call.

The short answerA capable in-house SEO team (a strategist, a specialist and a developer) costs about $42,000 a month once benefits are included, before tools, recruiting and turnover. AlchemyLeads plans start at $6,850 a month and give you a senior, specialized team across AI search, SEO, content, paid media and digital PR from day one. In-house makes sense when search is so central to your product that you need full-time, embedded owners; many companies get the best of both with an internal marketing lead plus AlchemyLeads.

Side by side

How the options compare

Factor	AlchemyLeads	In-house SEO team	Hybrid
Monthly cost	Plans from $6,850/mo; multi-brand engagements from $15,000/mo	~$42,000/mo for a three-person team with benefits, before tools and recruiting	One internal marketing lead plus an AlchemyLeads plan
Expertise	Senior specialists across AI SEO and GEO, technical SEO, content, paid media, digital PR and integrations	Limited to the people you hire; most teams can’t cover every discipline	Internal context plus external specialists
Getting started	Discovery call, written scope, then proven workflows already in place	Recruiting, onboarding and building processes from scratch	Agency executes while internal capability grows
AI search readiness	GEO, AI prompt tracking and AI visibility dashboards built into every plan	Depends on hiring people who already know AI search	Agency brings AI search depth to the internal team
Control & alignment	Your accounts, data and sites stay yours; strategy reviewed with you every quarter	Full day-to-day control and deep product knowledge	Internal owner sets priorities, agency leads execution
Retention & risk	95% of new clients since 2020 stayed longer than 12 months; the average client relationship is 3 years and 10 months. No hiring risk or turnover gaps	A single departure can stall the program	Spread across both

The real cost

In-house costs more than salaries

Salary is only part of the bill. Employer benefits add roughly 30% on top, and that is before SEO tools, recruiting fees, management time and turnover.

A three-person in-house SEO team

Head of Search$177,770
SEO & content specialist$78,760
Web developer$99,520

Salaries alone~$29,700 / mo

With benefits~$42,300 / mo

Median annual pay, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025 (marketing managers; market research analysts and marketing specialists; web developers). Benefits estimated at the BLS private-industry average of about 30% of employer compensation costs.

AlchemyLeads plans

Bronze · Foundation$6,850/mo
Silver · Acceleration$7,688/mo
Gold · Market Dominance$10,888/mo
Enterprise · Multi-brand$15,000+/mo

Even the Enterprise plan costs a fraction of a full in-house growth team. Plans are priced on experience and outcomes, not hours. See what each plan includes.

Which is right for you

When each option makes sense

Choose AlchemyLeads

You need results without building a department

You are a $5M to $150M company selling high-value products or services, from B2B, industrial and technical firms to high-earning Shopify brands, and you would rather invest in outcomes than in hiring, managing and replacing a team.

Choose in-house

Search is your product

Search work is so tied to your product and engineering roadmap that you need full-time owners embedded with those teams every day.

Choose a hybrid

You have a marketing lead

An internal lead owns priorities and company context, while AlchemyLeads runs the proven workflows that drive search and AI visibility.

Either way, AlchemyLeads works best as a strategic partner that leads the work, not as extra hands for one-off tasks. That focus is what keeps every hour pointed at revenue.

Proof, not promises

What a specialized team delivers

AlchemyLeads was founded in 2017 by Sean Chaudhary, who has more than 15 years in search marketing. Every result below links to a full case study.

95%of new clients since 2020 stayed longer than 12 months

3 yrs 10 moaverage client relationship

SelectiveWe only take on engagements where we see a strong probability of success

$1M → $2.7MMonthly sales pipeline within 90 daysB2B cleanroom manufacturer

670%Revenue increase over three yearsOnline pet pharmacy

15×Blended Google + Meta Ads ROAS in 2026, with ad spend under 5% of total revenueEcommerce retailer · Paid ads

3×Revenue year over year, with 4× organic trafficShopify 3PL

170%More requests for quote, plus 4,500 Bing AI citationsIndustrial manufacturer

Top 5AI share of voice, up from absent, with +978% organic sessionsMarine audio brand

Results vary by business, market and investment. See our Disclaimer.

Questions

Agency vs. in-house, answered

How much does AlchemyLeads cost compared to an in-house SEO team?

AlchemyLeads plans run from $6,850 to $10,888 a month, with multi-brand engagements from $15,000 a month. A three-person in-house SEO team costs about $42,000 a month with benefits, based on 2025 BLS median pay, before tools, recruiting and turnover.

Can AlchemyLeads work alongside our in-house marketing team?

Yes. Many clients pair an internal marketing lead, who owns priorities and company context, with AlchemyLeads, who leads the search, AI visibility and growth workflows every month.

Does AlchemyLeads bill by the hour?

No. Clients invest in experience and outcomes, not hours. Hourly billing only applies when it is specified for a specific development project.

When does an in-house SEO team make more sense?

In-house makes sense when search is central to your product and needs full-time owners embedded with your product and engineering teams every day.

Which businesses is AlchemyLeads a good fit for?

AlchemyLeads works best with companies doing roughly $5M to $150M in annual revenue that sell high-value products or services: B2B, industrial, manufacturing, aerospace, medical and technical companies, plus high-earning Shopify DTC ecommerce brands. We are selective and only take on engagements where we see a strong probability of success, which is a big reason 95% of new clients since 2020 have stayed with us longer than 12 months.

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