Having worked with many clients agency side and now in-house for one of the UK’s largest retailers I believe this knowledge sets me aside from many of my peers.
Working agency side provides exceptional experience due to the broad nature of the clients you work with. You learn how different types of websites, industries, sectors and propositions have different requirements however as an agency employee you are never really in full control of a client’s account, budget or are even remotely aware of your client’s overall marketing strategy and where the online mix fits within that. It is therefore quite easy to unintentionally provide underwhelming advice, unnecessary reports, strategy propositions which aren’t possible or indeed just poor service due to juggling multiple clients.
The in-house role on the other hand means that the individual is often limited to a single technology/platform and a single vertical e.g. fashion, finance etc. That said you are in full control of the strategy, full control of the budget and know all of the limitations and opportunities associated with the organisation. Many of the challenges that exist around agency working simply do not exist within the in-house role.
Having seen both sides to the industry this enables me to provide advice and recommendations that are not only best practice for SEO, but are also commercially viable and are a good fit for the clients with whom I work. I never set unrealistic expectations and am completely honest and transparent about what results can be expected given the budget, industry and timescales involved.