When CEO Mike Flanagan came across the following statistic, he knew something had to be said: 81 percent of businesses implement their own paid-search programs, up from 78 percent in 2009. Meanwhile, agencies that engage in paid-search programs dropped from 86 percent in 2009 to 76 percent in 2010.

That data forms the basis of his June article for Adotas, “The Limitations of In-House Paid Search.”

Based on the top-three concerns for businesses (below), paid search may or may not be a good idea for your company to handle on its own:

• Measuring ROI (43 percent).
• Optimizing destination pages (40 percent).
• Researching/choosing optimal keyword phrases (35 percent).

That’s because agencies possess the resources and time necessary to dedicate to a company’s search campaign. After all, that’s what they do; that’s their primary function as experts.

Consider the steps; is your company qualified to handle these on its own time, or is it strapped for time and resources:

• Keyword research.
• Campaign architecture.
• Bid management.
• Copy development.
• Landing-page development.
• Tracking setup.
• Testing/routine monitoring.
• Follow-up/optimization.

Furthermore, “the following list includes examples of what search marketers face. In the end, it combines to create more fragmentation, competition and, because of changing search features and algorithms, uncertainty.”

• Never-ending keyword lists.
• Increasing keyword complexity: Average search-query length is increasing.
• Increasing competition on search-engine results pages: Spending is up by nearly 14 percent.
• Increasing barriers in search results (e.g., universal results, Google 7-Pack and new ad features such as “Location Extensions for Multiple Addresses”).

Seem overwhelming? If I can compare it to my recent house-renovation project, I kept balancing my lack of knowledge and time with the cost to outsource my work. I also factored in self fulfillment versus quality, professional craftsmanship, as well as fiscal conservatism versus a good investment. The same could be said for marketing and search.

If you’re struggling with keeping your campaigns in house versus outsourcing, read the article. Then, make a sound decision based on learned knowledge about the search-campaign process.