If you’re a business owner with a website and a ‘DIY’ attitude, then you must have possibly asked the question, “Can I do my own search engine optimization [SEO]?” multiple times.
Maybe you even hopped on Google and searched for “How to do your own SEO.” It’s probably how you came across this article.
Well, our simple answer to your question is…Yes, you can do your own SEO.
However, we’re not telling you to go jump into it right away because a wrong approach can do more harm to your business than good.
Yet, we’ve tailored this article to be your handy SEO for beginners’ guide just in case you still want to take that plunge.
Keep reading to discover if doing your own SEO is truly worth it.
First, What Is SEO All About?
Before you decide to do your own SEO, you need to make sure that you understand everything it entails.
Plus, you’ve got to get your thinking right before you even try to do anything to improve your search engine rankings.
With that said, SEO involves everything from link building, market research, site restructuring, content creation, coding, content mark-up, public relations up to an effective strategy.
Now, that we’ve got that out of the way, here are a couple of questions you should ask yourself before you begin:
How Much Time Can You Dedicate to Search Engine Optimization?
For you to achieve SEO success, you’ll need to think through your timeline. You need to decide if you can devote 3 to 6 months to it and stay until you see the results. Or if you only have about an hour per week to do that.
Most businesses looking to improve their online rankings have a problem with the fact that it usually takes longer than expected for them to see any tangible results.
The secret here is for you to stay consistent, remain patient, and be clear on how much time you can dedicate to your SEO success.
Can You Match the Pace of the Ever-Changing Algorithms?
SEO rankings and algorithms keep changing and sometimes, this can be a daily change.
While the idea of always ranking as No. 1 on Google for your products or service offerings can be nice, it’s also a bit of a mirage. Because it goes beyond just knowing how to do your own SEO as you could just wake up one morning to a new change or update.
Your business needs to stay relevant and to do this, you have to understand your target audience and the search terms/keywords they use. If you don’t, then you won’t be able to navigate through the constant changes that would make you achieve a successful SEO strategy.
Do You Know All the Terms?
SEO can be confusing. In the SEO industry, there are many terms that you’re likely to find mysterious as a beginner.
Words like Page rank, Headings, Index, HTML, Link Building, Metadata, etc. might sound like gibberish. But these seemingly ‘gibberish’ terms are vital to your online success.
Most likely, you’re going to end up spending about a year or more trying to understand the complexities of SEO before you can even make a change in your search rankings.
How Would You Know You’re Getting Good Results?
If your answer here sounds like, “Oh, I’ll just Google my company,” then we’d like to inform you that doing that isn’t the best strategy to knowing if your SEO results are successful.
There are tools that you need to have, like Google Analytics, for better readings. You need to watch trends, conversion and bounce rates, organic search traffic, and so on.
If you’ve got these sorted, you’re onto a good start but for more effective tracking, hiring a reliable SEO company will be the best option.
Who Would Track Your Rankings?
Let’s say you’re willing to put in all the time, work and you’ve outlined your goals. That’s great. But it doesn’t end there. You still need to know who would be in charge of updating and monitoring your SEO results.
If it’s you…then do you have enough knowledge and experience to do it effectively? Of course, reading a couple of articles, getting some training, or attending a course is a good start.
But would you [or whoever on your team] be able to produce tangible improvements in your search rankings?
This brings us to our last point.
Why Not Hire an SEO Company?
Your own question might be, “Why hire an SEO company to do my SEO when I can?” Well, the investment would be worth it in the end.
The right SEO services will bring your business good SEO which, in turn, brings your customers to your business and vice versa. Over time, hiring the best SEO company will pay for itself.
Final Thoughts.
If you’re bent on knowing how to do your own SEO, then we’re sure that you have the right answers to the questions we asked. Also, bear in mind that the learning curve of search engine optimization for beginners can be steep.
Plus, it’s time-consuming. And if you don’t have access to the latest SEO and marketing trends, it’s challenging as well.
You need to make sure that you consider all this before you put your business at risk just because you’re trying to understand SEO.
But with an SEO company, you can devote your time and effort to another part of your business.