Many people have taken it upon themselves to learn how to optimize their websites for search engines in the hopes of boosting their online visibility and rankings. But is do-it-yourself SEO (search engine optimization) really the best option for everyone? Creating a strong SEO strategy can be complex, and relying on the experience of SEO experts is a surefire way to ensure the success of your business.
The primary goal of SEO
SEO is the practice of improving your website content for better visibility and higher rankings in the organic search engine result pages (SERPs). SEO involves optimizing various elements such as meta descriptions, keywords, search terms, backlinks, internal links, page titles, content, images, and more. The goal is to increase organic traffic to your website and improve its visibility and ranking in the SERPs.
An effective SEO strategy requires careful research and analysis to figure out the best SEO practices and techniques. To rank better in SERPs, you need to create content that’s relevant and optimized for users. This encompasses many different components such as keyword research, link building, website content, and more.
For example, link building builds relevant links back to your website from other websites, boosting your authoritative presence in the SERPs. Optimizing your content requires creating quality content (like blog posts) that is both useful and relevant to the user. Keyword research involves selecting and optimizing keywords that target the right search queries.
SEO is a long-term investment. It’s important to monitor your website’s performance and continue to implement online marketing strategies in order to stay on top of the SERPs. SEO is an ongoing process, and it takes time to see the increments of improvement that may result from SEO practices.
DIY SEO:
Advantages of DIY SEO
One of the most attractive advantages of DIY SEO is the cost. While the upfront costs of hiring an SEO expert can be significant, DIY SEO requires no fees and allows you to pour all your time and effort into the project yourself. Furthermore, without the need to pay an SEO expert, you have complete control in terms of how the DIY project is conducted and managed, meaning you’re not tied down to certain timelines and deadlines.
We’ve already touched upon the fact that DIY SEO allows you full control of the project, which also provides you with the benefit of flexibility. As your website needs and goals change over time, you’re free to adapt your strategy and make adjustments as necessary in order to maintain and optimize your website visibility. By doing this, you’ll remain up-to-date with the trends and technology that power search engine visibility and ultimately, increase your website traffic.
Undertaking DIY SEO also gives you invaluable experience that you can use in the future. As you research and apply SEO techniques, you’ll gain more knowledge and understanding of how SEO works and what it takes to become successful. You’ll also develop the necessary skills to adjust your techniques as search engine algorithms change and you’ll be able to master the manipulation of new ones.
DIY SEO tools and resources
For businesses who want to implement an effective DIY SEO strategy, there are plenty of resources available. For example, there are a number of great free (or free trial) keyword research tools to help businesses find the best keywords to target. Google’s keyword planner is the most well-known and comprehensive option, as it allows users to research search volumes for specific keywords as well as competitor analysis. Semrush and KWFinder are two other popular tools which provide similar in-depth keyword research data.
Another example is the Google Search Console and Google Analytics, which provide data and insights into the performance of your website on the search engine. It’s a great way to identify any potential issues with your SEO and see how your website is performing in search results.
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop program that helps you to analyze your website’s SEO. The tool crawls your website in the same way that a search engine would and can detect any existing errors, issues, and potential problems with your website and provide you with recommendations on how to improve them.
SEOquake is a great plugin for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera that allows you to quickly analyze a website’s SEO performance. The plugin provides you with comprehensive data such as the website’s SEMrush rank, Bing index, and Twitter mentions, as well as a variety of other important metrics that can assist in optimizing your site.
Challenges for DIY SEO
Learning and implementing an SEO strategy by yourself can be a huge challenge. An incredible amount of time and effort is required in order to effectively execute a successful SEO plan, which makes it difficult for businesses with limited resources to tackle on their own. Additionally, the ever-changing nature of SEO, combined with its technical complexity, can be overwhelming for even the most experienced digital marketing professionals.
For a business with limited resources, DIY SEO optimization often takes time away from more important tasks like running the business. It can be a huge challenge to try to create and manage effective SEO campaigns while simultaneously attending to other tasks associated with running a business. This challenge is multiplied when a business is unfamiliar with the dynamics of SEO, as the amount of time necessary to properly research and execute a successful SEO plan can be overwhelming.
Another major challenge of DIY-SEO is staying up to date with the latest advancements in the industry. Since SEO is such a fast-paced field, not keeping up can severely damage a website or business’s online visibility. As SEO best practices shift almost constantly, staying in the loop and understanding new development is essential for a successful SEO strategy.
Why you should hire professional SEO services
If you can’t choose whether to go the route of DIY or hire a pro, here are a few things to consider.
1. Reliability
First, professional SEO services are more reliable than trying to optimize your website yourself. SEO is a vast field, with many different factors that must be taken into account, and many of the nuances can be difficult to grasp without a deep understanding of the subject. Professional SEO firms have teams of experts who are well-versed in the best SEO practices, and they’ll be able to provide you with comprehensive coverage of the SEO tactics. Moreover, they’ll be able to easily adjust and update the techniques over time as the algorithms change, ensuring your website always gets the best possible ranking.
2. Time-saving
Second, SEO services can help you save a lot of time. A professional SEO firm will be able to streamline the process and provide you with results much faster than you would be able to achieve on your own. This is especially true if you don’t have a team of people to work on the SEO tasks, as managing it alone could take weeks or even months. By taking advantage of professional services, you’ll be able to quickly and efficiently get your website to the top of the rankings.
3. Helps avoid mistakes
Finally, having a professional SEO firm on your side will ensure that you avoid making any mistakes that could have a negative impact on your website’s rankings. Many amateur SEO tactics, such as keyword stuffing or link building strategies, can actually end up hurting your website’s chances of achieving high rankings. A professional SEO provider will have the experience and knowledge to be able to recognize the tactics that will work well for your website, and avoid any potentially damaging methods.
Iris Marketing Team
If you’re looking to take your business to the next level, you won’t want to miss out on Iris Marketing Team’s professional SEO services. Our team of SEO experts will help you optimize your website so that you can gain more visibility, drive more traffic, and increase your conversions. Contact us now and take control of your online success!