Can I Do My Own SEO? - Small Biz SEO Guide Pt 03

So you are thinking of rolling up your sleeves and trying to conquer your own SEO? If that’s the case, or if you just want a more clear picture of what it would take, then read on. 

Digital marketing is a vast space. There are many models and approaches like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC), marketing automation, and more that let small businesses achieve their revenue goals and enjoy a stellar online presence. 

While we always recommend using professionals, especially if you are serious about growing your business, we know there are some DIYers out there that will take on the challenge regardless; and this one’s for you.

Included are some simple techniques that will help you improve your search engine performance and divert organic traffic. We will also discuss the pros and cons of sailing your own SEO boat. And hey, this is the next post of our blog series Small Biz SEO Guide - you can check our previous posts here. 

Do-It-Yourself SEO Tips and Tricks 

#1 Tip - Get Started with keyword research. First things first - you should learn how your target customers look for the services and products you offer. For example, if your Wrought Iron business is based in El Dorado Hills, you should use keywords like “driveway gates in El Dorado Hills” or “wrought iron near El Dorado Hills.” These search queries will be your keywords and are likely to help you appear in search results easily. 

To start your keyword research, you can use free tools like Google Keyword Planner. It will help you get suggestions related to your service/industry and strategize better. You can also go for Moz Keyword Explorer and Ahrefs to get insights into keyword targeting. 

#2 Tip - Improve title tags and webpage content. Use your knowledge and industry expertise to create relevant title tags and home page and category page content. Write crisp titles and original, useful, and customer-centric content to engage your readers. Also, make an effort to include your high-performing keyword in the titles and text. This will enable crawlers to find you and give you a higher position in SERPs. 

Tip - Use Call-to-Action (CTA) strategically to inspire customer action. 

#3 Tip - Develop technical basics of SEO. Honestly, this can be a little overwhelming. Technical SEO allows search engines to crawl and index your website effectively. To learn more about technical aspects of SEO, invest some time in learning about the website functionality and how to identify crawl errors, issues with broken images, metadata, loading times, and more. You can get these issues fixed, and once done, you can expect a significant improvement in your search engine performance.

#4 Tip - Perform competitor analysis. This is a proven solution to follow the industry trends and smartly replicate them to boost your DIY SEO effort. You can make use of tools like Ubersuggest, Spyfu, and SEMRush to track competitor insights and update your SEO strategies. 

All that being discussed, let’s try to understand the pros and cons of DIY SEO. 

Perks of DIY SEO 

Save money

The first and most important benefit of doing your SEO is, it will cost you less. If you are just starting your business and don’t have the budget to hire a professional it may help to have some SEO, rather than none. Not in all cases, there are some techniques that can actually do more harm than good (ask us about this if venturing into your own SEO realm).

While doing your SEO, you develop an understanding of the sources of your traffic and the keywords people use to find your business. This knowledge proves to be invaluable as this will allow you to present your brand and services more effectively to both potential and existing customers. It also helps you generate more leads with your website. 

Save time

You have a thorough knowledge of your industry and potential clients. This in-depth expertise will help you build out your SEO, without spending too much time understanding the business marketing basics. 

DIY SEO Can be a Big No-No - Here’s Why. 

Harm your website 

The forays into do-it-yourself SEO by SMBs often result in injuring or destructively harming their website. Most of these harms are caused by having little to no experience of business owners in SEO. Most importantly, the newbie should know the difference between white hat SEO and black hat SEO to move in the correct direction. 

Insufficient time 

You may manage your schedule to send the odd Tweet or post a blog once a week, but the success of SEO lies in being consistent. If you want to see the good positive results of your efforts, you need to be consistent with posting new content regularly.

A successful SEO requires a lot of time and effort, so if you are thinking of doing it yourself, make sure that you have both time and effort in abundance.

Changing market trends and search algorithms

Google’s algorithms are too complicated to understand. Even if you manage to understand them, you may not be able to keep up with their regular changes. If you are not one of the SEO experts, you may end up using a black hat technique and it will do more harm than good to your website.

We hope this post will help you make a smart decision when it comes to your SEO. 

If you are short of time or believe that doing SEO can be a little tricky for you, it’s always wise to hire a reliable online marketing agency. We at Iron Marketers are always happy to help clients plan result-oriented SEO campaigns. Reach out to us, and our dedicated team will assist you in planning, managing, and monitoring your SEO campaigns. To know more, contact us here.