DIY SEO Vs Employing A Digital Marketing SEO Agency

In this day and age, there is so much you can do from your own computer. From learning how to dance to a new language, there’s virtually nothing that’s off-limits to determined learners. One of the helpful things you can teach yourself is the world of SEO for your website and social media presence.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and it helps drive both the quantity and quality of the traffic that comes through your website through organic search engine results. This means real people, not bots. This article on Moz helps understand the true meaning of SEO and breaks down what the definition means.

There are ways you can improve your SEO on your own without an agency. In this article, we’ll look at 5 ways you can DIY your SEO to work for you and compare that to what an agency can help you with.

How can you do-it-yourself with SEO?

Understand SEO

Take a class online to understand the ins and outs of SEO and how it works. Google offers certificates on digital marketing which include how to use SEO. This will also help you understand the difference between long-tail keywords and short-tail ones and how to best use them to appear higher in search results.

Keyword research

You won’t know how to optimise your copy without knowing what’s going to work. To do research on the keywords that work for you and your industry, think about what people would google to find your service. By finding the words and phrases from real searches, you can determine which words to target. By putting in the time in the beginning to research the words that are the most useful for your product or service, you’re saving time in the long run by not having to rework your website or campaign when it’s not bringing in the traffic you want.

Produce regular content

When you keep up with consistency along with utilising those words you identified to be the most useful in searches, you can ensure that you’re building a brand that relevant. This helps you reach more audiences and get more clicks through to your website. Content isn’t always text, too. This can include photos, videos, or other content that adds to your brand.

Re-name content

Search engines can’t see photos or watch videos. To help it understand what it is, try renaming it to something specific. For example, if you run a hair salon and have a photo of a blonde lady getting her haircut, don’t name the photo “image1.png”. Instead, trying naming it something like “blonde-ladies-long-hair-cut”. This is a lot more likely to be picked up by search engines on their crawl through your website’s content.

Getting your website to rank in Google is more competitive than ever. On-page content, performance, social factors and backlinks are all examples of key factors used by search engines like Google to determine which sites should rank highest.

Our FREE comprehensive AI-driven SEO and Website Audit automatically reviews and identifies problems with your website that could hinder ranking performance. Providing a clear, actionable list of prioritised SEO recommendations, you can quickly pinpoint issues, improve website performance and boost search engine rankings.

When should you employ an agency?

Knowledge

Ultimately, you’re paying for knowledge. You’re paying for someone, or a team who has years in the industry learning the importance of marketing and SEO. This person or team generally breathes keywords and can help ensure that you’re driving the right traffic to not waste any time. Your agency will be able to optimise your website and help you move forward with your marketing in a meaningful way. Instead of taking shots in the dark and not knowing which of your campaigns are working, it’s best to allow a marketing agency to answer the questions for you.

Analytics

If data is your strong suit, then great! But for people who are too busy building their brand to pour over the data and the analytics to come to conclusions, then an agency is for you. They will go over your analytics and provide a plan and suggestions for campaigns going forward. They will understand by looking at the data what is and isn’t working and the best ways to improve. It’s okay to admit the data goes over your head and hand the information over to a professional who has years of education in the topic. They love this part of the process and will help you understand too along the way.

Stagnant

You’ve tried everything and have worked and reworked your websites and campaigns, but you’re still not seeing the traffic and sales you feel you deserve. An agency can come in and revitalise your campaign in a new and exciting way. They can help you get the motivation back to continue to sell your product and will help you get the right eyes on your website.

You simply don’t love marketing

It’s okay to admit it! You might love what you do in every sense of the word, but you just may not love marketing. It can be time-consuming and confusing. When you’d rather focus your attention on the product or service you’re offering, it’s time to hand the reigns over to an agency. Not only will they save money, but it really shows when you don’t care about the marketing side of things. A half-hearted approach and no personality will drive people away from your brand. Marketing professionals work in these agencies because they love the work they do, so why not let them what they do best?

Whether you choose to work on your own digital marketing or hand it over to an agency, rest assured that the effort you put in will be rewarded! When you take the time to learn and grow your SEO skills, it will pay off if you focus on it.

But, if you don’t have the time or energy to do this, there’s nothing wrong with handing it over to the professionals.

Do you use an agency for your digital marketing? What have they been able to help you with?