Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important aspects of getting traffic from search engines like Google to your online business. SEO is a simple concept in digital marketing, you can easily learn the basics of SEO, but it can be a real challenge to pull off. Don’t expect half-hearted SEO efforts to yield good google rankings, a proper SEO service will prepare a long term strategy that uses the right keywords, generates organic traffic through rigorous link building, and aims to get your site rank to the first page of Google.
What state is your website in?
Your own site is the first place to start, your existing site should be visually stunning, and easy to navigate for your target customer. It is like your storefront online, if visitors from search engines step in for a moment and feel they can get a better experience from other websites then, it doesn’t matter how much effort is spent driving traffic with good on page SEO.
Think about your website content like the products in a store, or books in a library. If you were to walk into a grocery store and see nearly nothing on the shelves, you would likely leave without buying anything and go somewhere else. The same goes for an SEO optimized website, if your site is not filled with relevant or informative content then users will quickly ‘bounce’ off to another site. A high ‘bounce rate’ is one of the key metrics that Google looks at when determining where to rank a website. If you look at your website and it reminds you of an empty shelf, then it’s time to get some content added.
How much time can you dedicate to writing each week?
Search engines put more trust in websites with consistent releases of quality content. This blog is around 1500 words, a little less than Stephen King would write in an average day. Assuming I write as quickly as Mr. King (I don’t) we’re at one full day for writing. Running it through my keyword tool, adding internal links, reaching out for external links, finding photos, formatting, adding sources, edits, proofreading, etc. will add another day bringing us to two days for a 1500 word blog post with good search engine potential, and hopefully somewhat engaging content.
Generally, the more competitive a keyword is, the longer your posts targeting it should be. For general purposes, one-to-two thousand word posts once-or-twice a month should suffice for most small businesses. If you’re the owner and able to put in a full day each week then you could probably manage a basic level of content writing on your own if you were adamant about keeping it in-house. Some popular keywords are competitive enough that top posts will be 10,000 or more words which would take Mr. King a whopping 5 days just to write, and they must be released at least monthly to maintain consistent posting times; if you fall into this sort of competition then good luck without enough outside help! The length of posts, and your release schedule, should be outlined in your overall SEO strategy.
All this time spent creating content doesn’t include the months long learning curve to learn SEO, constant research, testing of new programs, updating older posts, yadda yadda that can be overwhelming even to somebody without a business to run. Seriously consider if you would rather pick up the equivalent of a part time job time-wise to do things yourself, or just hire an agency that can handle things for you.
Can I Publish an Article or Blog then Forget about It?
Major search engines are constantly changing their search engine algorithms. In 2021, Google published 4,366 updates to their google search algorithm. That’s an average of 12 updates per day! Some are large and some are small, but all together these algorithm changes can wreak havoc on a website’s ranking if they don’t actively keep up with the big changes. Google puts out these updates to make searches more useful for regular people. Many years ago, the only relevant factor to being on the first page of a search engine was how many people clicked the result, inevitably the results were flooded with click-bait titles like “CLICK HERE NOW to find your answer!” that weren’t relevant at all to what was actually searched. Google “click here” today and it’s all results saying why NOT to put “click here” on your pages.
What are the Costs?
I’ve already mentioned your time which is the biggest one, but what else will end up using your precious resources?
Writing high quality content is half the battle, the other half for real SEO success is the technical side. The goal is simple: Create engaging content with enough relevant keywords to increase search traffic. But in order to do that, you will need to spend your money and even more time on SEO tools to help with keyword research, website analysis, and link building.g
How much do SEO programs cost?
There are a lot of great free tools out there like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Yoast for WordPress that can help you with your website’s SEO. But if you want to take it to the next level, you will need to use paid programs like Moz, Ahrefs, and SEMRush. My favorite service right now is SurferSEO for their simple interface and great automation for research and finding site issues; they have a basic free plan too to test out. These tools cost hundreds of dollars per month, which is why many businesses hire an agency. The price jump from subscriptions and in-house content rollout, to shelling out for an agency to do it all for you, can be substantial but it is something to consider.
Are you up to the task?
Do you have time to spare?
Producing good search engine rankings takes a lot of time, full days every week spend creating consistent content that tells search engines your site is worth the visit. If your calendar is full already then it is likely best to leave your search engine optimization efforts to a professional SEO agency.
Have you considered ALL the costs?
OK so the steps are to choose a target keyword, create relevant content, then reach out to other creators for backlinks to your new post. Each of these components may have their own software to pay for and use, bringing your monthly total into the hundreds. Then someone needs to write your content, if you want to release regularly then it can be hundreds or thousands more for in-house writers each month, a field where you get what you pay for. If you can only afford the most basic subscriptions, and low-quality written content, then that puts you far behind in an industry where analytics and reputation are everything.
Can you commit to education?
There is a lot to learn in the world of SEO. From the vocabulary (ranking factors? white-hat black-hat? backlinks?), to learning how search engines work, to optimizing your site and webpage layout, to creating the content search engines like, to using analytical programs to their full potential, to finding quality backlinks, to all the small tips and tricks that can give an edge over competition. Search engine optimization is so complex that many people choose SEO work as their entire career. Competition for keyword rankings is cutthroat and the successful have put it enormous effort into learning what it takes to win.
All the little things.
All the details that need to be accounted for in order to give your site the best chance at ranking. Things like website loading speed, meta descriptions on photos, sitemaps that are easy for crawlers to read, monitoring Google Search Console for issues that pop up, optimizing for mobile and tablets, etc. Google has their own extensive starter guide for SEO that should be given a thorough read through.
The Conclusion
SEO is not easy, it can be a full time job that requires constant learning and attention to detail. The competition is fierce and the costs can be high, but the reward of increased traffic and online visibility make it worth the investment for many businesses. Even if you are willing to put in the time and money, there is no guarantee of success. If you have the time and resources to commit to SEO, then go for it! But if you are already stretched thin, then it might be best to leave it to the professionals.