Should you go it alone, or reach out for help? In business as in life, this is a choice that crops up a lot.

Let’s apply it to search engine optimisation (SEO). You want to rank higher on Google, so that you get more traffic and leads. You have some basic SEO knowledge. But is it worth an investment of your own time, or is it best to trust the experts?

We wrote this article to help you reach a sensible decision on DIY SEO vs professional SEO. It’s only natural to wonder whether you can reduce your overheads by keeping SEO in-house. After all… how hard can be it, really?

Read on to learn about both sides of the bargain; what you can gain from doing SEO yourself, the pitfalls to watch out for, and how SEO professionals can help.

Going it alone for SEO: A necessity or a choice?

Search engine optimisation, commonly known as SEO, is the quest for higher rankings in search engine results. The biggest and most dominant player in the search engine market is Google, and that’s the search engine which the majority of SEO is based around.

If you have a business that has, or wants, any kind of online presence, you can benefit from SEO. Plainly put – more visibility in search engine results = more traffic. And more traffic often leads to more customers. Read how an organic search click increase for The Wellness Lab went hand in hand with a doubling of the company’s goal conversions over a 6-month period.

Much of SEO comes down to ensuring that your website is optimised to ‘agree’ with the Google algorithm. Google never tells us its exact criteria for ranking websites, but it does provide updates and drop heavy hints.

Ultimately in SEO, there are things that we know work, and things that we are pretty sure work. SEO is the ongoing exercise of ticking as many of those boxes as possible.

You can handle some aspects of SEO alone. And many people do. Building a keyword list, ensuring meta titles and descriptions are optimised, and producing optimised content aren’t beyond your reach.

As a complete ‘fresher’, learning even these basic elements of SEO will take time, but for many fledgling start-ups and ‘one-man bands’, there is no choice. The budget just isn’t there for professional help with SEO. Although it can be a time drain, taking the bull by the horns will save you money, and allow you to learn a new skill.

But what will you need to grow your business with SEO?

What you’ll need for DIY SEO

Think of Google as an insanely overcrowded marketplace, with vendor after vendor ready to climb over each other to reach their potential customers.

You need the knowledge, and the tools, to get up the rankings, be more visible and claim your share of the web traffic.

In order to do this, a basic understanding of SEO is necessary. This includes essentials such as understanding how keywords work, what meta tags are, and how to conduct on-page optimisation.

There are a few platforms to get to grips with. These include Google Analytics (to track your website’s performance), Google Search Console (to track your website’s performance on Google), specialised SEO tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs, and content management systems such as WordPress.

What we’ve described above are the basics. How does that sound? Are you willing to spend time learning about these platforms, using online resources such as tutorials and articles? And are you happy to commit to building and maintaining your online visibility? Or would you prefer to understand the important stuff without doing the ‘dirty work’?

These are the factors that you will have to consider when deciding whether to go it alone for SEO.

DIY SEO: The pitfalls

Just to make sure we are on track…

What we’ve covered so far is (some) of the basics of SEO, and what you will need to do to understand and implement them alone.

Learning anything new is rarely a straight road, but as far as online business is concerned, SEO has more twists than most…

Due to the unknowns of the Google algorithm, SEO is rarely an ‘exact science’. After a few weeks or months, you may notice you are not making ranking gains despite your efforts. Worse still, it is not uncommon to encounter a drop in rankings, for reasons which are not immediately obvious.

Hurdles that may block you from climbing up the rankings could be technical SEO issues. Everything from site speed to crawl errors and indexing problems can make a difference. These areas of SEO can stretch the knowledge (and test the patience!) of have-a-go heroes.

Then there is the question of strategy and long-term planning. Are SEO DIY’ers prepared to put an overarching SEO strategy together, which ties together elements such as keywords, content and backlinks for the next 12 months or more?

And finally, what about the ever-changing enigma that is the Google algorithm? The SEO community waits with bated breath for each Google update (core updates tend to happen several times a year). Once the update is published, we then spend hours deliberating over what Google has told us, and the implications. Google very rarely tells us to “do X”. They will talk in general terms about changes to how the search engine views and values certain types of content.

If you are thinking about taking SEO on yourself, are you ready to keep abreast of these periodical updates? Are you prepared to dissect and discuss them to pinpoint how they affect your site? And do you have the time (and the know-how) to make any changes that you deem necessary off the back of the updates?

There is nothing worse than a scaremonger. So please don’t think of us that way. What we’ve covered above are the realities of SEO; an often befuddling and sometimes brutal exercise that can be so integral to modern-day business success.

Of course, you don’t have to take SEO on your shoulders alone. Now let’s come to the reasons for taking the professional route.

A helping hand – together we are stronger?

Starting with the knowledge: If you are a dedicated learner, and have the time, there is nothing to stop you from becoming an SEO expert. However, with the day-to-day running of your business to think about, this might be tricky.

Partnering with an experienced SEO agency gives you ‘expertise on tap’. Not only will you be working with professionals to whom working on platforms such as Google Search Console are second nature, but you’ll also be receiving the benefits of the most up-to-date practices which are in line with the latest Google updates.

Then there are the tools themselves. Working with a proven SEO agency ensures that you are getting the best insights from the data that you are generating. Not only that, but SEO professionals have access to premium tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs, meaning that you don’t need to fork out monthly subscription fees.

As we’ve touched on already, strategic planning is another advantage. An accomplished SEO agency can listen to your business objectives, and build an SEO strategy around them which supports steady growth over the next 12-18 months.

Lastly, what about scaling up? You might just about be able to handle your own basic SEO. But as the size and nature of your business expands, so too will your SEO needs change. Working with SEO specialists gives you the resources and capabilities to support this growth. Your SEO strategy will adapt each time ‘the goalposts move’ – including shifts in target markets and competitors.

Hybrid approach: Doing what you can

Before we wrap up; this might not be a ‘one or the other’ dilemma. Have you thought about a hybrid approach?

You could learn about SEO – the basics of how it works, using the tools, and creating a strategy – before arranging a consultancy with an experienced SEO agency.

From there, you can get advice on the parts of SEO that are beyond your capabilities, work on an SEO strategy that meets your business objectives, and decide which tasks will be handled by you or your SEO specialist.

You might find that building a basic SEO knowledge will help you to collaborate with your SEO agency, understand their activities better, and plan for the future.

DIY SEO vs professional SEO: How to decide

This article wasn’t written to sell you a dream. We have just focused on putting together the case for, and against, trying to do SEO yourself.

When to hire an SEO agency will come down to several key factors, including; how you want to spend your time, your budget, your immediate needs, and your timeline for business growth.

If you are asking yourself “do I need an SEO expert?” there is no right or wrong answer. It starts with an honest assessment of your own SEO knowledge and skills, as well as how much time you are willing to devote to learning and implementing SEO practices.

Don’t be afraid to reach out. As SEO experts ourselves, we find that some of the most fruitful partnerships start with a good, honest, no-strings attached chat.