In theory, there are two main ways to optimise your website to rank in search engines: DIY SEO and outsourcing.
The first involves reading up on search engine optimisation, purchasing an SEO tool, and doing all the work yourself.
The second involves tasking out your campaigns to an expert outside of your business. This might be an independent SEO freelancer, a service provider, or an agency with a team of dedicated SEO experts. You can outsource specific parts of your digital marketing strategy, such as local SEO, or engage a vendor on all aspects of your game plan, from the audit stage all the way to developing, executing, and optimising your campaign.
If you’re still in the early stages of deciding whether to DIY or outsource your SEO campaigns, keep reading. We’ll help you weigh up the pros and cons of each option so you can make an informed decision about which approach is best for you.
Pros and Cons of DIY SEO
DIY SEO is a great option if you're looking to save money and are willing to invest time. It's also a great way to learn more about search engine optimisation. If you want to gain skills in other areas of digital marketing, like copywriting and conversion rate optimisation, there's no better way than to do it yourself.
On the other side, DIY SEO can be very time-consuming, even for someone who has a reasonable degree of knowledge about how it works. Even if you're able to get reasonably good results, there's no guarantee that you'll get the best possible results for your business. It can also be tough to know what resources are worth your time and which aren't.
DIY Search engine optimisation is often touted as a way to save money. However, this isn't always the case. As you get further into SEO, you're going to need specialised tools. These are expensive and they can also be complicated to use and require time and effort to learn.
The cost of the tools alone could mean you wind up paying more than if you worked with an agency from the beginning. You'll still have to do all the work yourself, and there's no guarantee you won't make mistakes that will hurt your site's rankings or even get it penalised. You could even waste money by taking wrong actions or missing important opportunities.
Pros and Cons of outsourcing your SEO
An SEO agency brings to the table a wealth of experience and expertise. This can be a huge advantage for your business in terms of time-saving, money-saving and above all, generating higher rankings with the main advantages being:
Expertise: This is probably the most obvious benefit of outsourcing your SEO to a professional agency. They've been doing it for years, and hopefully, have a track record that proves their ability to get results. You'll have a team of people working on your account who specialize in everything from link building to conversion rate optimization, which means you'll see results faster than if you were trying to do it yourself.
Time: If you're actually running your business, you likely don't have time to manage an in-house SEO campaign. Outsourcing the work means you don't need to take the time out of your day to learn about SEO. Most agencies will provide reports so you can see what's going on and progress being made, but it's up to them to make sure everything's done per best practices (as long as you hire a good one).
Resources: Professional agencies also have resources that many businesses simply don't have access to, whether it be tools or relationships they've built over the years. If they're good at what they do, they'll have access to a network of bloggers and influencers that can be
On the other hand, the main disadvantage of outsourcing your SEO is that agencies often promise more than they can deliver. They may promise things like first page rankings within six weeks, but this is not always possible because delivering results quickly usually means compromising the quality of their work. A good firm will tell you that building ranking takes time and effort.
Secondly, you might lose control over the direction of your SEO strategy, especially with an agency located far away from you. You may prioritise or emphasise different things than your agency does, so be sure to find someone who represents your priorities well. That's why it is in your best interest to work with a local SEO agency that you can visit and talk to face to face.
Conclusion
If you're starting out with a new website and a limited budget, there's no question that DIY is the best option for search engine optimisation, at least until you have the marketing budget required to hire an agency. Once your business grows and your budget increases, however, outsourcing makes sense for many reasons:
A good agency will be able to get your website ranked higher in search results than you could do on your own. When you outsource, you don't have to worry about learning an entirely new skill set and finding the time to manage it all. Outsourcing gives you more time to focus on what you do best, running your business.
We can help with more than just SEO: we also offer a wide range of other online digital marketing services.
If you need help deciding whether or not it's time for you to hire an agency, get in touch today and book your free consultation!