Can I Do the SEO for My Business Website?

The Importance of SEO

One of the most efficient ways you can spend resources to grow awareness of your small business is to invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). We manage SEO for a number of our clients but also have the occasional client that wants to invest the money elsewhere or simply doesn’t have the money to spend. This is when we strongly encourage them not to do without SEO and, if they don’t want to pay for it, they should consider doing it themselves.

Don’t Let Fear Get in the Way

Generally, there is some initial uncertainty and concern about doing things incorrectly that could damage their online presence and reputation. While this is a very real concern, there’s no reason small business owners can’t do their own SEO provided they follow a few basic steps. With a reasonable investment of time, any small business owner should be able to manage some basic SEO for their business without spending a dime.

Do-It-Yourself SEO Tips

Here are some of the basics we generally recommend before you consider doing your own SEO.

• Learn a Few of the Basics – If you’re going to do your own SEO, learn of few of the basic things about SEO to help you avoid any major mishaps. There are plenty of online resources you can use to learn some good ways to get started and we’re happy to provide input.
• Teach Yourself a Little Coding – You don’t need to be a web development expert but a little coding knowledge is necessary to do SEO. If you have a basic html website, you’ll need to know some html to properly setup your meta tags and descriptions. Even if you have a CMS website like WordPress, a little html knowledge may be necessary to make full use of plugins and widgets.
• Do Some Keyword Research – Spend some time looking at key competitors and evaluating your own goals to determine your desired keyword targets. There are also plenty of free online resources to help you evaluate the best keywords to meet your search objectives.
• Do Some Website Housecleaning First – Before you think about Off-Site SEO, make sure your website is in order from an On-Site SEO perspective. Depending on the size and complexity of your site, it’s best to set aside 8-12 hours for this.
• Brush Up On Your Writing Skills – Possibly the best thing you can do for SEO is to keep your website content fresh and dynamic. Set aside 2-3 hours per week to make sure you continue to create and publish fresh, relevant content to your website.
• Consistently Build Backlinks – Content alone isn’t enough if nobody knows about it. If you spend 3-4 3-4 hours per week building backlinks to your website naturally you will see growth in your traffic and rankings and shouldn’t suffer any adverse effects from Google.
• Take Advantage of Analytic Tools – It’s absolutely essential that you continue to monitor your website presence and profile to be sure you’re making headway. At a minimum, you should setup a free Google account for your business and make use of Google+, Google Analytics and Google Webmaster tools.

SEO is Worth the Effort

The time you spend learning and then doing your own SEO is well worth the effort. As consumers continue to evolve to predominantly online search, you’re certain to see some type of return on your investment. If you stick with the basics it’s unlikely that you’ll run into any major difficulties. If you do, you can always give us a call and we’ll help get you through them.