There is a common belief among business owners that they can perform their own search engine optimisation (SEO) with a little guidance up front. Actually, there is nothing wrong with that — but they will need to fully understand the complexities of SEO.
If you’re interested in performing your own SEO, the first hurdle that you need to cross is time. There are few business owners, if any, who have 15 to 20 hours each month to spare (at a minimum), as that is what it takes to optimise a website.
Even if you do have the time, the next problem is learning all of the different skills needed to successfully optimise a website for search engines. SEO requires a high level of understanding in a whole host of disciplines. If you want to manage your own SEO, you will therefore require a lot of time, plus the following skill set:
- Keywords: You need to understand the importance of keywords, where to best place them on a web page, and how to find the best converting keywords with the highest search volume and least competition.
- Search engine algorithms: You need to thoroughly understand how search engines rank websites, plus keep up to date with the latest algorithm updates and how those changes will influence your SEO practices. Get this wrong and you could be penalised heavily by Google.
- Website design and content: Do you know the best page layouts that convert? How about where to place certain types of content to best catch the visitor’s eye? How to arrange a navigational menu? Without this knowledge, and a lot of time up your sleeve for experimentation, you may not only hamper your SEO efforts, but possibly waste them completely by having a website that doesn’t convert visitors into customers.
- Website meta tags: Do you know how to best configure technical data for best search engine ranking results? This requires regular adjustments to comply with the latest search engine changes, which are sometimes published daily.
- HTML code: If you don’t understand HTML and know how to write code, then your SEO will always be behind the eight-ball. Valid HTML code is key to getting the most out of your website.
- Content management systems: Knowing your way around all of the most popular CMS’s is crucial to allow you to quickly make adjustments to your pages, content and technical data as required.
- Social media: Initiating and managing a sound social media campaign and a successful network can take a lot of time and knowledge – and you need this for SEO.
- Copywriting: Do you know how to write engaging content that converts? This means that you need to write interesting content that engages with your customers and keeps them coming back for more. At the very least your content needs to convert visitors into customers at an ever-increasing rate.
If you can’t do all of that (and we’ll take a punt and say that you can’t), your time would be better spent on your core business and other personal strengths. Outsourcing SEO to a reputable, local expert with a strong track record will always pay much greater dividends.
For more information on SEO and website design in Brisbane, call us on (07) 3333 2932 or request a free quote online.
