How To Avoid 6 Deadly Pitfalls of DIY SEO

by Mark Simmons February 28, 2016
February 28, 2016

Consumers today hit the Internet to learn about just about everything they could possibly need. From auto repair providers to clothing stores and restaurants, they know that they’ll be able to find what they’re looking for just a few clicks away. An optimized website is the only way to make sure they find you, but do you have to hire a professional to handle your SEO? In most cases, the answer is a resounding “YES”! Following are a number of the pitfalls of DIY SEO.


Internet Based Education – Learning enough to be Dangerous
With the massive amount of information available online about search engine optimization, it’s easy for anybody to research DIY SEO strategies. From industry news to “How to’s”, there’s more, seemingly free, SEO information at our disposal today than ever before. After several hours of reading through tutorials, etc., you may even start to feel like an expert, or at the very least, feel confident that you can apply SEO to your landing pages or flagship website. The fact is that, while having a good comprehension of the basic principles of SEO is important, it’s highly recommended that you hire an experienced SEO professional to manage your organic SEO marketing strategy. Going it alone will eat of hours of your time and without achieving positive results.


What Works Today May Not Work Tomorrow
Much like the internet itself, SEO is continually evolving and changing, meaning that what works today will most likely not work tomorrow. A good example would be Meta keywords. At one time, not so long ago, Meta keywords were one of the most important ranking factors when it came to search engines. Now, they’re considered useless for the most part, except for letting your competition know which keywords you’re targeting. As a business owner, do you really have the time to keep up with the SEO trends? Chances are that your answer is no.


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Understanding the Rules of the Game
The inner workings of Google’s ranking algorithms are closely guarded secrets. They have to be or else the internet would quickly be overrun by tricky spammers (yes, it could get worse). SEO is a lot like baking a cake without directions, but it has to turn out right because the future of your business is at stake. Proficient SEO experts devote hours of data analysis, scientific study, trial and error in order to gain a firm understanding of the rules of the game. Does it make sense for you to divert that much time and effort from operating your business? When conducting DIY SEO, that’s exactly what’s required and if you don’t keep up, you fall behind.


DIY SEO Google Penguin


Changes in SEO Rules can Be Devastating
Most of the changes in SEO rules that occur result in some elements and/or strategies no longer working, or having diminished effectiveness, resulting in a huge waste of your time. Worse, a lot of changes in the SEO rules can actually get you penalized and even wipe out your website’s rankings if you don’t understand or anticipate them, adjusting your strategies with each modification. These represent the changes that present the biggest danger to small business owners. For example, when Google’s notorious Panda algorithm update was released, the results were catastrophic and far reaching for businesses of every size. The same was true for the Penguin update. Sadly, the problems that occurred due to the algorithm updates could have been avoided by anticipating and having a strong understanding of the changes, adjusting their SEO strategies accordingly.


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Time Consuming
Coming up with and managing effective SEO strategies is a full time job, requiring the meticulous observation of industry trends, looking for changes, being aware of the implications, and generating actionable strategies to maximize opportunities and avoid penalties. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all unless that’s your primary position. Anybody who runs a small business will tell you that time is in short supply. This is especially true for startups that wear several hats, from administration to accounting, finance, sales, service, purchasing and a list of other duties, along with undertaking all of the other activities of running a business. Because SEO is so time consuming, it just makes sense to outsource it to someone who you can count on to do it right, leaving you to concentrate on growing your business.


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Nobody Has Your Back
Everybody makes mistakes and problems crop up in every industry. When it comes to SEO, even the omission of one HTML tag can result in disaster to the entire website. These potential, mistakes can pose a huge problem without the assistance of an SEO expert. Bearing that in mind, if something happens that affects your SEO, whether it’s negative SEO, duplicate content, Google penalties and more, would you know how to fix it? If you work with a reputable SEO provider, you’ll have somebody there that has your back and can help you recover within a few hours or days. If you don’t it could take you weeks and even months to resolve the issue. We’re not trying to scare you out of DIY SEO – we’re just stating the facts.


It’s important and often necessary for small business owners to find ways to save money in as many areas as possible. However, when it comes to SEO, a digital strategy that’s designed to produce paying clients and maximize your profits, it is best to pay an SEO professional. Business owners who avoid the pitfalls of DIY SEO by hiring a professional will quickly realize that it’s not an expense but an investment with an outstanding return.

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