What to Consider When Hiring an SEO - SEO: You or a Pro?

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You need to figure out how much time and money you have to spend on SEO for your site before you can answer that question. It also helps to know how much of a control freak you are. Whether you decide to do it yourself or have someone else do it, it’s a good idea to read up on SEO techniques. There are plenty of sites that can help you with this; in addition to SEO Chat’s articles, we have a very active forum area. You might also want to read an article I wrote recently that shares my online SEO resources for other sites to check out.

If you’re up on the basics of SEO techniques, you’ll be able to talk intelligently about the topic with anyone you consider hiring. You’ll also have a better chance of catching a scammer. Unfortunately, they’re still rife in this field; there is no special educational or certification process that SEOs must go through before they can put their shingle out, unlike doctors, lawyers and accountants. Some do have certifications, though, and the educational process is ongoing.

But let’s talk advantages and disadvantages. If you do your own SEO, it won’t cost you any money, at least not directly. There’s always the opportunity cost of whether you’d get more money investing your time in another part of your business, but let’s leave that aside for the moment; I’m not an economist. Also, if you do your own SEO, you maintain complete control over the site. Further, no SEO can know your business or your field as well as you do, so if you have the time to learn SEO you have a fair shot at getting good results. You’ll have to be patient, however, because good SEO takes months before it starts having an effect, and it is a never-ending process.

We’ll assume for the moment that you’ve decided you don’t have the time to devote to doing your own SEO, and you do have the spare cash to pay someone else to do it. It can be a great idea to hire an SEO to take care of your web site in that case. You won’t have to divert any in-house resources from the part of your business that’s really making money. A good, honest SEO offers a wide range of knowledge and resources that you might not have. They’ll talk with you to get a better understanding of your business so they can help you get the most out of your web site and its position in the search engine results pages. So what is your next step?

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