SEO is a term thrown around in certain spheres, but it is a discipline both all on its own and a bridge between many. In effect, the industry (yes, industry) encompasses a breadth of others: strategy, front-end development, technical support, site support, analytics, link building, content marketing, and more. It’s not hard to understand why defining such a sphere is a challenge in and of itself, let alone doing it day in and day out.
Some companies and organizations opt to try their hand at it or go with an internal hire. Others try to lump it into an already stacked marketing role—who may already be juggling a mess of other areas: social media marketing, messaging and PR, advertising, content. Unfortunately, marketing catch-all has become a rule, rather than an exception in today’s marketing positions. Here’s why DIY SEO is a disservice to you, your team, and your company’s success online.
What Makes SEO So Difficult?
Difficult doesn’t begin to describe the day-to-day requirements of effective SEO. SEO is a continual uphill battle—always keeping up-to-date with small (or seismic) search engine changes and the ever-moving needle that is Google algorithm updates. It’s safe to say SEO is a moving target—and one that does not always get the attention it deserves.
What happens often with SEO is that it becomes something on the perpetual back-burner—companies know they need to do it, but don’t have the resources or manpower available to properly devote to it. A marketing director or marketing lead, even full-time, doesn’t have the time to optimize web pages, track for updates and algorithm changes, check for bad or broken links, review analytics, and craft stellar prose—along with everything else they already have to manage.
As you can see, SEO is not solely keeping up with what Google’s doing—even if that’s a large component of it. As mentioned, SEO is a spectrum of disciplines all rolled into one. That means there’s a breadth of expertise required—a level of experience not easily picked up on the fly. Like anything else in business (and for that matter life), SEO requires practice, persistence, and passion.
Can I Afford to Ignore SEO?
If you opt to ignore your online SEO, it’s to your own detriment. Organic search still makes up the majority of website traffic and Google, by itself, draws billions of searches per day. In effect, search is still king in terms of consumer behavior, which can have a direct impact on your ROI and revenue. By not investing in SEO, you’re missing out on a monumental opportunity for not only increased online traffic but conversions as well.
So, what can an SEO company or marketing agency do for your SEO? First off, offer more time dedicated to it. A qualified SEO team has the labor—and maybe even expertise—that a single, in-house marketing professional cannot replicate. Plus, an agency not only has extra capacity: It has strategies as well. Google often rolls out dozens of updates each month (some large, some small); an agency has the time to keep track as well as strategize and implement plans based on these rollouts.
An agency is also equipped to offer you real-time, actionable data to be used to improve your web pages. SEO experts are trained to read and understand site analytics, including traffic and KPIs, in order to better inform upcoming campaigns and more. This can result in your advertising dollars being spent more effectively and intentionally.
Finally, an agency provides the experience necessary to complete technical SEO and site health checks. SEO involves content and keywords, but site optimization extends into other areas as well. SEO has increased handling of schema markup, link-building and backlinks, site audits, mobile-friendliness, and more. While these more technical aspects may not be in your company’s wheelhouse, SEO and marketing agencies have adopted them into the fold as standard practice.
See an Uptick in Your SEO
Uptick Marketing offers a qualified team of SEO professionals who have the time to devote to your ongoing and local SEO. We work with your marketing lead or team to help see growth in organic search, website traffic, and company ROI. Talk with us today about setting up a no-obligation factfinder to assess your needs.
