If you are in the position where you are currently asking the same question, then you need to site down and work out a few things that will decide your overall answer. An SEO company, as long as they can prove this, will bring experience, commitment and innovation to your SEO campaign, where as doing things yourself might mean you miss out on the latest techniques or breaking new methods, but ultimately save your self money, or in theory you will.
There are certain things you need to ask yourself –
Do I know enough about SEO to make my campaign effective ?
Is my time better spent running my business then working on SEO ?
Do I have the time to manage an SEO campaign ?
Do I know where to go to find the answers to my questions ?
How do I know if my SEO campaign has been a success ?
When it comes to painting your house, if you have the money, you would normally get a professional in to do it. This is ultimately because they will probably do a better job, but it is also because they have the experience in the field and if you spend your time doing it, you might have to take time off work or simply missing out on other things, the old time versus money debate.
A successful SEO campaign requires many things, but the leading points would be time, experience, motivation and determination, as running an SEO campaign takes a lot of time, of which needs to be repeated on a monthly basis to get the most effectiveness out of the campaign. You will need to be able to manage your website, keyword and competitor research, web optimisation, link building campaigns, content writing, social bookmarking, article and press release submissions and so much more, and when you think about how much time this will take, it does start to add up for anyone.
Many people do run their own campaigns and do so effectively, but there is never any harm in appointing an SEO consultancy to have a look at what you are doing and make some suggestions, with a possible view of managing your campaign on a full time basis. SEO really boils down to having the knowledge and the time to do it, or having the time to learn the knowledge and also do work as well.
Most SEO companies do not tie you into long term contracts and many offer a free review service, so it is well worth either having a chat with them or signing up for a month and seeing how it goes. Do bear in mind that Rome was not built in day and you will need to give the company time to bring in results, especially if they are only doing natural SEO and not CPC management.
Ian Spencer works for Clear Web Services, a SEO Web Optimisation and Web Design company serving the Forest Of Dean, Gloucestershire and South Wales. He has worked in the SEO and Internet Marketing world for many years, and working in partnership with another company has launched the new SEO business. Web Design Gloucester For More Information, please call 01594 835 857 or email info@clearwebservices.com