Is SEO a DIY Job, or Should You Hire a Consultant?

On page SEO involves many different factors. However, as any good SEO consultant will clearly state, the most important factor is choosing the right keywords. Keywords that a website uses for SEO purposes should be commonly used by potential customers yet not overly competitive. Needless to say, it takes more than just a good imagination to come up with the right keywords. One will need to use online keyword generation tools to not only come up with keyword ideas but also see how many other sites are competing for any given keyword.

Another important aspect of SEO is keyword placement. It is important for the keyword to be easily found on the site; on the other hand, keyword stuffing will only decrease a site's rank. It is best to not use the same keyword over and over but to instead use variations and derivatives of the keyword.

Keywords are an important part of SEO but they are not the only aspect of on page optimization. Having the right links on the site, choosing the right URL titles for blog posts, on site navigability, using ALT tags and many other factors come into play when attempting to optimize a website. Some people are able to master these techniques and successfully optimize their website for search engines. However, many people have found that enlisting the help of an SEO consultant is the best option, as it frees them to manage the online business and/or write high quality articles for the site.

Controversial SEO Points

The fact is that most aspects of on page search engine optimization are controversial to some degree. A person who visits more than one SEO blog or speaks to more than one consultant will probably get differing opinions regarding whether or not Meta tags should be used, what the keyword density for any given keyword on the site should be, how many dashes should be included in a URL and how large the site should be.

It is important to make sure that one is getting up to date information. The fact is that Google is regularly updating its algorithm and changing the way that it ranks websites. SEO tips that were valid and effective yesterday may be either obsolete or downright harmful today. Furthermore, one must also consider the fact that Google is not the only search engine there is, even though it is the largest one. Other large search engines such as Bing, Yahoo and MSN use varying methods for ranking websites and one should take this into consideration when choosing which optimization techniques to use.

Optimizing a site is a big job. Furthermore, it is an ongoing process, as the web changes and new algorithms bring new factors into play. It is possible for a person to optimize his or her own blog without professional help. However, it is also time consuming to learn about on site optimization and implement it, which is why hiring an SEO agency is often the best course of action. A good agency will know the latest SEO techniques and be able to prevent a person from making on site mistakes that can have a damaging impact on the site's rankings.