We’re big proponents of free everything. Seriously, you work hard for the money. You manage your own business and you have every right to be stingy with your cash.
Search engine optimization (SEO) however is one of those areas that we believe is a place to invest your money — but wisely — and only when you have a thorough understanding of what it is and what it can do for your company’s growth.
It’s up to you if you want to pay for help getting the work done or not. Understand that yes, there’s a great deal of SEO work that you can manage on your own for free. You don’t need to be a programmer or developer, you just need to have a plan of attack and the time to accomplish that plan.
Only you can decide if SEO services are worth fronting cash to achieve success, but here are a few tips to help focus your decision-making process.
How to Get Started with SEO?
If you’re new to the SEO landscape, first take a look at this comprehensive “What is Search Engine Optimization?†support document we put together to help HostGator customers get a grasp on what’s what.
Next up: Rank your website with this totally free tool from our partners at SEO Gears. Get an instant breakdown of your website’s…
- Best performing keywords
- Overall popularity
- Top competitors
- Alexa Ranking: a traffic ranking tool
- A list of action items for improvement
Get a sense of your baseline and build from there.
What kinds of SEO services are available?
Some SEO agencies cover all of these items, and some deal with segments, but here are some of the most useful SEO tactics:
- Content Management: This includes everything from the words used on your website to company blog posts, eBooks, and copywriting across the web that puts your best business foot forward.
- Keyword Tracking: Constantly changing keywords are how people find your business online. Tracking them is essential to understanding how to communicate with your customers for the greatest success.
- Local SEO: Especially helpful for brick and mortar small businesses, local SEO focuses on positioning your business at the head of the curve for your immediately surrounding area. There’s less of a need to compete globally if you can rule the roost in your own city or county.
- Social Media: The more active your business is on a variety of social media networks, the more likely you are to give a hefty boost to your search rankings.
- Analytics: Without measuring your digital successes and failures, you’ll never know how to improve or what’s worth spending time and money on to grow.
The Great SEO Challenge
Major search engine events like Google’s “Mobilegeddon†change the SEO rules in an instant. Business owners are beholden to the masters of search and must learn to adapt or suffer the consequences of getting outranked and far gone from page one search queries. SEO is always changing and you need to recognize this if you’re up to the challenge of taking it on alone or when shopping for the right SEO service provider.
If this all sounds like too much to handle, worry not! HostGator provides professional SEO services to our customers. Learn more by contacting our support team.
Hit the comments and let us know how you manage your website’s SEO…
Henry Green is a freelance writer based in Austin, Texas who helps small businesses and entrepreneurs improve their online presence through marketing, social media, and website optimization.