DIY SEO vs. Hiring A Professional

Simply put, Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process of maximizing the traffic an internet web site receives from visitors. SEO technique is a multi-faceted process that takes time and effort to master with elements that include researching key terms and phrases, working to create a site that is search engine friendly, and spreading the site’s message via link building and marketing.

SEO can be undertaken individually or by hiring a SEO professional or team of professionals. Some of the requirements of a SEO optimized site are creating unique content, linking with an online community of similar sites, creating a site that encourages linking, and maximizing monetary returns. There have been recent changes to how search engines rank pages and how they identify spam, so an up to date knowledge of how search engines work is necessary for successful SEO. The older techniques generally involved flooding the search engines with thousands of keyword optimized web pages. Today, the trend is to focus on higher quality information and judicious use of keywords.

There is no doubt that SEO techniques can be adequately practiced by the novice web master. There is also no doubt that an SEO professional can offer significant advantages SEO development. It is best to weigh both options against organizational goals in order to determine which option best suits developing needs. A SEO professional can offer years of SEO experience with knowledge of the latest techniques and search engine functions. A professional can generally offer industry contacts that have developed from years of networking that may greatly impact the success of your project. A professional can also offer their extensive knowledge about link building and can quickly resolve any problems that occur along the way. A professional can also complete the process significantly faster than a do-it-yourselfer.

A professional has much to offer the SEO process. However, there are advantages to doing it yourself also. The primary advantage of doing it yourself is that the site owner will retain complete control over the process. There is also the advantage of gaining profitable experience from doing it yourself as well as saving precious financial resources. Additionally, some individuals prefer to guide their own success (or failure) by doing it themselves. Anyone who does decide to manage their own SEO process should bear in mind that SEO professionals do offer consulting services to the do it yourselfer.

Do You REALLY Need an SEO Copywriter?

The short answer is, "no".

The long answer is, "yes, but only if you're more concerned with pleasing visitors than pleasing search engines".

"Huh?" This from an SEO copywriter???!!!

Here's the truth of the matter. Writing search engine-friendly web copy is pretty easy. You just have to include enough of the write words in the right places. Sure, there's a learning curve and it takes a little practice, but it's not rocket science!

Writing visitor-friendly web copy, on the other hand, is much more difficult. No matter what you're selling, your visitors are a lot more sophisticated than search engines (yes, even more sophisticated than Google's algorithm), with much more complex needs. They need to be engaged, educated, persuaded, guided, respected and compelled to act. What's more, every visitor is different. Oh, and let's not overlook the fact that very few visitors are keen to part with their money...

In other words, when you look at the phrase, "SEO copy", the "SEO" part is merely technique. The "copy" part is the artform.

So if you're thinking about engaging an SEO copywriter, make sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Yes, a seasoned SEO copywriter will help you increase your search engine ranking. But if that's all you want, you could do it yourself! (See divinewrite.com/seocopy.htm for more info on writing SEO copy yourself.) The true value of an SEO copywriter is in their ability to write search engine-friendly copy that is still engaging and compelling to visitors.

So in reality, you only NEED an SEO copywriter if you want copy that is both search engine-friendly and visitor-friendly and you're not confident you can achieve this balance yourself.