Should I outsource any SEO work or can I do it all?

[Boodreaux]

My website needs a lot of improvement and we are working on it but I also don't want to fall behind on the SEO work.  I am guessing that I can do much of it myself through SEOmoz.org but is there a part that busy folks should get others to do?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Utah Tiger

[Boodreaux]

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[Dr-Pete]

I think @Axt makes a great point - it's good to learn enough on your own (if you have the time) to understand the basics and build up what you can control. Then, when you're ready to hire someone, you have enough experience to know how to guide them.

The trick with outsourcing (whether foreign or domestic) is to know what you want, specifically. If you just hire a company to "build links", and you don't define what that means, you leave them open to any tactics and any reporting method they choose. They could come back having done virtually nothing, or they could come back having built a network of spam that creates a lot of risk for you. It's fine to ask a company what they'll do and then build the plan from that, but make sure it's all on paper. Don't assume that what they mean by "link-building" and what you mean are the same thing - get it all down and agreed on.

[SamCUK]

I did it myself and have landed on page one for all my search terms but it's taken a year with several hours a day and is a lot of work. I looked at outsourcing but I'm glad I've done it myself as knowing what I know now I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it for me. If your business relies heavily on internet sales then when hiring an SEO you are putting the success of your business largely in their hands. Personally I wasn't prepared to do that. I've just written a blog post on SEO Moz about my SEO journey so hopefully it will be approved by the moderators and might be worth a read when live.

[Boodreaux]

Thanks everyone....I really appreciate your responses.  This was fast feedback!  I will be spending some time implementing that advice!

Thanks,

Greg

[LosAngelesLimo]

Hello Greg

First of all you  have very nice site:

About 416 pages of your site indexed by Google,but you don't have Blog in your site.Try to make a Blogs and keep adding new posts with fresh content by using your targeted keywords. You can do your on page SEO yourself,by following SeoMoz Campaign suggestions. Try to get back links to your new created pages and posts by submitting articles to high pr directories and blogs by pointing links to them,not only to main page.

On off page optimization,since it takes time,you can outsource to reliable link builders.You can use forums such a Warrior, Digitalpoint or others to find reliable link builders.But before chose them,check their reviews,left  by others,ask for example works they have done.

[axt]

It's good, to start alone to understand the process. Try getting backlinks from your vendors and customers. But when you're at the point, where all your sources are done, get some help from a respected SEO. The money is well spend. And unless you REALLY know what you're doing, there is no fast AND good linkbuilding.

[edwardlewis]

I would say it's like most things, if you can do it yourself then in the long term that might work best.. but then if you don't have time then it can pay to get some help.

Depending on how competetive your sector is, you may be able to pick up some good rankings with good quality content and strong on-page optimisation.

For your initial link building you should start by trying to identify the main sites in your area.. there will likely be some niche directory sites that you can submit to, and that should give you a kick start

One think to be wary of with link building is the types of sites where the links are built and also what happens if you cease working with the company - will these links that have been built stay in place or will they be removed?