reply to janeth

[geezer]

janeth

you are absolutely right of course. I couldn't agree more.

SEO is easy enough if you put your mind to it, but you do need the time, and not everyone has it.

My point really was in response to an earlier post in which someone said that when they started out in business they found SEO too expensive (obviously meaning by using a consultant) for their limited starting out budget which meant that the ONLY option available to them was PPC because it was much cheaper.

I was just trying to make the point that, of the two options, at least seo can be free, if you really want to make the time, whereas with ppc you have to pay, whether you have the time or not.
So ultimately, seo is the best (in fact the only) option for someone who has no cash to market with. It just means them having to make the time to learn. And if it's a choice between that or going out of business through a lack of any marketing at all, I know which I would do.

[janeth]

Hi geezer,
I agree with you 100% For me I would rather spend the time needed to get a good ranking.

I have also herd people say over and over again that you get more hits from the free side then the PPC.

But yes I agree it is easy as long as you have the time to put into it.

But you need to plan on working hard for about 4 months to get a top listing for a major key word.

[rlrouse]

I think the debate over do-it-yourself SEO vs paying for it boils down to four things:

1 - Ability. Most people have the abilty to learn how to optimize their own sites. Whether they have the desire or the need to learn how to do it (or put in the time required) is another thing altogether.

And if they don't have the desire or the need to learn the basics of SEO, they will never have the ability to do their own SEO.

Let's face it, it takes time, research, study, and application to become a successful SEO (even just for your own site).

2 - Aptitude. Most people are better at some things than they are at others. Many webmasters believe their time is best spent on creating and maintaining great websites, so they contract out (or delegate) the SEO tasks required to get good rankings for their sites.

They can be more productive spending all their time and effort creating web pages than by
doing everything by themselves.

3 - Desire. Some web-based business owners and webmasters prefer to work on maintaining their sites in the morning and spend the afteroon on the golf course, so they contract out (or delegate) other tasks such as marketing, SEO, etc. Others want (or need) to be involved with every aspect of building, maintaining, optimizing, and promoting their sites.

And still other business owners contract out or delegate everything except enjoying the profits generated by the business.

4 - Available funds. Many webmasters and business owners, especially those just starting out, have more time than money. They're willing to spend the time learning and doing every aspect of building and promoting their sites. And quite often they have no alternative.

Self-SEO isn't for everyone. But for the rest there is a mountain of free tutorials, information, and help on the web (including this and other great forums).