Can you do SEO yourself?
Yes, you can. With the right resources, SEO tools and support, anyone can learn SEO best practice and optimise their own website for search engines, you included.
When the benefits of search engine optimisation (SEO) come up, one of the questions people put to SEO agencies is: "Can I do SEO myself?". The answer is yes.
But while DIY SEO is an appealing prospect for many businesses, there is a lot to learn before you start.
On this page we help you answer the question "Is it possible to do SEO on your own?" by looking at the main pros and cons of DIY SEO and at some steps you can take to optimise your site today.
Pros and cons of DIY SEO
Before getting into how to do SEO yourself, we need to be clear about the pros and cons. Why? SEO is hard work, and you need to understand what you give up by not using an SEO agency or SEO company. You may technically be able to do SEO yourself by following the best SEO courses, but a better question is whether you should do it yourself.
Here are the main pros and cons of DIY SEO.
| PROS | CONS |
| You are in control | Your experience and expertise are limited |
| You save money, no agency fees | You spend a lot of time and effort |
PRO: you are in control
One of the most attractive things about doing SEO yourself is having complete control. When you work with an SEO agency, you have to work together on setting SEO goals and on a plan to reach them.
You also need to research the agency you are hiring properly. Choose the wrong one and it may take over the strategy completely and leave the client no say in it.
When you handle SEO yourself, you are in charge. You have full control over your campaigns and can start working on a plan to reach your SEO goals straight away.
CON: limited expertise and experience
On the other hand, doing SEO yourself means exactly that: you have to learn SEO best practice, ranking factors, algorithm updates and everything else. Even after months of study and planning, your SEO experience and expertise will not match those of a professional SEO strategist.
Experienced SEO specialists know the practical side inside out: link building, content creation, on-page and off-page optimisation, technical audits, other digital marketing services and much more. Many also specialise in particular sectors, from leisure and entertainment to dermatology, dentists and B2B and B2C companies.
You can learn all of this on your own, but the SEO tactics you manage to put into practice will still be limited. That can be a serious disadvantage, especially in a highly competitive sector.
PRO: you will not pay an outside agency
Another advantage of DIY SEO is the chance to save money compared with outsourcing to an agency.
SEO services are usually a recurring monthly cost, and the figure depends on the agency you choose, the services you need and other factors. Handling SEO yourself means you avoid agency fees altogether.
This is an advantage many businesses find hard to ignore, but there is a catch to keep in mind if you decide not to work with an SEO agency.
CON: the cost in time and labour is significant
Even without an agency, doing SEO yourself still has costs, above all in time and labour.
If you do your own SEO, you carry every extra cost that comes with it, such as paying for analytics tools and the extra working hours spent on SEO tasks like:
- Keyword research and management
- On-page and off-page optimisation
- Technical and website audits
- Technical SEO
- Further optimisation after major algorithm updates
- Link building
- SEO analytics
These tasks are only the tip of the iceberg when you do SEO yourself (you can find out more in our SEO FAQ), and you will have to fit them in while running your business as usual.
In many unlucky cases, business owners with little SEO experience end up paying more for in-house SEO than they would have paid an agency, because they have to hire dedicated staff to complete the work and repair any damage to their online reputation caused by poor SEO tactics.
If you want SEO to work for you and add to your bottom line, weigh up the pros and cons of how you are investing your time and money.
Would you rather not think about SEO every day to keep your business running or growing? Hand it to an agency.
Otherwise, read on for some quick steps to get started with DIY SEO.
How to do SEO yourself: 6 steps for beginners
If the downsides of doing SEO yourself do not put you off and you are ready to start optimising your site, work through these 6 DIY SEO steps for beginners:
- Keyword research
- Technical SEO optimisation
- Improving your on-page SEO
- Building your internal link structure
- Off-page SEO
- Monitoring SEO analytics
1. Keyword research
Keywords are the words and phrases people type into search engines such as Google to find information and resources related to their query.
DIY SEO for beginners starts with keyword research. Keyword research is essential to any SEO campaign because it helps you reach your target audience and spot opportunities to optimise your company website.
When you start your keyword research, keep these tips in mind:
- Use keywords related to your business or sector
- Choose long-tail keywords over short-tail keywords to reach interested leads
- Use keyword research and suggestion tools for useful data and insights
- Work out the search intent to find more keywords and phrases
Once you have found some keywords, you can start working them into your website. You can add them to relevant existing content or create new content to target them.
This content matters a great deal for your SEO. But why does it matter for SEO? Creating content around the keywords your audience is searching for helps you increase your visibility in search engines and bring more potential customers to your site.
2. Technical SEO optimisation
The next step in our DIY SEO checklist is to assess and optimise your site's technical SEO. Technical SEO covers the backend aspects of your website that affect your rankings, such as:
- Site and page speed
- Site architecture
- Mobile optimisation and responsiveness
- HTTPS
- Link checks (broken links)
All of these factors can affect SEO. For example, slow site and page speed can make a user leave your site for another one, which pushes up your bounce rate. A high bounce rate can in turn hurt your SEO.
To optimise your site's technical SEO, first run an SEO audit to find any problems. Some platforms, such as Semrush, offer free technical SEO audit tools that let you analyse a number of pages on your site.
Once the technical audit is done, review the problem areas of your site and draw up an action plan to fix them, whether that means improving site speed or making the site responsive so it works on every device, mobile included.
3. Improve your on-page SEO
A large part of SEO is optimising the different elements of your website to make them SEO-friendly. On-page optimisation matters because it makes your site easy for search engines to index and easier to use for visitors.
The main on-page elements to optimise are:
- Title tags: title tags sum up what a page is about and include a target keyword. When you optimise your title tags, make sure they accurately reflect the page content and are concise.
- Meta tags: meta description tags are short descriptions of around 160 characters shown under the links in search results. This tag gives a more detailed description of what users will find on your page.
- Page URLs: every page on your website has a unique URL. URLs should be short, describe the page they point to and include the page's target keyword or phrase.
- Image alt text: alt text describes an image to users of screen readers and helps Google understand it. Make sure the alt text describes the image accurately and includes a relevant keyword (where it fits the description) to give the image the best chance of ranking.
- Image file names: every image on your site should have a sensible name so Google indexes it correctly. As good practice, include a relevant primary or secondary keyword in the file name too.
4. Build your internal link structure
Your website's internal link structure is an important SEO ranking factor that you should not neglect when you handle SEO yourself.
Internal links connect the pages of your website into a solid architecture that shows the hierarchy of information. This matters because it helps search engine crawlers crawl your site and understand how pages relate to each other, their context and their purpose.
Internal links also matter because they:
- Improve site navigation
- Pass authority from one page to another (link equity)
- Signal page authority
- Help users find related content
- Keep users on your site for longer.
To build an effective link profile, draw a map of your site's pages starting from the home page. From there, outline the main pages (for example subcategories, the contact page and so on) and build out the site, filling each subcategory with relevant subpages and so on.
Throughout, link related pages to each other through navigation menu links and in-text links to create a solid site structure.
5. Off-page SEO
Once you have the basics of on-page SEO in place, you need to think about earning visibility for your site elsewhere. The main signal Google uses to judge that you are an authority is the links pointing to your site.
That does not mean stuffing your site with backlinks. Nor does it mean sharing your blog posts on social media.
It means earning backlinks from all over the web, from sources people trust. Here are some places where you can get links of this kind:
- Local media: if you know a reporter or journalist, try to get a mention for your business or for an event you run. They often link to the source.
- Local events or business networking: sponsor an event, build a local following or answer questions from the community to pick up a few backlinks.
- Sites such as HARO (Help a Reporter Out) can put you in touch with writers in your sector who need an expert to answer their questions.
- Publish content based on your own research or on knowledge only you have. It is a reliable way to earn mentions and backlinks across the web.
These strategies are not always easy and can take years to build, so do not worry if they do not work straight away.
6. Monitor your SEO analytics
The best way to stay on top of SEO, especially if you run it yourself, is to use an SEO analytics tool to track performance. Reviewing your SEO analytics regularly keeps you up to date on what is driving results and shows you the areas you can improve.
There are free and paid SEO tools available, including:
- Google Analytics 4 (free)
- Google Search Console (free)
- Ahrefs (paid)
- Semrush (paid)
If you decide to handle SEO yourself, an SEO analytics tool is essential, because its data helps you keep improving your SEO performance. Listening to SEO podcasts can also keep you up to date with new trends and tactics.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console helps with DIY SEO by reporting on key SEO factors such as your site's search performance, indexing and Core Web Vitals. With this free SEO tool you can find and fix SEO problems, spot opportunities and make informed SEO decisions.
How to get started with Google Search Console:
- Go to https://search.google.com/search-console/
- Add a new property (your website)
- Verify ownership of your site with a Google Analytics tracking code or another verification option
To find out more, read our complete guide to Google Search Console.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics 4 helps with DIY SEO by giving you the data on how users behave on your site. This free tool tells you where your visitors come from, how long they stay on a page, which pages they visit and, above all, whether they complete the actions that matter to your business.
How to get started with Google Analytics 4:
- Go to https://analytics.google.com
- Create your account
- Enter your website details, such as account name, property name, time zone and currency, company size and business objectives.
Take your SEO further with expert support
DIY SEO can be rewarding, but it often brings problems that hold back results. Why not work with our experienced SEO team to get more out of your efforts? We can build a tailored strategy to optimise your website. Get in touch today.
