When doing SEO correctly and efficiently, you need to make sure you follow the expert’s advice you hired to perform the work for you. Sure, it sounds like they are just trying to drum up more business, but there is a really good reason why they are telling you that you need to do this or that.

First, let’s talk about Backlinks

A backlink is simply a link from another website to your website. So why is it so important to SEO? Think of a backlink as a vote of confidence for your website’s credibility. Google loves to see what others think of your website, and a backlink is a good way to do so. But not all backlinks are good; in fact, some are harmful. If the backlink is from a spammy website or a website with very low Domain Authority (DA), it could hurt your search engine ranking. The same goes for too many backlinks. If Google sees too many backlinks, it might start to think they’re not organic and penalize your website’s placement. Another important thing to remember about backlinks is that the anchor text used is important. Anchor Text is simply the text that is linked.

If I have Anchor Text like “thisdomain.com“, it might not be nearly as effective as Anchor Text like “Cooking with Spam and Cheese can be fun and delicious”. The latter is much more descriptive and will likely help your website place better than the first example.

The most important thing to remember is that Google knows the difference between spammy links and quality links, and if you try to cheat Google, it will find out and penalize your website. Google is big on catching Black Hat SEO. You might get an initial boost in your placement, but eventually, they find out, and you tank and tank hard. We have had clients who tried to cheat Google and then came to us. They were once on the first page, and now we can’t find them in the first 20 pages.

So, when your SEO company tells you that you need an active social media presence, there is a very good reason for that. Posts on social media about your business, services, and specials with a link to your website can help. This is also why your SEO company will often tell you you need local citations.

Local Citations are simply getting your business listed, or your listing claimed and updated on the top local websites in your area. Sites like  Yelp!,  Foursquare, and  Yellow Pagesare a great start, but there are often 50 or more such websites in your local area and in your niche that you need to work on.

Can I Do This Myself?
Yes, you can always do this yourself, but before you blindly jump in, let me give you some real talk. 

Now, let’s say you spend 20 hours each month on backlinks, local citations, and social media posts (praying you did it correctly and didn’t harm your business in the process). So let’s say that comes to $500 a month. But the local SEO and Marketing company said they can do it for $400 a month. Then you are hurting your business by not hiring a professional to do this work for you.

Keep in mind, there is also a certain level of quality and expertise that should come from a professional. And those 20 hours a month can be reinvested in the business, accomplishing other tasks that will help it grow. And that is the whole goal, correct?

Think of it this way: your toilet in your store isn’t working, and you know nothing about plumbing. Do you read a book, watch some videos, and take a week to fix it yourself, or do you call a professional and have it fixed in an hour so your customers and employees don’t have to walk to the one down the block?

A Special Warning
There is such a thing as being blacklisted from Google search results. This is when Google finds that your website is breaking its rules, and when that happens, Google will remove your website from search results for up to 6 months for the first offense. We have had several clients come to us after having this happen to them. In all three cases, they had hired an untrustworthy SEO expert and were using Black Hat SEO to get quick results. The problem is that Black Hat SEO is not good for a website’s long-term sustainability. It can be overcome, but it is a long road. It’s not as simple as your six-month suspension being over and you being placed on the first page again. Nope, it is pretty much like you are starting all over again, climbing the SEO ladder one rung at a time again.