{"id":16289,"date":"2018-12-04T09:06:05","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T17:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/?p=16289"},"modified":"2020-11-28T11:02:53","modified_gmt":"2020-11-28T19:02:53","slug":"5-signs-your-startup-no-longer-has-the-capacity-to-handle-its-own-seo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/5-signs-your-startup-no-longer-has-the-capacity-to-handle-its-own-seo\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Signs Your Startup No Longer Has the Capacity to Handle Its Own SEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re not focusing on SEO<\/a>, you\u2019re falling behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every company now has to have a presence on the Internet, and they have to invest the time into making that presence rank on search engines. That\u2019s a given these days.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not hard to get a handle on the basics of search engine optimization, either.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are tons of guides<\/span><\/a>, columns, helpful hints, video and more<\/span><\/a> floating around for those who want to take the time to study. Especially for startups, it\u2019s easy to just focus on handling things in-house, doing the best you can with the resources you have available.<\/span><\/p>\n

There comes a point of diminishing returns, though. Eventually your SEO will reach beyond the capacity you have to keep up with it in house. How do you know when to turn it over to the experts instead of handling it yourself?<\/span><\/p>\n

1) You Don\u2019t Have the Expertise to Do the Work<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Not everyone is good at everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re trying to do everything yourself, or only have a small team, it\u2019s worth asking this question: \u201cwhat\u2019s the most effective allocation of my resources?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

You know why you\u2019re in business. You know what you\u2019re good at. You know what your team is good at. Calculate the hourly value of your time against what it would take you or your team to learn SEO and do it yourself, and you\u2019ll see quickly that if you want a strategy that goes beyond the very basics it\u2019s probably worth farming it out.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you want to scale your business<\/span><\/a>, you\u2019ll have to let go of some things.<\/span><\/p>\n

Look at LEGO<\/span><\/a>\u2014when they let go of some of the things they weren\u2019t good at, then took their time and invested it in what they were actually<\/i> good at, their profitability and sales absolutely skyrocketed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Be like LEGO. Do what you\u2019re good at.<\/span><\/p>\n

2) You Don\u2019t Have Enough Time to Keep Up With Changes<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Maybe you do know a little bit about SEO. In that case, you\u2019ve got other concerns\u2014you still need to be concerned about how much time things take. Google\u2019s obviously the 800-pound gorilla of the SEO space, and when it changes, everyone has to move to keep up.<\/span><\/p>\n

And Google updates its algorithms 500 to 600 times per year<\/i><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not all of those updates are major. But even if you only count major updates, Google changes up its algorithm about once a month. If you\u2019re not willing to invest the time and resources it takes to follow those changes and adjust your website accordingly, it\u2019s time to move on from doing it yourself.<\/span><\/p>\n

One caveat to this: don\u2019t naturally assume that just because you can\u2019t keep up with the changes in SEO, you need to hire a big company.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Josh Steimle<\/a><\/span>, founder of MWI<\/span><\/a>, \u201cThe best \u2018SEO firm\u2019 for you might not be much of a firm. Bigger is not always better. The right SEO firm for you might be a guy working from his basement<\/a>. Or it might indeed be the international SEO firm with 500 employees. Don\u2019t write either one off automatically.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

3) You Don\u2019t Have the Resources to Generate Backlinks<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

There\u2019s one truism to SEO that you can\u2019t shortcut, can\u2019t find a way around, and will probably take the bulk of your time if you really want to plow resources into it:<\/span><\/p>\n

Backlinks are the foundation<\/span><\/a> of Google\u2019s algorithm. If you\u2019re not building them, you\u2019re failing.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not building new links to your website constantly through a mix of evergreen content, constantly updated content and social media strategy, you\u2019re going to have a bad time.<\/span><\/p>\n

No matter how good your site structure is and how good your keywords are, if the niche is anywhere close to competitive you\u2019ll never build up enough of a ranking without a strategy for backlinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

That takes time and effort. It means working the phones, constantly putting out good social media, and creating consistent content that people want to read and share.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t do that, it\u2019s time to farm it out.<\/span><\/p>\n

4) Your SEO Is Making Your Website Worse<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Maybe you know a little about SEO<\/a>. But you\u2019ve been seeing your website start to slide down the rankings, and you\u2019re not sure why.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are plenty of easy pitfalls<\/span><\/a> that you can fall into if SEO isn\u2019t your full-time focus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Are you focusing on quantity of links over quality? Have you been adding new pages to your website in a haphazard way instead of focusing on clear organization? Is your social media stagnant, making the links you share worse?<\/span><\/p>\n

You may not know. You may not have the time to diagnose. And if you don\u2019t, it\u2019s more cost-effective to hire someone to help than it is to mess around with it yourself and maybe make things worse.<\/span><\/p>\n

5) You\u2019re Paying Too Much<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

When you\u2019re doing the work in-house, it can be easy to ignore the costs of trying to keep up with SEO. Try keeping track of your time. You might be surprised how much you\u2019re spending in real money when you count up your hours.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, hiring an outside firm is actually cheaper<\/i>. Do your homework and see if it\u2019s worth it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hiring an SEO expert is a step you should take if any of these points apply to you. If you\u2019re not ranking, not getting the right results and want to focus on growing your company, try hiring an SEO company.<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll be glad you did.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re not focusing on SEO, you\u2019re falling behind. Every company now has to have a presence on the Internet, and they have to invest the time into making that presence rank on search engines. That\u2019s a given these days. It\u2019s not hard to get a handle on the basics of search engine optimization, either.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":642,"featured_media":16290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[275,194,86,274,280,29,276,281,277,278,279,219],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks.jpeg",1122,750,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-300x300.jpeg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-768x513.jpeg",768,513,true],"large":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-1024x684.jpeg",1024,684,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks.jpeg",1122,750,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks.jpeg",1122,750,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-80x75.jpeg",80,75,true],"goodlife-thumbnail":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-80x75.jpeg",80,75,true],"goodlife-grid":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-320x270.jpeg",320,270,true],"goodlife-latest":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-320x225.jpeg",320,225,true],"goodlife-latestshort":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-320x170.jpeg",320,170,true],"goodlife-vertical":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-320x420.jpeg",320,420,true],"goodlife-gallery":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-320x150.jpeg",320,150,true],"goodlife-galleryvertical":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-320x350.jpeg",320,350,true],"goodlife-poststyle1":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-770x515.jpeg",770,515,true],"goodlife-thumbnail-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-40x150.jpeg",40,150,true],"goodlife-thumbnail-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-160x150.jpeg",160,150,true],"goodlife-thumbnail-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-20x18.jpeg",20,18,true],"goodlife-grid-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-160x540.jpeg",160,540,true],"goodlife-grid-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-640x540.jpeg",640,540,true],"goodlife-grid-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-20x16.jpeg",20,16,true],"goodlife-latest-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-160x450.jpeg",160,450,true],"goodlife-latest-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-640x450.jpeg",640,450,true],"goodlife-latest-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-20x14.jpeg",20,14,true],"goodlife-latestshort-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-160x340.jpeg",160,340,true],"goodlife-latestshort-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-640x340.jpeg",640,340,true],"goodlife-latestshort-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-20x10.jpeg",20,10,true],"goodlife-vertical-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-160x750.jpeg",160,750,true],"goodlife-vertical-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-640x750.jpeg",640,750,true],"goodlife-vertical-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-20x26.jpeg",20,26,true],"goodlife-gallery-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-160x300.jpeg",160,300,true],"goodlife-gallery-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-640x300.jpeg",640,300,true],"goodlife-gallery-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-20x9.jpeg",20,9,true],"goodlife-galleryvertical-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-160x700.jpeg",160,700,true],"goodlife-galleryvertical-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-640x700.jpeg",640,700,true],"goodlife-galleryvertical-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-20x21.jpeg",20,21,true],"goodlife-poststyle1-small":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-385x257.jpeg",385,257,true],"goodlife-poststyle1-2x":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks.jpeg",1122,750,false],"goodlife-poststyle1-mini":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-20x13.jpeg",20,13,true],"profile_24":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-24x24.jpeg",24,24,true],"profile_48":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-48x48.jpeg",48,48,true],"profile_96":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks-96x96.jpeg",96,96,true],"profile_150":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks.jpeg",150,100,false],"profile_300":["https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Featured-Image-Future-Sharks.jpeg",300,201,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"immy1991","author_link":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/author\/immy1991\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"If you\u2019re not focusing on SEO, you\u2019re falling behind. Every company now has to have a presence on the Internet, and they have to invest the time into making that presence rank on search engines. That\u2019s a given these days. It\u2019s not hard to get a handle on the basics of search engine optimization, either.…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/642"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futuresharks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}