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What Google says itself
Google writes in its own guide that someone running a small local business can probably do much of the work themselves. Build your site so it is easy to understand, make a page per service and answer what customers ask, and you get far. Google adds that nobody can guarantee a first position, and that you should look elsewhere if an SEO promises one. What a specialist does is in the guide what does an SEO specialist do; a first look at your own site comes from the SEO checker.
What you do yourself in four hours a month
| Task | Time a month | With |
|---|---|---|
| Keep your Google Business Profile current | 30 minutes | the profile itself, which is free |
| One new page answering a customer question | 2 hours | the answer in the first sentence, then detail |
| Ask for a review after every job | 30 minutes | a fixed review link |
| Find terms with impressions and sharpen your pages | 30 minutes | Search Console |
| Check your site for errors, quarterly | 30 minutes | the website speed test and the SEO checker |
That is SEO that works for a local business; the full approach is in do SEO yourself. What it does not solve: a site that gets in the way technically, a site move, a store with hundreds of products, or a market where professionals publish every week. How long it takes to work is in how long does SEO take.
When a specialist pays for itself
Extra customers a month to cover 1,000 euro of SEOAt a 30 percent margin, per value of a new customer
- Customer worth 300 euro12
- Customer worth 1,000 euro4
- Customer worth 3,000 euro2
- Customer worth 10,000 eurounder 1
The sum behind the choice
What a specialist costs per hour or month is in SEO specialist hourly rate and SEO cost. Set that against what a customer brings in. For a hairdresser or a takeaway, with customers worth a few hundred euro, a dozen extra customers a month is a high bar; doing it yourself pays more there. For a contractor, a lawyer or a B2B service, one or two extra customers are enough. Count your own hours too: four hours a month at 60 euro is 240 euro you do not spend on your business.
And count what doing nothing costs. If a competitor holds your most important search term for a year, they get the customers who were looking for what you do without knowing your name. That shows on no invoice, only in your calendar. Ads can be a temporary bridge; how they compare to SEO is in SEO or Google Ads.
Specialist, agency and the wrong choice
What is the difference between an SEO specialist and an SEO agency?
A specialist is a person with that trade; an agency usually combines SEO with copy, a site and measurement. For a site that also needs rebuilding, an agency is easier.
How do I spot a bad SEO specialist?
By guarantees on positions, packages of hundreds of links, reports without clicks or enquiries, and work you are not allowed to see.
Can I try it myself first and hire someone later?
Yes, and that is often smart: having started yourself, you know better what to ask for. For a site move or rebuild, have someone look along from the start, as repairing costs more than preventing.