Should I Hire an SEO Expert or Try Local SEO Myself?
Choosing between doing your own local SEO or hiring an SEO expert depends on how much time you have, what you know already, and how quickly you want results. Some business owners enjoy managing their own SEO to save money and maintain control. Others prefer to get outside help so they can focus on running the business while improving local visibility. Both approaches can work, but one may suit your situation better than the other.
Here's What We Have Covered In This Article
DIY vs Hiring an Expert: What Works Best for Your Local Business?
The Pros of DIY Local SEO
Saving Money and Staying in Control
Handling local SEO on your own can help lower your marketing costs. You can start by using free tools like Google Business Profile, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics. These platforms allow you to manage how your business appears in local search results and measure performance across different queries and devices. You stay in control of every update and decision while keeping costs low.
Learning SEO Basics
Some business owners enjoy learning SEO because it helps them understand how people find their services online. There are useful videos on YouTube by people like Mac Frederick and Neil Patel, as well as trusted sources like Moz and Ahrefs. These help you understand how to implement title tags, manage metadata, build backlinks, use structured data, and improve page experience. Over time, you build the knowledge to make smarter marketing decisions and troubleshoot your own visibility issues.
Pro Tip : Always double check that your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across every local directory listing. Inconsistencies can confuse Google and hurt rankings.
Real Local Results, Backed by Data
Discover how our approach helped UK businesses grow with map pack rankings and organic leads.
Challenges of Doing SEO Yourself
Time and Consistency
Keeping your website optimised takes regular attention. This includes writing helpful content with targeted local keywords, updating your Google Business Profile, managing citations on business directories like Yell or FreeIndex, monitoring your backlinks, and checking for crawlability or mobile usability issues. Without consistency, it’s easy to fall behind local competitors targeting the same search intent.
Risk of Costly Mistakes
Incorrect optimisation techniques like repeating keywords, inconsistent NAP details (name, address, phone number), or failing to use schema markup can reduce visibility in Google’s local pack. Many small business sites also suffer from technical problems like slow page load speed, poor internal linking, or blocked pages due to incorrect robots.txt settings. Fixing these issues later can require more time or money than starting with a proper strategy.
Why Hire a Local SEO Expert?
Can Hiring an SEO Expert Deliver Faster Results?
Yes. Experienced SEO consultants and agencies understand how to get results efficiently. They know how to build a plan that includes technical audits, local citation management, review generation strategies, keyword clustering, and mobile performance checks. One business owner said, “I did it myself for 6 months, then hired First Place and got leads in 3 weeks.” That kind of impact is difficult without experience.
Professional Tools and Technical Skills
Experts use premium software like SEMrush, BrightLocal, Ahrefs, Surfer SEO, and Screaming Frog. These tools allow them to carry out competitor gap analysis, audit site structure, manage structured data markup, perform local keyword tracking, and assess backlink profiles. Most small businesses would not use these platforms often enough to justify the cost. A good SEO expert brings these tools and knows how to get results from the data.
Focus More on Running Your Business
Hiring an SEO professional allows you to concentrate on your business operations. While you manage sales or services, your expert will work on building local landing pages, creating city-specific content, refining your website architecture, and improving your organic search traffic. This separation of tasks makes campaigns more efficient.
Balancing the Cost and the Return
Prices for SEO services in the UK usually range between £500 and £2,000 each month, depending on the scope of work and your industry competition. The investment can seem high, but it often leads to a higher return on investment through increased local visibility, better click-through rates, and more qualified leads. If your goal is to appear in Google’s Local Pack and attract nearby searchers, working with a pro could save you months of trial and error.
For more detail on services and deliverables, read our page on what SEO services include.
Pro Tip: Track local keyword performance using Google Search Console filters. Focus on “queries” that contain your location and service to spot new optimisation opportunities.
Final Verdict: Which SEO Path Fits Your Business Goals?
If you have time to learn, basic technical skills, and operate in a market with moderate competition, managing your own SEO could be a strong starting point. But if your market is competitive or you need to generate leads quickly, a local SEO expert will likely deliver better outcomes. Many businesses take a hybrid approach by writing their own content and letting professionals handle technical SEO, structured data, Google Business Profile optimisation, and competitor audits.
CTA: Let Us Review Your DIY SEO Work for Free
If you’ve already tried local SEO and want honest feedback, we’ll take a look at your current setup. We’ll highlight what’s working and show you some quick improvements that could help increase your visibility.
