Marketing Your Web Site the Right Way is a Worthwhile Investment

I admit it, I have a problem. I'm a control freak and I like to do things myself because "I'll do it right and saving money at the same time".

This philosophy has gotten me in trouble more than once. Most recently, I broke my blog. Because I knew enough to know that I didn't know how to set up a blog, I paid somebody to do it all for me. At the same time, I know enough about web programming to be dangerous and figured that I would take over once it was up and running. Consequently, I really messed things up for a few days.

This was a great lesson to me on why I pay people to do things that I shouldn't be doing. I don't paint bedrooms (and my wife is much happier for that), I don't change my oil (tried and failed) and I don't mess with plumbing. But like so many other people I still find myself trying to do things myself in order to save a few bucks. In the end, it usually costs more---either in insufficient time management or having to fix what I broke---than it would have if I had simply paid somebody with experience to do it right.

The same standards can and should be applied to online marketing. I run across many people who still like to take care of these things in-house. I certainly understand the motivation for doing so, saving money and all that, but what about the time factor? What about ensuring it's done correctly. What about keeping up with trends and industry changes?

Doing your search engine optimization and marketing in-house will often times produce poorer quality results and use up more valuable man-hours than simply paying a professional in the first place. Even if you were to hire a full-time SEO to work in-house there are so many levels of experience that are necessary to make any optimization campaign successful. If you rely on only one person to do all that you'll still be shorting yourself some necessary components that make a campaign successful.

There is a reason that the cliché "you get what you pay for" is so often repeated. Because more times than not, it turns out to be true. So the next time you think you're going to save money by getting it for "free", weigh the cost vs. benefits for the long-term. Are you certain that the job will be done right? Do you have the knowledge to ensure success? Are you really going to be saving any money, or will you end up losing more than you're "saving".

These are all valuable questions to consider, and if you do you'll be better armed to make the right decision for your situation. After all, any marketing job done right is an investment to your future success.

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June 27, 2005