If you have a website, chances are that you are looking for ways on how to get your website on top search engine rankings the honest, white hat way. Keyword research is one of the first steps for search engine optimization but many people think that you need to be a SEO expert to do this job. If you, like many others out there, do not have the funds to hire a SEO expert then DIY style is just fine too. You do not have to have a lot of money to rank well in the search engines, you just need a bit of blood, sweat and tears.
It is not necessary that you need to hire a professional SEO expert to find keywords that can take your website on top of search engine ranking, but there are several free SEO tools available online that will help you to get started on your keyword research strategy. These tools will help you to see what keywords can bring you potential traffic and by analyzing this information you can start your own SEO campaign. Keywords are only the beginning of SEO but they are also the most important thing to get right.
5 SEO Tools For Keyword Research
- Open Site Explorer: if you are familiar with SEOmoz tools you will surely know that Open Site Explorer falls under its wing. Once you are logged in to SEOmoz, you automatically have access to Open Site Explorer. With this tool you need to enter your competitor’s URL and then go to the anchor text distribution tab to get keyword ideas. You will receive 20 keywords that your competitors use in their text while link building and will also let you know how strong their link building campaign is and the kind of keywords that they are targeting.
- SEOmoz Term Extractor: you can open a free account in SEOmoz and then you can have unlimited access to this tool and the variety of other free SEO tools it brings. Once you go to the term extractor section and enter your competitor’s URL you will receive phrases on which your competitor is targeting.
- Google adword: Google adword keyword tool is one of the most popular strategies for SEO campaign. The most important aspect of choosing this tool is to check the extracted webpage section. The tool focuses on a particular domain page and not the whole domain home page. This tool works with some of the best seo tools for wordpress as most data required mainly comes from this fantastic tool.
- Alexa: Alexia just does not give you a traffic score, but you will be able to access keyword phrases that offer high potential traffic to a particular URL. Once you go to the site info tab and enter your competitor’s website URL, you get details on keywords that drive traffic to their site.
- SEMRush: this keyword tool allows you to enter a domain URL and view the top 10 keywords that make the website rank good on search engines. It also shows you the kind of keyword, its status on search results, the traffic percentage received and any other information associated with it. This is highly beneficial if you are going for CPC.
These are some of the great keyword tools that you can use to see what your competitors are up to, and what keywords drive traffic to their website.
What keywords Am I Looking For?
You are looking for keywords that are directly related to your website.
You are looking for keywords that are in demand, as in people actually are searching for them.
You are looking for higher volume of exact searches but with less competition. These are easier to rank for.
No SEO Expert and a Bunch of Keywords – What Now?
Write articles on your blog or website that contain these keywords. This is called Onpage SEO. I like to follow a SEO checklist to keep me on track, but after a while it simply becomes a habit. You probably know the drill. A keyword in your title, description, tags, amongst the content and in sub headings. This is still needed to show humans and search engines what your content is about.
Once you have a great article that has been optimized on the page, you can now link back to it. You can do this by guest posting on respectable sites, submitting an article to Ezine articles (yes it still works), or maybe you can create fantastic content that people naturally link back to. I also have a few free blogger blogs that I post articles to for backlinking.
Now do you think you still need a SEO expert to help you? I don’t think so!
Not only that, this type of SEO does not cost you a cent!
I have articles that get thousands of visits per month each and these have all been optimized for the search engines. The articles that are not optimized are crying out for my attention.








SEO managment has always been a hot topic in blogging and always will be.There are many plugins available these days that help a lot in SEO work.You have mentioned some great points that are really helpful mitz.Thanks for the share
Twitter: buildwebsites1
Glad you like the tips Abhishek! I cannot live without my cool SEO tools!
Mitz Pantic recently posted..7 On Page Optimization Techniques – Keyword and Linking Relationships for Deep SEO
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Thank you for these tips. I write content for humans and sometimes neglect to use good keywords. Do you have any advice on how to get google pakerank I currently do not.
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Being a blogger one learns sufficient things which can be adopted to bring the blog in limelight.One has to just focus on the On-page work and get things work.It requires creating a well organized snippet/meta description which Google shows in the SERPs when somebody search in the search engine.So it should be accurate and must define the exact information about the blog you want to optimize.Off-page is not a matter of concern as when we comment on our blog as well others Off-page SEO work is done automatically.
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Good points Aditya! I also think onpage SEO is very important so people know what your content is about.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..7 On Page Optimization Techniques – Keyword and Linking Relationships for Deep SEO
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Hi Mitz,
Well, I think that choosing the proper keyword is definitely very important for SEO as it helps in optimization your site. Secondly, the tools that you have preferred are definitely a great help for all the SE Optimizers. I have used Google Adwords and its definitely a brilliant tool,a ll I can say.
Twitter: buildwebsites1
Yes we are very lucky to have most of these tools all for free too!!
Mitz Pantic recently posted..Starting Your First SEO Campaign Without Hiring an Expert
Times are tough for seo…
Wish everyone for the best …
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Not that bad.. It still has to be done.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..7 On Page Optimization Techniques – Keyword and Linking Relationships for Deep SEO
I have a blog and the only one reason why my blog still have a good visitors is just because I implementing a white hat SEO and natural backlinking. I’m not SEO expert but I saw a good result when implementing SEO to my blog.
Using a proper SEO tools is important factor also….

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I agree with you! SEO is important and needs to be done.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Write Awesome SEO Content
I use WordPress plugin by yoast to check my on page SEO score and rely on Google Adword keyword tool to check for competition in a particular niche. Its one of the best toll that I have ever used. BTW, great post.
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After reading this post i got good knowledge about SEO. I also want to be SEO expert so which will help me to save my money which i spent now to others. Thank you providing this such a great information.
It’s easy to SEO for you own site. One way many people over look, is video promotions, with link backs to your website. SEO now is based on visits, and bounce rate, so if you have a high ranked video it will send you a lot of high quality traffic back to your site.
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I love video for traffic and promotion… Good tip Darrell!!
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it is the best post, i was using Alexa and Google Adword for my blog and really seen the changes with the use alexa widget. Now i will check out the other 3 tools that you have described. After reading your post it rally makes me happy. Again thank for Telling the use of these tools
AHrefs.com is also pretty good although their search engine position data took a step back with a recent update. I am considering purchasing the Pro version of Traffic Travis and doing all SEO management from my PC instead of relying on an online service.
Steve recently posted..Tax Carnival Ecstasy – January 2, 2013
i am thinking of buying a SEO for my blog but is there any way to know about his work… because i will not be knowing him personally..
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yes..i will be going to buy a seo for my blog and i am sure that it iwll surely help my blog a lot to grow more and more…
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Educating yourself on SEO is a great idea for bloggers and site owners. Not only can you cover some of the basics on your own, you can educate yourself on how to avoid being scammed by fake SEO “experts” looking to capitalize on our supposed ignorance on the subject. I think we are all starting to understand this SEO thing, and best practices are starting to be sorted out, and they are available to anyone looking for them. Do yourself a favor and check them out!
SEO, no doubt has become an important factor to get search engine traffic. Its better to approach a SEO company and hire them to to do the entire task for you instead of spending your time doing it manually.
Great article Mitz Pantic – I very much believe in empowering rather than enslaving and self-help is the way to go!
I will pass on some of these great resource links to my customers and other contacts.
Thank Oleg posted [url]magazinulmodei.com[/url]
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I really like Google Adwords and Alexa sites, but never heard about SEMRush which sounds like a great tool. Thanks for sharing your tips with us. SEO is not my favorite, but working on it is the way to get found and get more traffic.
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I especially like Alexa now as it gives even more info… Although it might not be 100% accurate it is very close.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Use Google Analytics to Give Your Readers What They Want
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Like you said, most online marketers when they start have no clue on the SEO part of it and the immediate response is finding an SEO expert. However, the best option is to learn the SEO skills yourself and can be really useful as you grown in your internet marketing business.
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Can someone help me? I was on #2 on Page 1 of google for “Deerfield Beach CPA” and i checked today and now im on like page 8. Why would this have happened? Any help would be greatly appreciated Please?


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Hi David, it can always be a little scary to see rankings drop. Iit could be a quite a number of things:
1.) a hiccup in the Google results, which may just correct itself
2.) a brand new listing in the results, that has now settled into its rightful place
3.) an indication of the need for more quality backlinks
I did have a look at your home page:
http://www.carusoandcompany.com/
There is almost no content on the page. There are two paragraphs, however they are displayed as an image and not text. You should have this corrected. Google needs text.
The same with the image at the bottom of the page that lists your address, phone number, etc. You would benefit greatly if this was also text so Google can read it. I would make sure your address and contact information is displayed in text at the bottom of every page.
You also mentioned you we’re ranking for “Deerfield Beach CPAâ€. I would suggest adjusting the title tag of you page. It currently reads:
Caruso & Co. CPA Boca Raton CPA Certified Public Accountant Registered Investment Advisor
One thing to note is Google only reads the first 64-characters of the title tag. It doesn’t include the word “Deerfield Baech CPA”. I would trim up the title tag and include that phrase.
I also don’t see the keyword phrase “Deerfield Baech CPA” anywhere on the page so be sure to add it. This would happen naturally (as it should) if you would add the contact information to the page.
I also see you have your social media hooked up and under way. That’s a good thing.
I recently interviewed a Sacramento based Chiropractor on a similar topic. You’re welcome to download a copy of it. http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3637163/dr-jeri-jul-3-2012-final.mp3
I am curious, did you make a change to this site recently?
James
PS – Feel free to reach out to me @JamesMartell on Twitter.
I agree with you, not only because you can save money this way, but also because no will ever do the job like you. and SEO is really an easy to learn and perform
Nancy recently posted..Manual link building service
Be a SEO Expert is not such an easy task. Our competitors are using the same techniques and same submissions with same tools. In this case we have to just Smart work.
Twitter: berget
That’s great advice. And even though I am helping clients with SEO, I always tell them that they should do most of it themselves. I would add one more thing to your list, and that’s a plugin like SEO Pressor, it’s awesome for people who’re writing content for the search engines and have little experience with SEO (well, it works great for people with experience too).
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Ha Ha I know what you mean… I need plugins to keep me in line or sometimes I forget the right way!
Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Use Google Analytics to Give Your Readers What They Want
HI Mitz, I impressed with this post. First Thing I am not SEO expert but choosing the Right Keywords Which is most important for SEO. and Really I like Google Adwords which sounds like a great tool…Well thanks for sharing this information.
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thanks ,
as you mentioned we dont often have a lot of money to invest in SEO so D.I.Y is the way to go for me
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Twitter: xlimderek
I use Alexa Keyword stuff like all the time its next to google keyword tool for me, and i’ve really enjoyed using it.
Derek recently posted..2 Major Writing Tips Every Blogger Should Know
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Same here Derek! Alexa info is really cool now and very detailed.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Use Google Analytics to Give Your Readers What They Want
SEO is vital to a websites growth. I did not start to understand it until I began constructing blogs and websites on my own. I could not move forward with virtual building unless i understood SEO more. great article
Twitter: Ajayudayagiri
SEO is an evergreen tool to drive traffic to the site and even to rank well in the Search engines.
It is too difficult to rank well in this competition blog world. So, using smart SEO tricks can make us stand out of other blogs.
And among the keyword tools, Google Adwords tool is the best tool, i consider.
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Good post. Will have to check out the SEOmoz tools as I have not used these, I usually just use a combination of ad words and my own research looking at sites etc..
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Hi Mitz, What is the best keyword to use? low, medium, or high competitive keyword? Should I make a link building strategy to improme my blog rank?
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All of them. Start with the low, when you rank for those, focus on the medium, then migrate into the high competition phrases. It’s the only way to survive long-term.
Mitz, great article. I love your headline “Be Your Own SEO Expert and Save BIG BUCKS” …if I may add to it …And a Lot Of Heartache.
Twitter: buildwebsites1
Very true James.. I have had those headaches too! Real SEO Experts are really hard to find!!
Google adword key word tool is one of my favorite tool keyword research. This tool really work and give significant result.
I prefer to use google adword because I use wordpress. This tool very easy to use and give grerat result.
Every one should be capable of do his own SEO work, it costs hundred of dollars!
I could not be more agree with you.After all Google’s animals blackseo is a really bad idea.Keep your hat white and all will be ok.Thanks Mitz
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Dear Mitz,
I read your article and i would whole heatedly say that it was awesome writting. Other than this what you wrote was actually i expected to be seen on internet.. i have been in SEO from 3 years now and what i see that everyone is there to pay for the website SEO. I do seo for my website myself.. I appreciate your writing and A GOOD LUCK to your for the future..
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Healthcare999
Hello Mitz Pantic
choosing the proper keywords is definitely most important for SEO and page rank of your blog
i totally agree with you about this tools also i use backlinkwatch to make natural backlinks to my sites by monitoring other sites backlinks. also you must avoid blackhat seo it with end badly. thanks for these tools and the advice.
i have been in seo from last 1 year…..and during this i have learned more things about gaining traffic…after read your post…i am confident that i am able to do more in SEO. thanks for the post.
I am still learning every day on how to rank well in search engines. This is good information about finding the right keywords. Thanks a lot Mitz!
Sorry,Old post but had to comment.

If something is going to make your work in other’s hand then it can be yours if you expert in that field.Make yourself good.I think Keyword has some importance Google penguin updation and Google Adwords good for choosing keyword.I think retouch of website is also a very important part here.
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This is great information, thank you for creating this list!
My problem is getting traffic to my web store. I have a blog, and I can see how SEO works well for articles there, but how to apply them to my store…that’s my big question.
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If the blog is behind the store then all articles should then link to a related product to sell. For a product website I have a landing page but a blog running in the background adding fresh content. All of these are linked back to the main sales page.. This works well to drive traffic to my sales pages.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Use Google Analytics to Give Your Readers What They Want
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Awesome post. Thanks for all the ideas. I never really thought about it that way, but I guess that is why I never really got a lot of traffic. I usually just wrote on topics I thought were interesting and I figured others might find them interesting as well.
Twitter: buildwebsites1
It makes a huge difference if you know what keywords people are actually typing in to get to your site.. Also then you can create similar content.
What you actually thin is interesting might not be of interest to others and this is why we need keyword research.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..Starting Your First SEO Campaign Without Hiring an Expert
One thing is clear that even the tools are available people should know how to use this tools to generate the traffic. SEO need to keep updates with Google algorithm to avoid any feature penalty
Thank you very much indeed not only for this list, but also for your optimism about the future of SEO. Today SEO goes through tough times, but your article encouraged me. I cannot afford spending on SEO, but after reading your article I hope to manage an effective plan by mu=ysekf, without help of SEO experts.
Jack Milgram recently posted..Beyond No.2 Pencils: The Real Back To School Essentials
Many people would like to do SEO by themselves to save themselves money, however I find a lot of people then turn to a SEO company when they find out the work involved. Remember it all starts with your keywords and how competitive they are, for more competitive keywords you will be going up big companies that spend a lot of time on SEO.
If you plan to do it on your own, know your competitors and plan forward.
Tom recently posted..Hello world!
Hi Mitz,
To save some bucks from SEO, you need to have time. Time represent money and so and so… I don’t have time to spend and do SEO so I prefer to hire someone to do this for me. Anyway, great tips, thanks for sharing

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Yes this is true!! I actually outsource a lot of work as in articles etc.. But I am always in charge of SEO… I use the outsourced work to help me achieve my goals.
But in the beginning of a business people just don’t have the money to outsource anything..

Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Use Google Analytics to Give Your Readers What They Want
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I knew little things about SEO. but I didn’t follow “keywords” yet. now I now something about keywords and think that choosing the proper keyword is definitely very important for SEO. and I’ll never pay for a SEO campaign. Important article. Cheers!
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I knew little things about SEO. but I didn’t follow “keywords” yet. now I now something about keywords and think that choosing the proper keyword is definitely very important for SEO. and I’ll never pay for a SEO campaign. good article. Cheers!
selena recently posted..Portal 2 trainer & completed save game file free Download
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You definitely do not have to pay for a SEO campaign if you wish to do it yourself. You just have to learn a few things about SEO as it is important!
Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Use Google Analytics to Give Your Readers What They Want
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Unfortunately SEO has become a four-letter word thanks to a lot of unscrupulous practitioners. I found some great resources and I’m getting back into it again (and having some clients request it) because I think it’s important. It’s not the sum of all that’s needed but if you don’t want sub-prime virtual real estate, you have to do some SEO.
Good post!
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I agree that SEO has a bad name now..This is why you should know SEO yourself and be in charge of your own process.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..How to Write Awesome SEO Content
I’m glad to visit your blog, ‘m a designer. I don’t have much idea about SEO work. The way you explain in this blog post for keyword selection & site optimision is a great. Maybe your blog will never be HUGE, but it can still make a huge impact on your readers.
larissa recently posted..Top Reasons to Hire a Christmas Tree
Free is always good in my mind. Thanks for these great links! I can always use more tips.
Awesome.
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If I could master SEO I could save big bucks. I am embarrassed to even say what i pay monthly to get help with SEO type services.
Don’t judge me! Lol
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LOL thats is fine if you are getting your moneys worth.. there are some good services out there, they are just hard to find.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..Eight Mistakes To Avoid When Emailing Your Subscribers
I own multiple wordpress sites and my opinion is that the most complete WordPress SEO Plugin is The Yoast Seo Plugin fo wordpress
Twitter: buildwebsites1
I agree that yoasts plugin is the best!!
Mitz Pantic recently posted..Five Advantages to Getting High Search Engine Rankings
I recently have change my site permalink structure, lets say from A to B, then now im going back to A after a few weeks.
Wonder if that affect my SEO ? and if its , how i solve that problem ?
Twitter: buildwebsites1
You should never change the permalinks on an already established website…all the backlinks pointing in will be to the old urls.. If you do this you need to setup redirects… But if you are changing back then it will eventually go back to normal.
Mitz Pantic recently posted..Eight Mistakes To Avoid When Emailing Your Subscribers
Thank you very much for the tips. I use alexa and adword keywords to find top searched keywords and use them in title. It really helping me..
I think with the Google Panda update you have to be careful with using ‘too perfect’ keywords. Yes..use keywords but be natural with them and put it in your own wording. x
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Thanks for your advices. I think SEO is one of the most important things. AS we know, with SEO we will get traffic naturally from search engines.
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SEO is very important factors in internet marketing today. The good news is SEO can be learned by yourself. There are many sources of SEO topic in internet that we can explore to become SEO Expert. By having SEO skills you can save big amount of money.
I’m agree with you mitz that keyword research is essential in SEO. website that have good SEO must be excellent in on page SEO as well as off page SEO..
Thanks miitz for great sharing
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I have been using Alexa and Google Adwords since I started blogging, and it has been really helpful. Recently, I have been testing out the free version of Market Samurai. So far, it’s been quite helpful for me when it comes to weeding out which keywords are the best choices to use for my blog posts. Since I noticed that it wasn’t in the list of tools you mentioned here, would love to hear your take whether this is worth buying in the long run.
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Adeline
Sorry – I only saw your post after I posted the same question. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong but when I use MS and then double-check with Google Adwords, I get different answers, and I don’t get how this could be – MS always seems more optimistic. So I’m not totally confident that MS is something to rely on, but then again, it could just be me doing something wrong.
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Thanks for this – what’s your view of tools like Market Samurai for keyword research? Worth the money?
steverob recently posted..Problems with cloudy or yellow headlights?
Thanks for the link Mitz! Great reading as is this blog!
Another great tool I use on a daily basis is http://ubersuggest.org
It’s a free tool, and pulls google suggests results using the google api. I have written countless articles based on the results I find from ubersuggest.

Donny recently posted..Dishonored: Sokolov Painting Locations
Hey Mitz,
I think the google adwords tool is the best of your arsenal. It saves you so much time because it hints you at what keywords to target and which to not waste time on. Just note that those related searches are less than 50% of all possible keywords combinations.
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Just started out with SEO; however, this post has opened my eyes to some of the DIY tools out there for me. SEO is no easy task; nevertheless, I feel empowered by what you’ve written. Awesome post!
Nathan Frazier recently posted..All Organo Gold Reps Should Read This
Mitz,
Excellent ideas and I use SEO Moz tracker as well, it is a great tool. I use SEM rush for local search volume.

Thanks
Doug Compton recently posted..Why SEO?
The main problem that often comes out is of time. People lack patience and time and this is the reason they hire professionals to do their job. Another important factor which comes into play is experience. An experienced professional who does seo 24×7 would do it in a much better way as compared to a fresher person.
Twitter: @rich_amor
Ahrefs is also a good tool
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You are right that being your own SEO expert can save big bucks but everyone won’t be able to do it . Google and other search engines keep changing there strategies and guidelines , and to be able to see good results on the website one should keep up with all these updates and know technical terms which might not be favorable for everyone.
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