The short answer
You can do SEO yourself, a lot of it anyway, if you have a few hours a week and you are happy to learn. Pay for help when the job is technical, when your time is worth more than the fee, or when you have tried and nothing moved. The middle option is often the best value: pay once for a clear list of what to fix, then do the fixes yourself.
I run an SEO business, so weigh my view with that in mind. I’d still rather you spend nothing than spend on the wrong thing.
Key takeaways
- Doing SEO yourself costs your time instead of your money. It works best for a simple local business with one location.
- A written plan plus your own time is the cheapest way to stop guessing.
- Pay a person for technical fixes, schema and site speed. Mistakes there are easy to make and hard to see.
- Nobody controls Google. Walk away from anyone who promises rankings.
- Check your Google Business Profile first. If it is half empty, filling it in is the fastest win you have, and it is free.
Your five options compared
| Do it yourself | Do it yourself with a written plan | Freelancer | Agency | In-house hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Money | $0 | MaxBiz Full Fix Plan: $149 + GST | Varies by person. No market figure shown. | MaxBiz Foundations: $1,500 + GST, one-off. Next stages priced after Foundations | A salary |
| Your time | High | Medium | Low to medium | Low | Low, once hired |
| Who decides what to fix | You, by guessing | The plan | The freelancer | The agency | Your hire |
| Technical fixes (schema, speed, errors) | Hard to get right | The plan says how. You or your web person do it | Depends on the person | Yes | Depends on the person |
| Reporting | None, unless you set it up | Your own checks | Varies | Should be dated and against a baseline | Yours to define |
| Best for | Simple local business, time to learn | Owners who want control and a clear list | One clear job | Owners who want it done | Larger firms with ongoing work |
A note on that table. I only show MaxBiz prices, because those are the only ones I can stand behind. For what a fair retainer looks like, read my guide to affordable SEO in Melbourne. If you have decided to hire and want to pick well, read how to choose an SEO agency in Melbourne.
What you can do yourself this month
These jobs need no special skill. They need an hour or two and some care.
- Claim and fill in your Google Business Profile. Hours, photos, services, the suburb you serve. Then post once a week. Scheduling is built into the profile and it is free.
- Use one name, address and phone number everywhere. Your site, your profile, Yellow Pages, Yelp, Apple Business Connect. When I fixed this for Aroma Avenue in Fitzroy, the old name, a wrong website and wrong Sunday hours were all still listed.
- Write one page per service. Say what you do, where, and what it costs if you can.
- Ask every happy client for a review. Then reply to each one.
- Connect Google Search Console. It is free and shows the searches you already appear for.
Google publishes a free starter guide to SEO for site owners, linked below. It is plain and worth an hour.
Where doing it yourself usually goes wrong
It goes wrong in the parts you can’t see. On real sites I have audited, I found these:
- A noindex setting that hid the whole site from Google. That was Green Mantra Horticulture in Sydney. The owner had no way to know.
- Nine H1 headings on one page, seven of eleven products with no description, and reviews blocked because every past customer had checked out as a guest. That was the Scented Life online store.
- No business schema at all, so search engines and AI tools had to guess the basics.
None of these show up when you look at your own site in a browser. That is the case for paying someone to look, even if you do the fixes yourself.
When paying for SEO makes sense
Pay for help if one of these is true:
- You have done the basics above and nothing has moved after a few months.
- Your site has technical problems you can’t diagnose.
- Your hours are worth more than the fee, and you’d rather serve clients.
- You want to show up in ChatGPT and Google’s AI answers too. That needs clean, machine-readable facts about your business. My page on AI SEO for Melbourne firms explains that part.
Expect it to take time either way. Google’s SEO Starter Guide states that some changes take effect in a few hours and others could take several months, and it suggests waiting a few weeks before you judge a change.
What it costs with MaxBiz
- The free snapshot: free. I email you who ranks nearby for your work within two business days.
- The Full Fix Plan: $149 plus GST. A written roadmap of what to fix and how, with a 20 minute call to walk through it. This is the do-it-yourself-with-a-plan option. If you hire me for Foundations within 30 days, the $149 comes off.
- Foundations: $1,500 plus GST, one-off. I fix what you already have so Google reads your business right. Half to start, the rest when the work is done and checked.
- Later stages: priced after Foundations, one at a time, each quoted on the last one’s report.
I don’t guarantee rankings. You get a report against a dated baseline. The full detail is on Melbourne SEO services and how I get Melbourne firms found.
Frequently asked questions
Can I really do SEO myself?
Yes, for the basics. A complete Google Business Profile, one consistent name and phone, a page per service and steady reviews will take a simple local business a long way.
Is SEO worth it for a small local business?
If people search for what you sell in your suburb, yes. Start with the free parts: your profile, your details and your reviews. Pay for more only when those are done and you can see the gap.
Is an SEO agency better than a freelancer?
Neither is better by default. Ask who does the work, what they will fix first, and how they report. Walk away from anyone who promises rankings.
How long does SEO take?
Google’s own guide says some changes show in hours and others take months. Give any change a few weeks before you judge it.
What should I pay for first?
A clear list of what is wrong. Then decide whether to fix it yourself or pay for the fixes.
Not sure which way to go?
Send me your business and suburb. The free snapshot shows who is winning your searches nearby. If a rival is beating you on something you can fix yourself, I’ll tell you that.
Get the free snapshot or call 03 8692 4716.
Related guides
If you are still weighing it up, these guides go deeper on the parts that deserve their own page.
Where this leads: Foundations and Awareness
See who is taking customers nearby.
For your free Competitor snapshot, I look at who is ranking nearby for the work you sell, and send you the names that actually matter.
