Finding the Right
SEO Company
I often talk to people who have lost faith in Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) firms because of bad experiences. Either
they saw no results, felt that they were tricked into subscribing
to a service that could not work, or that they wasted money
on a firm that did them no good. Although I agree that there
are bad SEO firms out there, I know that there are also many
good ones. It's your job to make sure you find an SEO firm
that will work for you.
Search engines are the basis of Internet existence and survival.
Recent studies have concluded that over 90 percent of all
web surfers use search engines to find what they are looking
for. Thus, in order to be successful on the Internet, your
website must be search engine friendly. If people who search
the Internet for your products or services are not finding
your Web site, you need search engine optimization (SEO).
Now some of you may take on the task of optimizing your own
sites. For those people, there are plenty of "how to" articles
on the Internet that can help you. If you need more help,
drop me an email and I'll give you some ideas. However, many
webmasters decide instead to let an SEO company handle their
marketing. Search Engine Optimization is a full time job,
and many companies need to hire someone to do it for them.
If this is your intent, you should know what to look for,
and what to watch for, when selecting the right SEO company.
1. Make Sure They, and Their Clients, are Successful and
Well Optimized
If your SEO company does not rank high on most major search
engines under their specific services, then they probably
won't have the ability to get you high ranking on yours. For
example, if you're located in Boston, your SEO company should
at least rank on the first page in Google, Yahoo, and MSN
under such search terms as "Boston SEO," "Boston Internet
Marketing," "Boston Web Marketing," or even "Boston Web Design."
If you found them through pay-per-click or sponsored listings,
this only means that they do not have the ability to optimize
their own websites and are forced to pay for their clientele.
In addition, it is a good idea to check the success of their
clients. All SEO companies have a client listing, if for no
other reason than to offer front page links to their big spenders.
Take a good look at these clients' sites. Check for quality
of content and keywords. View the source and see how well
the meta tags are structured and how well they apply to the
content given. And most importantly, go to the major search
engines and find where these clients land on the search terms
they are targeting. If the SEO company has created a successful
marketing campaign for each of its clients, chances are you're
looking at a good SEO firm. However, if neither the SEO company
or its listed clients have high rankings, I would recommend
you find a firm that does.
2. Make Sure Someone Answers the Phone or Responds to Email
Although this may sound funny, I can't stress how important
it is to find a SEO company that will be there when you need
them. Before choosing an SEO company, call them. If they pick
up, you're in good shape. If they don't pick up, but call
back within 2 hours, you're still looking pretty good. If
it takes you a handful of phone calls and emails, or a number
of days to get a response, you might be in bad shape.
Say you've just received a new product that you would like
to market. Say that product is seasonal, only for the holiday
season, and your ability to sell it relies on the timeliness
with which you can get it seen on the search engines. You
need a company that you can contact to put immediate marketing
efforts to your new pages and products. If it takes 3 to 4
weeks for your SEO firm to make changes and improvements,
you might want to look for a company that can keep up with
your fast-paced business and demanding customers.
3. Make Sure They Understand How Search Engines Work
Keeping a website at the top of the search engines has become
a science. The best search engines frequently modify the way
their databases list Web sites, and constantly change the
search criteria used to find and present web pages.
To understand the quality of a company's search engine optimization
services, you must first understand how search engines work.
Search engines list websites in two distinct manners: pay
per click listings and organically optimized listings.
Pay per click listings are the listings that appear on the
top or right side of most search engines under the heading
"Sponsored Links", or some related term. This type of listing
is paid for. Web sites that wish to get top search engine
placement without optimization can pay a certain cost that
is charged to their search engine accounts every time their
sponsored link is clicked on by a prospective client. Cost
per click rates range anywhere between $0.10 and $10.00 per
search. Some bigger-budget eCommerce businesses can spend
up to $50,000 a month on pay per click marketing.
Organically optimized listings are the listings that appear
at the top of search engine pages without having to pay for
these listings. This type of listing is free. However, your
website must be properly optimized to appear at the top of
all search engines using organic optimization. Search engines
use unique programs which send agents referred to as "spiders"
and "robots" to your Web site to collect data. Your website
must be structured properly to aid these robots in their search
for information.
A quality SEO firm will know how to properly structure your
website for top organic optimization and, ultimately, top
search engine placement. Watch out for SEO firms that take
your money and invest in pay-per-click marketing. Although
this will get you immediate results, it does nothing to optimize
your site in the long run, will not be as profitable as an
organic marketing campaign, and will keep you dependent on
SEO companies for your success. And pay-per-click marketing
is something you can easily do yourself; if that's the route
you wish to take.
4. Make Sure They Follow-Up with Internet Research
In addition to knowing how to optimize correctly, an SEO
firm should be constantly investigating the Internet's most
popular search engines in order to stay aware of the latest
techniques for promoting a Web site on the Internet. If they
are not giving you monthly reports on the status of your listings,
the increasing quantity of your links, and the number of unique
visitors to your site, you might not be working with the right
SEO company. These reports should not only show where your
site is ranked on each of the major search engines for each
of the major terms you target, but also show you how you have
improved from the previous month and where your competitors
stand.
5. Make Sure You Constantly Know What They're Doing
The major problem most people have with internet marketing
guys is that they don't see them everyday. It's not like these
guys come into the office everyday, or even sit down with
the boss for a daily conference call. Most of them work out
of their homes, spending 12 hours a day on the computer. Now
I'm not saying that they will take your money and do nothing
for you, but it's good to keep your eyes on them like you
would any employee. On the days that they work for you, have
them send you day-end reports detailing the pages they optimized,
the content they added, the keywords they marketed, and the
links they added. This will allow you a better understanding
of what they do on your clock, and allow you to keep your
eye on their progress and effectiveness.
Overall, you can find a good SEO company. There are hundreds
out there. But it is your responsibility to make sure you
find the right one. Don't just pick the first firm you find,
then complain when you see no results. Find your results before
you hire any SEO company, and you will put your business on
the right track for Internet success.
If you are thinking of buying an
SEO software application, here are some programs that actually
work as advertised and the reason why they are recommended
by FreeSEOTutorials.com
Seo
Elite: New Seo Software! The Grand Daddy
Of All Seo Software! Get A Top 5 Google Ranking In Under
30 Days!
www.SEOElite.com |
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