| Search
Engine Keywords Selection A Search
Engine Optimization Company can be an
invaluable
asset in your Internet marketing
campaign. They specialize
in knowing how to raise your search
engine positions,
monitoring those positions on the
regular basis, and
adjusting their strategies to account
for undesirable
results in any given month. Since this
takes a lot of time,
effort, and specialized knowledge, it
can be in your best
interest to go to an outside source
rather than try to
maintain high search engine positions on
your own.
However, like every business, there are
good companies and
there are lemons. Knowing the right
questions to ask and
the criteria to look for will help you
in choosing an
affordable, effective search engine
optimization company.
When looking at different companies,
begin by considering
the approach they employ to raise your
search engine
positions. Steer clear of companies that
use cloaked,
doorway, or bridge pages to raise your
positions. These
techniques violate most search engine
policy, and in the
worst case scenario, will only get your
website severely
penalized, if not removed entirely from
a search engine's
index.
A cloaked page is a page that is created
which is invisible
to the regular visitor to your website.
The cloaked page is
coded to detect a search engine spider
and divert them to
this special page, which is set-up to
artificially boost
your search engine position. Doorway or
bridge pages
utilize the same concept, but often
reside on an entirely
different server. Google, one of the
largest and most
important search engine on the Internet,
will remove your
website from their index if they detect
you have cloaked
pages. Never, never employ any company
that uses this
technique!
Another important element is to get a
guarantee that the
company you hire will not work with your
competitors while
they are working for you. Obviously,
this would seriously
compromise the effectiveness of the
search engine
optimization campaign. Be aware that
some companies will
use the success they achieve for your
website to sell their
services to your competitors. So get
your guarantee in
writing, and make sure it is legally
binding.
Of course, one of the most important
factors you want to
check out is the company's track record
of results.
However, don't take the company's word
for it. They will
undoubtedly be slanting their results in
order to sell
their services to you. To go beyond
their simple statement
of success, ask them a few pertinent
questions, and verify
their answers.
Ask them which engines they have
achieved the best results
on. The ones that are important are the
most popular
engines, and these are the ones you want
to see good
results on. Since the popularity of
search engines can
change with the landscape of the overall
Internet, check
out the Nielsen Netratings page at
Search Engine Watch. You
can access this at
http://www.searchenginewatch.com/article.php/2156451.
Next, find out what keywords and phrases
they are claiming
great results with. It's easy to get
high rankings with
unpopular words. For instance, the
keyword "cat leashes"
will get high popularity ranking because
no one else would
think of using it. What you are looking
for is good results
using popular keywords. Check out the
software Wordtracker,
available at www.wordtracker.com. You
can order a free
trial, or a subscription ranging from 1
day to 1 year. This
software rates the popularity of
keywords and phrases based
on actual search engine use.
Next, look for good results over an
entire site that the
company claims to have successfully
worked for. You want to
see a wide range of positions over a
number of different
search engines using different keywords
or phrases for the
entire site. Request a report for any
client the company
claims to have done well for. This
report should show good
positions on a number of the most
popular search engines
for a variety of different, popular
keywords and phrases.
When you are checking out search engine
optimization
companies, make sure they have actually
done the work they
are claiming to have done. Some
companies will use other
company's results in order to get you to
sign on with them.
If you are in doubt, call the company
they are showing you
results for, and ask for the name of
their search engine
optimization company.
It's important to keep in mind that a
successful search
engine optimization campaign will result
in maximum
exposure across a wide range of popular
search engines
using a variety of keywords and phrases.
This is the
formula for a successful campaign, and
you should keep it
always in the forefront of your
marketing strategy.
Ask the search engine optimization
company you are
considering for a report that shows you
rankings across a
number of popular search engines for a
period of at least
six months. Remember: search engine
marketing is a process
that is continual, and you need a
company that not only
understands this, but keeps constant
tabs on your search
engine positions. That company must also
be able to adjust
its strategy in the event that search
engine rankings drop.
Since search engine marketing is an
on-going process, your
positions must be constantly monitored.
If you want your
search engine optimization company to do
this for you,
request a sample of a monthly report. It
is essential that
this report should show rankings for the
most popular
search engines. Don't be impressed by a
report that only
shows great results for a limited number
of small search
engines. These are fairly easy results
to acquire. Also
confirm that the popular search engine
results they are
showing you are indeed the popular
search engines
currently.
Be sure the sample report the company
shows you is in a
format that you can easily understand.
For example, it
could be in the form of a chart that
covers a period of at
least six months and presents data such
as the top 50
positions broken down on a monthly basis
or the top 5 pages
each month. Then, ascertain that the
company you are
considering actually monitors these
positions or pages
every month, and that the sample report
they show you
includes findings and recommendations
for the specific
site. This insures that the company will
actively monitor
and make adjustments to their strategy
on a continual basis
rather than simply gather statistics on
your positions. You
need a company that is actively
participant in your search
engine marketing campaign, not just an
information
gatherer.
Obviously, your finances have to figure
into your choice of
company, but bear in mind that a search
engine optimization
company is crucial the success of your
marketing campaign.
It is not just a casual accessory. If
you cannot afford a
company that will do a thorough and
reliable job for your
website, you might consider waiting
until you do have the
finances in place.
If you have to find a company and can't
wait for your
finances to catch up, you may be able to
find an affordable
company that will also be able to supply
quality, reliable
work, such as a fairly new company. Just
remember that
there are risks involved with using a
company without a
proven track record - and that risk is
your money! Don't
take that leap unless the company can
supply you with a
least a few references.
References are the most reliable
indicator of a good
company. Don't use a company that won't
show your
references because of any reason,
confidentiality included.
Remember - even doctors will provide
references! The firm
you choose should provide you with a
minimum of two
references, one that is from the past,
and one that is
current.
When you contact these references, be
prepared to ask
precise, specific questions so that
neither of your time is
wasted. Ask them what their experience
was like with the
company, such as their availability to
answer questions and
deal with problems and their ability to
meet deadlines. Ask
the reference to rate the overall
performance of the
company.
Find out if the company requested that
the reference make
significant changes to their web pages
that affected the
visitors coming to their site. You are
looking for a search
engine optimization company that can
balance the needs of
both search engines and site visitors
without compromising
either.
The most essential question to ask is
whether the work of
the search engine optimization company
resulted in higher
profits for the reference. Without
profits, it doesn't
matter whether your positions are at the
top of the list or
not.
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