Thursday, August 14, 2008

Search Engine Optimization Companies Are Not Created Equal

By Chris Anderson, Ph.D.


So you have a company, you have a web site, and your getting no traffic, and have decided to search engine optimize. How do you go about selecting the right company or SEO consultant?

Unfortunately, the bad news is the most people have no idea how to select the right company. First, there is a lot of jargon like links, anchor text, page rank, etc., etc. To further complicate, the claims of SEO companies are all over the map and some charge $20 per month while others charge $20,000 per month.

Since we understand this confusion, we will take a few moments below to really identify a few steps that you can take to find the right SEO consultant or company.

Look For A Track Record On Their Own Site(s)

We always scratch our head at why people would hire SEO companies that cannot demostrate a success with their own site. It is absolutely mandatory that you get them to show you what that have done with their own sites.

Have Them Explain In Detail What They Plan To Do

We always suggest interviewing a minimum of the 3 companies or consultants. Really have them explain what their campaign is going to do, what realistic timelines and costs are likely to be, and why the believe it will work for you. Many fly by night type companies will make you believe that SEO and Internet marking is a black art..... that is far from the truth. SEO is a step by step process that takes a lot of time, effort, and faith but it is not black magic. By the time you interview 3 candidates, we believe it will be clear who has a solid game plan and who is smoke and mirrors.

Three Major Items To Investigate

Bottom line, you want to generate additional sales for your company. In our experience, any Internet marketing campaign that is successful requires the components before it really starts making the cash register ring:

- What Search Terms; -- The first step in any SEO plan of attack is to get other, related web sites linking to yours. This greatly helps improve your rankings and in one form or the other, is the major activity performed by your search company.

Work With The SEO Company To Establish Realistic Goals

Anybody with a web site obviously wants to rank #1 in Google and all other search engines for everything related to their web site. Unfortunately, unless you plan on spending a BUNCH of money, that is just not realistic. Before you and your SEO company start a campaign, both of you should be onboard with what you can expect, the amount of traffic that might ultimately result, and the steps that will likely be needed.

By following these guidelines, you could make a very good choice for a search optimization company. Unfortunately, however, there is a ton of fly-by-night operations out there so be careful and do your due diligence.

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