There are thousands of Search Engine Optimization companies nationwide. The problem for many businesses that are looking to get clients is finding the right SEO company. Many of them claim lots of different things. If you're a business owner there are some things you should look out for before handing over a check to a SEO company.
The first thing you should stay away from are companies that guarantee first page placement on Google. That is a big red flag. No one can guarantee you anything with regards to how you will be placed on Google. Tell them to specify to you whether you will appear in first place for sponsored search results or for organic results. If you are being told that your business will show up in sponsored results then be prepared to continue paying the SEO company because once you stop paying then you will drop off the sponsored search listings. Oftentimes, companies try to mislead potential clients and instead of providing organic SEO services they are actually providing PPC services.
If a company has stated that they are offering organic SEO services and they are promising fast results within a few days or a few weeks then you can look at that as the second red flag. Again, Google does not have a set schedule and ranking is determined by many factors. Keep in mind that if your competitor has had a web presence for many years then it will be hard to surpass them on Google's ranking, especially if they are doing SEO on their website. Your business may not rank on the first or second page of Google for many months and possibly not rank at all for a specific key phrase.
Finally, stay away from companies that tell you they get results because they work with Google. That is another false statement that is used by some web marketing companies. Oftentimes they are providing PPC services through Google AdWords. So, while technically they are working with a Google account, they are not working directly with Google and anyone can set up a Google AdWords account.
There are many good companies out there. The key is to shop around and see what each one has to offer. A good SEO company isn't necessarily the most expensive but it is strongly recommended not to look for the cheapest company either. Ask for references and do your research on the web before settling. That should be enough to help you weed through all the bad apples in the SEO business and if you follow all of these steps then you should be on your way to getting some good business and a good return on your investment.
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How to Find the Red Flags When Looking For a Good SEO Company
Search Engine Optimization Tips to Help You Get on Page One of Google
There are thousands of people online that claim to have Search Engine Optimization experience. If you were to poll every single self-procliamed SEO guru in the country you'd probably find a handful of them that can actually show you that they are making money for themselves and for their clients. Sure, it's easy to optimize a website with keywords and meta tags and h1 tags. However, in order to be successful with SEO you need to be ahead of the pack. Here are some things that can help you and your clients achieve goals and make money.
1. Don't rely on only the on-site SEO. What exactly on-site SEO? On-site SEO is the process of modifying or adding code to the website's source to optimize for the search engines. It consists of adding title tags to links, alt tags to images, descriptive meta tags and title tags within the header of the website, and using proper link structure on your site. Please don't misunderstand. An optimized website is VERY important and it is very important to continually add content to your website. A content-rich website is good for search engines. Also remember that the content needs to make sense. If you have multiple pages with the exact same text then it is likely that only one of those pages will show up in the search engines. Don't do it. Google is way ahead of the curve and will eventually find out.
2. You need backlinks and lots of them. Backlinks are links that link back to your website. Look at your competition and see what they're doing. Do a search on Google to see the sites that are linking back to them. I would recommend saving a list of these sites and then contacting all of those sites and asking them if they could also provide a link back to you. You won't get an answer from some of them but it's worth a try. Once you've done that then you need to search out other sites and try and get backlinks from them. You may want to create a links page on your site and offer them a link from you to them as well. Those are called reciprocal links. Reciprocal links are good but one-way links are better. One-way links are harder to get but if you can get those then you are going to get more link juice from them.
3. Start promoting your website on social networking sites and video sharing sites. If you're not into social networking then now is the time to start creating your accounts. I would suggest creating accounts at Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Myspace. Facebook allows you to create company pages as well. It takes time but you must remember that SEO takes time and this is all part of the SEO process. Also, remember to add a link for your business on these social networking sites and if you have something informative and interesting to talk about then the people that follow you and are friends of yours will be happy to repost what you've said and help you spread the word.
Remember that the companies that compete with you did the same thing and some of the same techniques to get on that first page of Google.. It takes time but if you put enough time and effort then you will reap the rewards. Remember not to target broad keywords. If you own a debt settlement company, for example, then it is not wise to target the term "debt settlement". The term is too broad and you would be competing with every debt settlement company in the country. Stay local and target a key phrase that is local to your area. An example of a local key phrase would be something like "Houston debt settlement". If you do that then you will be able to land on page 1 for that term in a few months if you put enough time into the work.
Search Engine Optimization - Tips For Your Business Website
Most companies with a web presence do not make much money online. Instead, they make their money through word of mouth or print or television advertising. Alot of companies do not spend the time and effort on Search Engine Optimization. There are many reasons for this. One reason is because they do not have the time and money to spend on SEO work. The second reason, in many cases, is because they have paid a Search Engine Optimization company only to get little or no results.
I will teach you just some of the steps to a successful Search Engine Optimization strategy. One thing to always remember, organic SEO takes time. Google can rank you within a week for an easy keyphrase or many months for a tougher keyword but once you are ranked number 1 it should be smooth sailing and all you really need to worry about is maintaining your position.
Ok, so where exactly should you start? Let's say you own a car wash company in Houston, Texas. What some SEO companies will do is target the key phrase "car wash." That is the wrong way to to do keyword research because the term is too broad. Even if somehow you ranked on page one for the term "car wash" then you are still competing with 49 other states that are searching for that term. Once they click on your site and see that you are located in Houston they will click away. Regardless, the term is so competitive that you may never rank for that key phrase to begin with.
Instead it would be beneficial to you to try to rank for a local keyphrase. An example would be "Houston car wash". Keyword research should take up the bulk of your time when it comes to SEO. Scope out the competition and see what they're doing. Check to see who links to their sites and see if you could request that those sites link back to you. The reason you want sites linking back to you is because Google also looks at backlinks in determining how important your site is. Each link to your site is considered a vote in Google's eyes, especially backlinks from reputable websites.
One of the main things to work on is your actual page content. Try to use text and not images for your navigation. Also, try not to use too much javascript. While your page should look appealing, also try to keep your source code as clean as possible. This is why I recommend tabless CSS. Tabless CSS is much cleaner than if you had your site built with tables. Most important when optimizing your website is to have a lot of relevant content and to update your site once in a while, maybe once a month or once every couple of months.
There are many other factors that will help get you ranked higher on Google. These are just some of the most important and basic factors. Once you master these then you can research some more and get more advanced.