Locating really great keywords does not need to be overly hard. There are 2 things to consider when choosing the keyword(s) or phrase(s) for your website. First is relevancy. The point of a keyword is to target your people who will be interested in what you have to offer. So start any keyword search with words and phrases that would likely be used by people who would be interested in the information (and products, services, etc.) that you are offering.

A keyword search for a specific word or phrase (2-3 words) will most likely bring back hundreds, if not thousands of related key phrases. Choosing the best keywords is not hard, as long as you know what you should be looking for. The best route is to find keywords that have high to moderate demand (many people searching for that specific keyword) as well as minimal competition (a limited amount of other websites using the same word).

The majority of webmasters realize the first part of that equation, yet the second part (the most important part for SEO) is often overlooked. I have always been stunned to see that one keyword will have a tremendous amount of competition, literally millions of individuals trying to fight over position for that word, and yet a very similar keyword with close to equal demand, has very low competition and can therefore be won more easily.

The fact that so many holes exist in each market just goes to show that most webmasters either aren’t doing their research, or they have know idea how the system works. This is great news, however, for you and me. These holes can be utilized to drive massive traffic to a website, while similar sites are all left fighting over a keyword that has way to much competition to make the battle worthwhile.

Choosing the most profitable keyword is only the first in an equation that really has two separate parts. Using keywords is another place where the masses fail (even though they “think” they are being so clever.) Here we come to a priceless lesson….NEVER TRY AND FOOL THE ENGINES!! Attempting to trick the engines is just not going to get you doing lasting results.

For those who are looking for information about the sphere of one way links, check out the link that is mentioned in this passage.

Being in the business of search engine marketing I sometimes get overwhelmed with the sheer number of hours necessary to fully market a site online. Actually, I can’t even say there is such a thing as “fully” marketing a site online as there are truly an endless number of marketing options. There are so many things that can be done while also maintaining a budget both for the client and for the time involved.

Ninety percent of the online marketing services we provide are based on time. There are a few expenditures (directory submissions, etc) but most of the cost associated with our SEO services is hourly time going into each project: writing, analyzing, tweaking, optimizing, communicating, reporting, etc. Largely, I think it’s hard for any client to fully understand all of this, especially those looking for something “less expensive.”

When it comes to purchasing an SEO package, it all comes down to how much are you willing to pay per hour, and how many hours do you want to invest in your website’s promotion efforts? While many SEOs charge a package price, how much goes into that package is determined by how many hours of their time the SEO is willing to invest, and for how much. When you consider the SEO package as a matter of hours, $1000/month will buy you anywhere from 5-30 hours of work each month. Those willing to put in 30 hours for $1000 either have very low overhead or are not skilled enough to charge more per hour. Those putting in 5 hours per $1000 either have high overhead or are exceptionally skilled, or both.

But still, 5 hours, or even 10 hours per month spent on an optimization campaign isn’t a whole lot once you break down everything that goes into it. Here is a simple breakdown of what I would consider the average high-quality SEO campaign:

Keyword Research: Can take up to 10 hours initially, or more for extensive research, and perhaps another 30 minutes each month for additional research.
Page Optimization: 3-6 hours (per page) for text and code development/optimization.
Usability/Conversion Analysis & Reporting: 2-12 hours/month depending on depth of testing and reporting analysis.
Link Building/Research: 10-40 hours per month depending on the size of the site.
Miscellaneous Campaign Management: 2-10 hours per month depending on size of site.

Depending on how the SEO charges, the bulk of this can be an upfront payment for a predetermined number of pages with little ongoing maintenance, or it can be spread out into monthly payments and include ongoing research, optimization and link development. I grouped a lot of little things together above for brevity, but spending 20 hours a month (averaged over 12-months) isn’t all that hard to achieve.

Assuming the average (quality) SEO firm charges $150/hour, you’re looking at $3000/month or $36,000 for a year. That’s no small chunk of change for the average small business. Not every SEO firm (including us) charges fees that high, but rarely is one person able to perform every aspect of an SEO campaign without hiring staff or sub-contracting out, and good specialized sub-contractors will charge anywhere from $35-$150 or more per hour. For the SEO to make any money they have to charge at least that much, if not more.

Undoubtedly, not every SEO will agree with all of my numbers above, but even looking at it conservatively, $10,000/year doesn’t garner the client a lot of time put into their SEO campaign. As I said before, it all comes down to time. Every SEO must figure out how best to invest their allotted hours. Will more be spent on text development than link building? Does usability/conversion analysis take a higher priority over anything else?

For us SEOs, sometimes the hard part is convincing clients to invest in our time (package costs), but in reality we should be convincing them to invest in their website. It’s not how much money the client is paying for SEO, it’s how much time their money will allow the SEO to invest in their website.

The Spend-Cautious Client

I’m as cost conscious as the next guy, but there comes a point when pinching pennies is counter productive… especially in business. When I look at various on- and off-line marketing campaigns, I don’t look at the cost so much as I look at the overall return. Sure, a big price tag makes me think long and hard before investing, but what I want to know is, will I get my return on that investment?

The bigger the price tag the harder it is to jump into an unknown investment. This is just as true with SEO as with any form of marketing, but perhaps even more true with SEO because the return is not instant. SEO requires a long-term investment and the money you pour into it today will not be returned for several months. This is even truer for new businesses just getting online.

The Internet has attracted many new business owners who thought (some rightfully and some not) that they could simply build a website and start making money in their spare time. Many people have become successful and probably a great deal more have not.

Any business, on- or off-line, requires investment. Investment of both time and money.

If you have neither time nor money, there will be no success.
If you have time and not money, success can come, but you may run out of time before it happens.
If you have money but not time, success may come, but it will be fleeting without proper preparation and planning.
If you have both time and money, success may come, but like any business, a proper business plan is required.

Obviously, the best position is to have both time and money. And if you want to optimize your site for search engines, you need both and you must be prepared to spend both as well. Look at your options, but don’t consider pricing only. Price (high or low) is NOT an indicator of a more successful campaign.

Costly marketing will still fail, if the business plan is not solid. Cheap marketing will usually only produce cheap results.

It’s not how much it costs, it’s the ROI (return on investment) that you get for your money. Look at the long-term goals. If you really want to succeed with optimization be prepared to invest, and like any good investment, allow it to fully mature. Only then will your search marketing campaign prove successful.

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I have done some research myself and found a superb way to learn more about how an SEO Consultant can help online businesses grow and how SEO Consulting can improve sales and returns on investments (ROI). By directly contacting several SEO Consultants and hearing their stories myself, I was able to know why SEO Consulting is a proven way to boost sales and gain exposure globally.

Before I let you know where to find a knowledgeable SEO Consultant who can help you market your products and services online, let me first give you a quick overview about SEO Consulting and how a consultant can actually convert website traffic into sales.

There is so much to learn about Search Engine Optimization and a single article is not enough to explain to you how everything works. However, I will try and make it a point to make this article your one-stop resource to finding the best SEO adviser online so you can achieve your dreams of growing your business and entering the global market.

SEO Consulting: How Is It Done?

SEO Consulting is basically the act of setting up of plans on how to improve your ranking on popular search engines like Google or Yahoo. For example, if your company is selling cheap glucometers online, you will want to come up on the first page of Google or Yahoo when someone types in “cheap glucometer” on the search bar. You will not be able to achieve this if you have no understanding about how Google ranks pages or how Yahoo counts clicks. For this reason, a thorough but understandable briefing from an SEO Consultant should be done first before you immediately give up when you find out that your site is not on the first page of search engine results.

To get outstanding SEO Consulting that is effective in terms of gaining traffic and turning clicks into sales, you need to know how to look for the best SEO Adviser online. To do this, you have to be aware of the qualities you have to look out for when choosing one:

Top 3 Characteristics of a Good SEO Consultant

1. The SEO Consultant is Eager To Learn About Your Business.

It is believed that before a consultant can begin detailing the strategies for successfully becoming #1, the SEO Consultant must first “have an understanding of the clients’ business and marketing goals to develop the strategy and approach for a winning SEO campaign.”

If the consultant is interested in what you are marketing and is knowledgeable about what it is that you want to achieve, then for sure, doing business with this SEO Consultant will be a breeze.

2. The SEO Consultant is Knowledgeable in the Different Fields of SEO.

“Ideally, the SEO Consultant should understand things like: Business Objectives, Marketing Strategies, Demographics of Target Audience, Media Mix & Flight Dates, Creative considerations, Messaging, Success Metrics, Dependencies, and Methods of Measurement”.

SEO Consulting requires the consultant to not only just have a variety of skills but also hold a wide array of knowledge on the different aspects of SEO. Working with a consultant who knows how concepts work will definitely be beneficial as you already know that the consultant knows what he is doing.

3. The SEO Consultant Communicates Effectively.

Ongoing reporting and monitoring should definitely be performed by an SEO Consultant so that the client has an idea if there has been any progress with the strategies taken to achieve business goals.

An SEO Consultant who is able to make suggestions as to how to improve traffic after a month’s report is proof enough that he is knowledgeable and fit to do the job well. Constant communication, whether relaying good or bad reports, is always the key to effective SEO Consulting.

If you’re looking for a good way to improve your sales, venturing into internet marketing is ultimately the best idea. However, dipping your feet into unknown waters is not advisable so be sure to seek help from a knowledgeable SEO Consultant who can give you the best advice on how to grow your business.

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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.

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In general, however, proven strategies combined with judgment and experience from a seasoned SEO expert can be relied upon to achieve favorable placement. Therein lies the challenge to the average business owner: How do you FIND a reputable, experienced SEO expert?

If you have been burned once by inadequate search engine marketing, you have probably been burned again. That’s because there’s a learning curve in discerning what kinds of activities and companies you can trust, and what kinds will take your money & run. It can be a very discouraging process to find the “right” company, and many business owners simply give up.

It would be nice if there were a sign above every shady operators door that expressed the sentiment from Dantes “Divine Comedy”, reading:

“Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here.”

But that’s not likely to happen.

So the burden of proof (and the risk associated with it) in sorting the good guys from the bad guys rests squarely with YOU.

In most of my articles on the topic, I cite a list of many “Dos” and “Don’ts” that you should adhere to in the decision making process. That gets a bit dry, and it certainly doesn’t put the material in a directly relevant context.

Obviously, I also can’t make specific recommendations to you that state, “Do business with Company A, but avoid Company B at all costs.” Doing so would involve somewhat subjective opinions, and of course, I’m not eager to be sued by Company B anytime soon.

What follows, therefore, is more of a story that you may relate to if you own a website. It is written as a (rather long) parable, so it can be applied to any business in any industry. As with any allegorical tale, you will derive your own meaning from it based on your situation and your experiences. I explain the symbolism after the story. What’s important, here, is that you understand the concept of the tale, and can apply the lessons learned to your business.

The Parable of the “Magic Spring Water” Salesman:

There once a business owner who owned a pasta restaurant. It was in a seemingly perfect location with a picturesque view next to a babbling brook, and was the only such business of its kind. In the early years, the business was doing great with loyal patrons filling the tables and ordering pasta by the heap, and they raved about the flavor of his pasta dishes. Over time, though, other restaurants began appearing around town, and the pasta restaurant business owner noticed that his customers were gradually disappearing, week after week. Whereas all of the new restaurants in town appeared to be getting busier, he became alarmed at how vacant his tables had become.

Finally, the pasta restaurant owner decided to address the problem so he hired a consultant who specialized in helping restaurants succeed. He checked out the consultant’s credentials carefully and was impressed with all of the references, but the price for consulting services was $500. Business wasn’t what it used to be, so the pasta shop owner was unhappy to have to pay a consultant to study his business, analyze the local market, and make recommendations. But after several weeks of losing more customers to the competition, he eventually decided that it was necessary to do so, and he begrudgingly paid the consultant $500.

The consultant was thorough in explaining all of the factors and considerations that went into the final report. The report identified a few minor areas of improvement, but there was one major factor that appeared to be the reason for the pasta shop’s decline: Service was too slow, and as times changed and his customers’ schedules became busier, they sought other venues where their meals would be prepared faster.

As a result of the findings, the consultant made two recommendations:

1) Invest in newer cooking equipment that had more burners and heated the water faster to boil the pasta, and

2) Hire additional part-time staff who could serve more tables during the busy hours, taking orders and delivering meals more efficiently.

The costs associated with these changes were identified as $1500 for the new cook top, and $800 per month for the extra part-time help. Although the consultant could not promise the pasta shop owner that his old client base would return, he showed well-planned projections on paper that indicated how the pasta shop should break even and then become profitable after two to three month period.

The business owner was furious. Such costs would have been no problem when business was booming, but how dare the consultant propose a solution that would cost even more money when times were so financially tight! The pasta shop owner angrily protested that he did not have two to three months to waste on something without a guarantee, and he accused the consultant of being a “gold digger” looking to make buck from the poor business owner’s desperate situation. The consultant was shown the door and told to leave.

Witness to all of this, an opportunistic spring water salesman sat at a nearby table. As the business owner held his head in his hands with stress and grief, the spring water salesman decided to “strike while the iron was hot.” With his own agenda in mind, he approached the business owner and offered his own services.

“Pardon me,” said the water salesman, “but I couldn’t help overhearing your distressing story and financial woes. I have a better solution that will cost you much less, and you will have instant results.”

The pasta shop owner had his doubts, but the prospect of cheaper, instant results lured him to ask more questions. “How much will it cost, and how can I trust you?” he asked. “You haven’t even read the report that the consultant prepared.”

“Come with me,” said the spring water salesman. “You don’t need a report. I’ll give you a demo of my product and you’ll be dazzled by what you see. I have special water that will boil your pasta faster so you can serve more, faster.”

The pasta shop owner was puzzled, but because he wasn’t a water expert the idea sounded good. So he followed the water salesman up a very high mountain where there was a small spring of streaming water. “This is my special water,” the water salesman said. “If you want to be able to serve more pasta faster, boil your pasta with MY water. As I will demonstrate, my water boils in half the time that it takes regular time to boil.” And with that, he held a pot of his spring water over a fire, and sure enough the water came to a boil much faster than the pasta shop owner expected.

Excited at what he had heard and seen, the pasta shop owner quickly agreed to buy the magic water from the spring water salesman. “You’ve convinced me,” he said, “Just as you promised, your water boils faster and I can save time and money by not following the recommendations of the restaurant expert. How can I ever thank you!”

“Well,” said the spring water salesman, “To make it worth my while to deliver my special water all the way down the mountain, I will require you to buy a supply of it from me for one year. It will cost you less than hiring new part-time employees but as you have seen, this magic water really works.”

“Agreed.” The pasta shop owner signed a contract for magic water delivery for $600 per month for the next year, pleased that he did not have to spend the $1500 for a new cook top and $800 per month for part-time help. In fact, he resented the consultant who provided the recommendations, now firmly believing that he had been suckered out of the $500 consulting fee.

When the first delivery of magic water arrived at the pasta shop, the restaurant owner was elated. “Now my business will pick up,” he thought. But something strange happened when he heated the water to cook his pasta. It took just as long to reach a boil as the water he had previously used. He tried and tried, but no matter how much water he used or how many attempts he made, the water still took the same amount of time to come to a boil.

“It must be something I am doing wrong,” he thought. “I watched the water boil in half the time up on the mountain. I must call the spring water salesman and get instructions to learn his secret.”

Unfortunately the spring water salesman was unavailable, either because he was too busy selling magic water to other restaurant owners or because he was out enjoying the new-found $600. The spring water salesman thought to himself, “This is great! I made an easy sale and I really didn’t have to do anything to earn the money.” He boasted to some of his friends who also sold spring water, impressed with himself that he was so successful in making an easy sale.

Meanwhile, the pasta shop owner became suspicious and thought, “I bet that I am paying for magic water, but he is shipping me regular water. What a thief!” But alas, the unhappy pasta shop owner did not know enough about water to be able to recognize the difference between magic and regular water, so he continued to lose business as he spent $600 per month, bound by a contract.

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The first thing to consider is the approach of the SEO Company. There are several approaches that SEO firms use in order to achieve the traffic that they require for a site. One of which is ‘doorway’ or ‘bridge’ approach wherein they use keywords that are not found in the site. This approach makes you gain rankings for a short period of time but it is also not accepted in major search engines. Another approach is ‘cloaking’ wherein the server provides unique contents when it perceives a search engine visiting the site. It shows contents with the keywords that are high in rank. Once Google finds this out, it automatically remove the website from their list. SEO Company that use these techniques are engaging in Black Hat SEO and you must avoid them like the plague as they will get your site banned.

Another requirement to consider is the results that it can give you. Major search engines are better than smaller ones. You should also consider the key phrases that the SEO companies use in your website. There are sites as well as programs in the Internet where you can check if the keywords being used have high search volume. The higher search volume means that it has greater potential to bring your site a lot of web traffic once higher rankings are achieved. Aside from these, the output for the whole site and the rank that it maintained should be taken into consideration. Check the output made by the search engine optimization firm on previous projects. The website as a whole should be attractive for the possible audience. It should also maintain ranking for sometime. Lastly, make sure that the site that the SEO Company is showing you is really their work. Look for their logo to confirm their work on it. Do not be fooled because other SEO companies claim higher rank websites to be their own when in fact they haven’t worked with it yet.

The third requirement that you should consider is the support and the reports that the SEO Company gives to their client. Look for a search engine optimization firm that is able to show reports on the ranks from the major search engines. You should be given detailed individual and overall report as well as the overview of the previous and present outputs. Aside from these, the SEO company should also be responsible in giving you recommendations on the steps that they need to do in order to maintain or further improve the ranking of the website. The work of the SEO firm does not end, instead they continually provide help and monitoring on your website to be able to produce the traffic that you aim.

Aside from these, you should also consider the price that you will pay for the services of the SEO Company. If you prefer to go with known and reliable search engine optimization firm, be prepared to pay for higher fees. You can also find a new incoming search engine optimization firm that promises to provide the same output. In cases like this, you should consider that there is a risk that you should take. Lastly, consider the references that the search engine optimization firm worked with. They should be able to give you a list of their past clients who were satisfied with their services.

As a whole, in order to find the SEO Company for your site, you must be satisfied with the results that they made for their other clients. They must communicate with you well and will work on your request. There must be a good communication between the two of you. SEO companies are almost everywhere, choose wisely and choose well.

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This was all managed via a mix and match of Excel Spreadsheets, Google tools, Adobe, Word Documents and the like. It was very rapid clear to us that with only 4 staff members we would be working 24 hours a day to keep up. Signing our first deals further placed pressure on the customers service side with a need to generate ranking reports and track ranking history… any SEO company bread and butter.

So jumping on the net we evaluated a large number of free and trial versions of SEO tools that covered rank checking, back link analysis, keyword suggestions and keyword efficiency indexing (KEI). Now there are good free tools out there but bringing this all together in package that was flexible and automated does not come free.

We settled on SEO PowerSuite from Link-Assistant, not cheap but worth every dollar if you want to immediately drive improved work-flow and efficiency. The package includes LinkAssistant, SEO SpyGlass, Website Audit and Rank Tracker. All the software is detailed on the website but I’ll give you a quick rundown on Rank Tracker which we use heavily:

Firstly I has a complete (or rather the most complete) set of Search Engines internationally, essential to us in South Africa, with local versions of Google, Bing and our largest local search outfit, Ananzi, covered.
Ranking is really easy to set up; once the target website and keywords are loaded there are a host of features available to fine-tune how the ranking report should run. One of the most important is managing the speed at which Rank Tracker generates the automated queries to the search engines; the Human Emulation Settings allow the user to slow down queries and how many sequential events are run. If you have ever run large ranking reports you’ll know that the engines simply lock you out.
Once the ranking is done Search volumes for the local engines and competition pages can be simply loaded to give the KEI for each keyword; all loaded onto a simple, clear and flexible report screen.
Once the client has settled on keywords and you have closed that deal, Rank Tracker will store the historical progress per keyword per search engine – a powerful tool for reporting Once the client has settled on keywords and you have closed that deal, Rank Tracker will store the historical progress per keyword per search engine – a powerful tool for reporting back to client and flagging potential issues with keywords.
There is a keyword suggestion tool built in and easy ways to re-run reports for individual keywords on individual search engines.
Finally, all of the accumulated information can be placed into a professionally formatted report and generated in pdf with you company logo and contact details; all with one click (very cool!)

with the help of SEO report you can get easily knowledge about your site’s position and ranking, SEO report also helps you to increase your site’s popularity,

True, SEO is no science, but it can have a scientific approach. The results are not instantaneous like PPC but results should be visible after 3 months onto a program. Okay… give and take a few months for the vagaries of Search Engines who like to alter their algorithms just when your site is all set to take off!

The problem with SEO is that it is too vague a field. We can only guess what works and what does not. Broadly there are five factors that are said to do 70% of the work.

1. A well optimized code
2. Well Optimized Metatags
3. Header Tags, Alt tags
4. Keywords in the URL
5. Backlinks to the site

If your SEO company is smart enough to integrate all these together chances are that by the fourth month your SERPs should be somewhere around rank 10-12 for moderately competitive keywords. Competitive keywords take much longer and the effort for increasing the positions in page 1 increases proportionally with every position.

There are two ways in which you can check if your company is really working on your website.

1. Set up Google Alert on your company’s name. Once an alert is set up, every time a directory picks up your link or a blog picks up your article or the company does a press release Google will pick it up and deliver it into your mailbox. The larger the number of alerts the more your SEO company is working.

2. Use a tracking account. Google Analytics is free and is improving with feedback. Ask you SEO company to set up a tracking in analytics and get your account id and password so that you can check occasionally.

SEO is unfortunately a long drawn process. How long should one wait before deciding that the SEO company is taking you for a ride? When you are six months into an SEO program and you face any of the following scenarios it’s time to fire your SEO company.

Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no increase in search traffic

Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not getting any conversions.

Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your targeted keyword.

Scenario #4: The company’s report shows a lot of increased links but there is hardly any increase in ranks.

Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were.

Scenario #1: Six months into the campaign there is no increase in search traffic Why is it so? Maybe they are not working at all OR Maybe they are targeting all the wrong keywords. Very competitive keywords may bring in more traffic volume but they take longer (read upto 12-24 months) to optimize. To maximize your ROI professional SEO companies choose a mix and match of low competition, moderate competition and high competition keywords. If your SEO company did not take this approach it’s time to fire them.

How to Check: Insist upon adding Google Analytics (a free tool) to your site and visit it regularly.

Scenario #2: Your traffic has increased but you are not getting conversions Maybe it’s a genuine mistake which can be rectified OR Maybe you are getting a lot of spam traffic because the company has posted the site at improper places just to show stats of increase in traffic. Believe me this happens quite a lot with unprofessional companies who want to gain SEO credibility. The unknowledgeable client gets taken in.

How to Check: Visit analytics. Click on traffic sources. Check all the traffic types- Referral, search engine and direct. Check the type of sites the referral traffic is sending, check the type of keywords. If all of these are okay, then you need some serious website marketing not just SEO

Scenario #3: You have not even made it to page 2 for your targeted keyword Maybe the targeted keywords are too competitive ORMaybe all the aspects of SEO are not being covered by your company. This is a tricky issue. If you are satisfied with your keyword movement over the months maybe just a push is needed. Otherwise you need to check what the company is doing.

How to Check: Simply type your keyword in the search bar. Check page #1 for your URL. If it’s not on page #1 it should be on page #2 after 6 months of campaign for at least some of the keywords. It should show up. If it isn’t there call up the SEO company and demand an explanation.

Scenario #4: The company’s report shows a lot of increased links but there is hardly any increase in ranks. Maybe the ranking will improve gradually OR Maybe the company is trying to impress upon you that it has increased your links. This is false reporting and not genuine SEO. In the long run these links will harm your site. Keep away from the company.

How to Check: Occasionally, in the Google toolbar type the following to see the number of links to your website- links:www.domainname.com Analyze the relevancy of the site linking back to your website. If the links are from spam sites fire the company.

Scenario #5: Your keywords are stagnated where they were. Suppose you were already on page #3 or page #2 for the keywords and approached a company to take you to page #1. But you haven’t moved. Maybe the company’s taking you for a ride

OR There is no other reason. Just fire the company. They are showing no results

There may be other scenarios which have not been covered in this article. It’s very difficult to know if the company is working hard enough to get you on page #1. Keeping constant contact with the company is a good idea. Ask for a monthly comparative report and track the increase in links, traffic and keyword positions. Get an action plan of the month by the company. Track the action plan. You will see results soon enough!

with the help of SEO report you can get easily knowledge about your site’s position and ranking, SEO report also helps you to increase your site’s popularity,

The SEO process, however, is not a simple one, and should be left to the experts. Equally important is that these experts must be reputable. Aggressive and unethical search engine optimization tactics have resulted in many websites being penalized and even removed from search engine indexes. At the other extreme, inefficient and incompetent work will result in you paying for an insignificant change in your site ranking. Thus for the average businessperson who is not highly versed in search engine technology, the job of selecting a reputable search engine company can be a daunting and dangerous one. However, do not be put off – the Return on Investment of this marketing tool can be huge, in comparison with traditional marketing methods. The following suggestions will help to make the selection process simple and secure.

Although no company can guarantee you a number one position on all search engines, it is essential that you define goals in search engine ranking that you would like to reach. This will allow you to easily assess the success of the campaign at a later stage, while giving the consultant a clear idea of what you need. Decide if you require short term or long term optimization, as this will affect your budget and also point you to specific services suited to your goals.

For example, you may want to implement and maintain search engine optimization for your site on a long term basis, and you may want to have added to this a more assertive short term exposure for your business or product over a specific period. For this short term objective, services such as Pay-per-click (PPC) or Pay-for-inclusion (PFI) may be suitable. These services entail giving your site prime placement in either the actual search results listing or on the same page as listed high ranking sites, for which you pay a fee. It is not necessary to understand the intricacies of these systems and services, just be certain of your marketing goals and strategy, and what you intend to gain from search engine optimization.

The vast number of available firms may be intimidating. In order to narrow the scope, consider these suggestions:
Use search engines to search for companies. Search engine optimization companies that rank highly in engine listings should have the skills to do the same for your business.
Scan web directories. A company that belongs to a directory or listing may possibly be approved according to certain standards of practice and expertise. Similarly, any associations or societies of SEO agencies may be a good place to start.
Ask other companies for recommendations. Word of mouth is usually the safest and most reliable method of selecting a service.
Companies to avoid are those that send you unexpected email inviting you to join “free-for-all” link systems.

You will need to carefully evaluate the companies during your initial search as well as during subsequent meetings or correspondence, in order to find a trustworthy and proficient firm. It is recommended that you meet the consultants in person if possible, so as to establish a better impression of their business practice. The following are crucial deciding factors which you should use in your selection process from the very beginning of your search:

Track record

It is recommended that you pick a firm that is experienced in the industry and has valid references and reports to prove it.

Check references to ensure that specific job claims were actually done by the firm that you are considering. Also ask these companies whether the search engine optimization agency delivered in terms of service and results. You will quickly discover if there is anything suspicious or unsatisfactory about the agencies by talking to their other clients.

The company should be able to show you reports clearly detailing success in search engine ranking for their current or previous clients.

Success is indicated by a good website placement across a range of the most popular search engines, for a variety of popular keywords or phrases. A high position for one unpopular keyword on one obscure search engine does not equal success. The reason for this is that SEO companies add key words and phrases to your site content and HTML coding for a search engine spider to detect. If these terms are hardly or never typed into search engines, their addition to your site is completely useless. In the same way, high ranking on an obscure search engine is meaningless. For current ratings of the popularity of search engines, investigate the Nielsen Netratings page at Search Engine Watch (www.searchenginewatch.com). Wordtracker (www.wordtracker.com) is a program that is helpful in determining the popularity of keywords or phrases as searched by Internet users.

The reports should also show that good results are maintained over a period of time (at least six months). SEO is a very competitive field, with search engines regularly changing their rules and structures, requiring that a site’s ranking be constantly monitored and any problems or decline in position addressed. When viewing these reports, enquire as to the frequency of reporting (it should be monthly), as well as the methods of presenting the information. Reports should contain unprocessed data in addition to comprehensible summaries of the data (e.g. in chart form which allows for easy comparison between variables) and suggestions for any improvements or adjustments.

SEO Methodology

Enquire as to the techniques employed to optimize sites. Steer clear from firms that use methods of redirection such as “cloaking”, “doorway” or “bridge” pages. These methods basically involve pages hidden to the Internet user that are heavily loaded with popular keywords. Many search engines, in particular Google, claim that these tactics are deceptive and unethical and they will heavily penalize (and even remove) sites that use them.

Your site should not need to link to the SEO agency’s site. This often implies a redirection method which is not only risky but will also potentially reduce the amount of exposure and traffic to your site.

Beware of companies that avoid your questions or are not open about their techniques – this usually implies dishonest business operations.

Make sure that the company manually submits websites to indexes, and does not use software to do so. They should also provide you with a receipt of submission. Also be careful of companies that plan to submit your site to thousands of search engines – this method prefers quantity over quality and is quite futile.

Do not buy into a service that involves searching directly from the browser window – this requires specialized software that most Internet users will not have.

The company should help you with selections of keywords and phrases which are relevant to your business and popular with search engine users. Check their optimization plans for your site, and the extent to which they may want to change your site content and design. Ideally you do not want to compromise on your site design or visitors’ ease of navigation. It is generally beneficial to employ SEO services at the beginning of your site development process, so that money does not get wasted on site redesigning.

Link popularity is another optimization strategy used, which involves linking popular sites to your site. However this is not a simple process and double check that it does not involve “free-for-all” “link farms” (mentioned earlier) which will only detract from your site’s exposure.

Price

Quality and ethical business practice are two aspects that you definitely do not want to compromise on when it comes to selecting a search engine optimization company. Generally, a more experienced company will charge higher fees and should guarantee you a successful, low-risk campaign. Obviously younger companies exist that can do the same thing for a cheaper rate, but be sure that you are convinced of their competence and reliability before you sign them on. If in doubt, wait until you find a company that you are comfortable with.

Agencies differ in payment methods. Some charge a monthly fee and guarantee a certain amount of top 10 or top 20 results. Others make use of a Cost-per-click system which involves paying a fixed fee per every click made on your website link. This means that you only pay if traffic is directed to your site, although there is a danger of going beyond your budget.

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Before we go further, what are the most essential things we require as a search engine optimizer?

Link Building
Position tracking
Competition Analysis
Indexing report
Link building is a tedious task. It takes months and months to get incoming links to your website. It is essential to have software which can tell you where you could get links to your website and if possible, submit you URL to that site

Position Tracking is the most important task to know where you are ranked for a search engine. Personally as an Optimizer for more than 300 websites on various keywords for each site, I cannot afford to search 1000′s of keywords and track them for each site. I would be left out with no time at all. I use SEO elite, good software which can give me a decent tracking report for numerous keywords on different sites. I just have to analyze the Ups and downs and report the same to my clients. This Automated piece of feature saves me hours and keeps my clients happy as they get to see a weekly report of progress. This is one of the basics for any SEO Tool

Competition analysis is a great feature. Do you know what your Competitor is doing better than you to get the number one position? If you knew it would you beat him? This is an essential feature required on all SEO software’s and SEO tool. Analyze your competitor and beat him in his own game.

When I am asked how many pages are crawled by each search engine and when, I had to check it out manually previously. Not anymore. Now I use the tools along with the position tracking feature to give a solid report to my clients.

Before you purchase any SEO Tool make sure that the basic features exist.

with the help of SEO report you can get easily knowledge about your site’s position and ranking, SEO report also helps you to increase your site’s popularity,