SEO is big business and the right company can produce exceptional rewards for your business but with so many SEO companies springing up every week or claiming to be the best, how do you separate the wheat from the chaff?
Many businesses fall prey to deceptive advertising and end up paying good money for poor results. With so many companies offering top 10 positions, guaranteed results and more we’ve listed 10 things to look out for before engaging an SEO company.
1. Be wary of self proclaimed “Number 1? SEO companies. Such companies tend to use aggressive sales tactics to attract unwary clients. Their websites will display pages optimized for phrases such as “Number 1 SEO Company in Los Angeles” etc. The simple fact is that there is no such thing as a Number 1 SEO company. These are nothing but deceptive advertising claims designed to hook you in.
2. Be wary of companies who publish deceptive #1 results for their clients. Often these companies will display results for their clients on phrases that are very poor or required no SEO to achieve. These phrases often include brand names or product names.
For example:
“Acme company Christmas candles” – this phrase requires no skill to rank number 1
whereas
“christmas candles” requires a lot of skill to rank number 1.
3. Be wary of the “big” SEO companies. Often they will have you believe that because they’re big they’re better. The simple fact is that size does not matter at all in SEO, it’s results that count!
Often, big companies are only interested in big clients and most definitely big fees. Big fees have to finance big overheads and big salaries. Big SEO companies also have high staff turnover and unless you’re a big client you can be just a number so service levels may not be what you would expect.
We have regularly produced better results for our clients, many of whom have had previous experiences with big companies. Our fees are on average 50% lower than the big SEOS so ask yourself – why pay twice as much for the same results?
4. Be wary of self proclaimed “original” SEO companies.
There are countless so called SEO companies claiming to have been doing SEO since 1995 so it’s safe to brush aside such claims. Google didn’t emerge in any capacity till around 1998 and the term Search Engine Optimization wasn’t even coined till around 1997. In Hawaii the internet was fledgling and very few companies were offereing SEO at all – we should know – we knew who our competitors were.
The fact remains that many of these self proclaimed original SEO companies were nothing more than web design companies who jumped on the SEO bandwagon around 2001 when SEO became popular. Bear in mind too, that some of these old hands are still using outdated SEO techniques.
5. Beware of SEO firms displaying awards, accreditations and other accolades. These are entirely deceptive and have nothing whatsoever to do with any professional standard. SEO is as yet an unregulated industry with no officially recognized body. Accreditations can be bought and even Google accreditation does not mean good SEO. Remember this – Google is still a commercial company with a secret algorithim. Many of the best SEO companies have no accreditation whatsoever – they just get great results.
6. Avoid any company giving guaranteed results. No one (except Google, Yahoo etc) can guarantee a result.
7. Avoid any company claiming to know or have cracked the Google algorithim. No one except Google knows this.
8. Avoid any SEO company who guarantees you specific traffic. No one can guarantee you specific traffic.
9. Avoid any company who guarantees sales/conversions. You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink as they say. No one can guarantee sales or conversions.
10. Avoid at all costs any SEO firm who offers you a set package. Even two companies selling the same product will require different levels of SEO.
Tags: SEO
Overview
My background is rooted in Marketing, eCommerce and Web Development. I have spent the last 12 years combining my technical skills in the area of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). My goal is to effectively leverage search engine marketing for online businesses.
Location
I work from my office on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. I prefer doing contract work.
My Ideal SEO Job
I enjoy discovering innovative ways of finding cost-effective solutions that help my clients’ websites become more visible and competitive in the long-run while strictly adhering to time-tested, white-hat SEO methods.
Professional Experience
Polynesian Cultural Center, September 2001 – Present
SEO Consultant
• spearheaded efforts to develop in-house tools to automat and streamline SEO-related activities to increase profitability while providing more value
• provided SEO expertise for the marketing division
• led a team in setting benchmarks to increase sales conversions
• introduced an approach to incorporating social media optimization to augment the traditional SEO offerings already in place
HawaiiWeddings.com, January 2009 – Present
SEO Consultant
• determined the strategy and executed the tactics necessary to drive traffic to web sites with the ultimate goal of delivering a positive ROI via conversions, leads and sales
• participated in business development activities such as technical sales, proposal writing, and SEO capability presentations
• optimized website and blogs for optimal visibility
Brazil Botanicals, January 2008 – Present
SEO Director, Director of E-Commerce,
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
• spearheaded the effort to discover why client was failing to receive traffic from search engines comparable to major competitors; presented findings and recommendations to upper management for search engine optimization (SEO) project approval; and followed through with a plan that resulted in a 800% increase in traffic and sales from search engines
• worked closely with the president of the company so that SEO best practices were followed from the start
• conducted training sessions on how to incorporate SEO into their workflow
• initiated a year-long project to create an e-commerce processing platform to handle orders from different sources
• worked with various business units to get their products online through various e-commerce initiatives including customized storefronts; A/B split-testing of stand-alone offer pages to determine the most effective method for delivering a marketing message; and promoting offers on third-party sites
Aloha Top Ten, January 2005 – Present
SEO Director
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• conducted analysis to determine the best way to buy traffic for client so that the PPC campaign be cost effective
• used specialized sources of traffic for travel industry
InnoMark, Inc, January 2002 – December 2008
SEO Director
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• redesigned website, created ecommerce package, created wholesale lead generator, backlink directory
Other Responsibilities
• assessed project feasibility, gathered business requirements, and executed project plans for various business groups
• managed relationships with third-parties to promote and enhance the reach of several marketing efforts for my clients
About Christian Wilson
Christian Wilson is an Internet Marketing Professional, Organic SEO Expert, Search Engine Optimization Analyst, Blog Writer.
He recently joined Hawaii based internet marketing agency SEODock as SEO Director, helping clients to identify deficiencies of their web presence, analyze their site’s architecture, usability and search engine performance and improve their online visibility, internet traffic and sales.
Before joining SEODock, he was also the operator and co-founder of NoPhonebook.com, a Hawaii-based marketing firm, providing cost-effective and creative alternatives to traditional yellow page advertising.
Prior to his position as Internet Consultant, Christian Wilson has worked as a Senior Analyst at the Polynesian Cultural Center (Hawaii’s top paid attraction since 1963) for 17 years. He was responsible for creating the companies first website back in 1994.
Education
- BYU Hawaii, Bachelor of Arts in Business Management, 1984
- BYU Idaho, Associate Degree in Computer Science, 1980
SEO Setup Skills
• Keyword research and identification
• Html code optimization (meta tags, urls, etc)
• Keyword incorporation into website copy with proper density and attributes (bold, strong, etc.)
• Internal link structure optimization
• File name optimization
• Image alt and title tag optimization
• Permanent redirect setup (htaccess)
• Google Webmasters setup and configuration
• Yahoo! Site Explorer setup and configuration
• Bing Webmaster Center setup and configuration
• Website submission to major search engines
• Sitemap.xml creation / submission
• Outbound link optimization (nofollow setup)
• Google Analytics setup and configuration (including Goals and Funnels)
• Submission to premium directories
Ongoing SEO Skills
• High quality one way link building
• Premium directory ling building
• General directory link building
• Link exchange setup
• Reciprocal link building
• Local SEO (more than 90 local directories)
• Social bookmarking
• XHTML compliance
• Social media optimization
• Creation of additional optimized content
• Press release creation / distribution
• Link Bait Ideas / Setup
• Article writing / Submission to article directories
• Competitor analysis
• SEO analysis
Technical Skills
- Software: Microsoft Office, Photoshop, many others
- Up to date with current web trends and technologies (Web 2.0)
- Extended experience with creation/design of websites & various blog software (Wordpress, Blogger)
- Familiar with various scripting languages (HTML, XHTML, CSS, PHP)
- Working knowledge of several SEO tools, such as Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery, Google Analytics & IBP
Other Skills
- Project and people management experience
- Advanced writing, editing and proofreading skills
- Excel in online research, data collection and analysis
- Accustomed to multi-tasking and deadline-driven environment
- Multi-lingual (Tahitian, French)
References
- Upon request
Before you hire a SEO firm, expect the following from them:
- They shouldn’t undertake any client campaign that they know they are not qualified to implement.
- They should provide their client with a written agreement outlining work to be completed and agreed fees.
- They should not use any strategies or tactics that could violate the guidelines of Google, Yahoo, or Bing.
- Provide client with an invoice for work carried out.
- Maintain all insurances required by their State laws.
- They should not to intentionally violate any State or Federal laws including, but not limited to, trademark and copyright laws.
- They should provide client with full contact information including the name, telephone number, and email address of the person responsible for the campaign.
- They should register and assign all newly created accounts to the client, or make the client aware if that is not the case.
- They should treat their client the way they would want to be treated.
Learn why Article Marketing is Simply the Best SEO Technique. Writing and submitting articles to directories is the best way to increase your search engine ranking. As you probably know this is how you attract more visitors. If you try to earn a living online you need to attract as much targeted traffic as possible. Discover how to take advantage of article marketing. There are a few simple tips you should know before you start writing the articles.
The first step is to find the most popular article directories. This way you can be sure that your articles will have a lot of visitors. The search engines will also give your site a higher ranking if the links come from a website with a lot of traffic. Make a list with all the websites where you can submit your content. You need to check every day for new sites. This way you will not lose any good opportunity.
Writing articles can take a lot of time. Set up a good schedule for writing and stick to it. For example try to reserve two hours a day just for writing content. Do that for a few months. If you have more articles you can attract more traffic. Your website will also get a higher ranking.
Check first if you are allowed to submit duplicate content. Some article directories will accept only original articles. What you can try is to rewrite the articles. This way you can have more original content. It will also increase your chances to attract traffic.
It’s very important to respect the rules when you are submitting an article. For example most of the directories will not allow you to post any promotional content. The good news is that you can post your link in the bio. This way you can get a lot of visitors to your website.
There is also a minimum and maximum number of words you must respect when you are writing the articles. This can differ from website to website. This is one of the first things you must find out before writing. You can risk to have the article rejected.
Make sure everybody will understand your content. To achieve this you need to use simple expressions. A good tip would be to write useful tips and ideas. It’s also recommendable to use the second person when you are writing. Make it sound as natural as possible. People love to read this type of articles.
Keep in mind that your main porpoise is to write fast and good. In order to do this you should pick only the topics you are familiar with. If you do this there will be no need to research the subject. This tip can save you a lot of time. All you should do is to get inspired from your own experience.
The quality of your content should be your main priority. If you don’t take this seriously your readers will ignore your website link. The key to success is submitting a high quality content. This is the way to make people see that you are a professional.
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Tags: article marketing, search engine optimisation, Search Engine Optimization, SEO
Since people en masse recognized the immense benefits that an online business reaps when considered, more and more new online businesses are popping up on the internet seeking greener pastures, but what every budding business needs is recognition. Internet Marketing and Search Engine Optimization is the bread and butter of any new online organization.
Most of the online business entrepreneurs will agree to the fact that the majority of the traffic being generated to their website comes from one or another search engine. It was only a matter of time when some people began to intentionally take actions so that their website comes first in any relevant search so that any traffic searching for relevant keywords is automatically attracted to their site.
Probably the most effective of all the unpaid online marketing techniques, search engine optimization is also the most popular. As the demand for the topmost place in any given search engine grew, the strategic use of keywords and highest quality content has also become a paid for type of advertisement. Various companies already earn their living by providing individuals heading websites with the search engine optimization they need.
Search engine optimization is in truth a simple technique of attracting more traffic my optimizing the subject URL with relevant keywords and some very high quality and to the point articles. Although each and every search engine uses a different procedure to decide which site comes top of the line on any given search, the above mentioned is known t be the most effective for other sites.
These techniques may be anywhere from article marketing, paid search engine inclusion, pay to click advertisements to name a few. Article marketing is by far the most impressively used means of marketing in use today that is capable of offering dramatic results when used correctly.
They may be using a number of things like putting up pay to click advertisements on strategic sites or forums, through article marketing or actually buying you’re the top place in any search engine; however this top place is not actually the top place but a place above that, entitled sponsored advertisement.The most productive package that an internet marketing firm may offer you would be the one including article marketing and the search engine optimization. These two basic procedures ensures a perfectly organic traffic that is also interested in your certain product and that may in more probability become consumers than people lured unintended.
There are other means of marketing online, those like spamming, sending adware or optimizing a site for a search engine by adding up even irrelevant keywords. However techniques such as these are not recommended because although these may generate traffic, this traffic is not necessarily interested in buying your product, and would rather get out at the first opportunity.
Internet marketing and search engine optimization is a combination that can give your budding online business the boost it so sorely needs, just make sure that your marketing techniques do not make use of the internet equivalent of junk food but useful content that is useful both ways, as educational content as well as a traffic generator
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Tags: search engine optimisation, Search Engine Optimization, SEO
Imagine,you have decided to buy a muscle-building supplement through online and you go to a search engine website and type the brand and company name of the product.Then you find an Ad in the sponsored links on the website and the Ad is more attractive and you decided to go for it. You click the Ad and order the product within minutes without realising the advantage of implementation of SEO with combined principle of multiple impressions.
Multiple Impressions a well known option in the online marketing world. According to a research over many years it was found that, few people buy a product they hear of it for the first time,it takes normally ten impressions or reminders,to a consumer to shell out money for the product.This is the reason why many Companies spend a lot of money on TV airing the same ad over and over again,it looks very annoying but it gets the required results for the company.
Any Person with a knowledge of Internet,knows the importance of a search engine optimization for a successful website,It allows the websites to be among the top pages in the search engines like Google,Bing,Yahoo,etc., Once the website is ready and created,there is one more tug,i.e., to pull the visitors to the website.I dont have the luxury of viewing the ad for multiple times as on TV. The very first thing a customers finds is for the offer we are providing to them and we can create multiple impressions through the offer.Hence a Media Campaign must be created with the combination of SEO with an Ad campaign like Adsense.
A main website must be created first for the produts,then the couple of websites that link/refer to main website must be created.Many reputed companies follow this rule of creating website where people can see the product and buy it,and making a couple of them for promotion of the product.This gives the product a wide promotion over many websites.
We must take care of keeping a careful track of the words to be used in meta information while creating a website/websites for the product.And again when we make our ad campaign we must list the targetted words created before,this will show the page in search engine wherever the product is mentioned.
Make a Facebook Fan page and Twitter feeds about the product which you want to sell.Twitter treats every page as a separate page,hence its most useful and it gets people to the webpage of the product but also gets the website in the top in search engine efficiently.
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Tags: business, ecommerce, home based business, internet business, marketing, online business, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, work from home
Online marketing through social media is tough, plain and simple, but tough doesn’t have to equal impossible. By the time you’ve finished reading this article, you’ll believe that, too. I’m going to show you how to increase the number of fans to your Facebook page with virtually no effort from you.
It’s important to get more Facebook fans all the time, but it’s just as important to be selective about those fans. Always aim your search on those fans that share a common ground with you or your business, like a common city or country, membership to a common interest group or work in the same or related industries. This will ensure you have a common ground on which to build your marketing strategy.
The next important thing after getting as many targeted fans is the task of getting them as quickly as possible. This is so important. If it takes you six months or a year to get the base of fans you want, you’re never going to get anywhere. Your marketing plan will be stale and ineffectual if you wait too long to get enough Facebook fans for your business. Strike while your marketing plan is hot!
If you don’t want to do all of this work, don’t walk away from the idea of Facebook marketing just yet. You can still get more Facebook fans quickly and easily, thanks to social media marketing company uSocial.net. They will take care of everything for you and deliver the targeted fans you want and need straight to your Facebook page! In an instant you gain more hours in the day and get your sanity back all at once.
Remember that whole issue of getting targeted fans rather just going for mass numbers? Right, there’s still that sticky little issue. Don’t worry; uSocial.net will take care of that issue for you, too. All you have to do is specify what criteria you want to use for targeting your fans and they’ll use those parameters to get more Facebook fans for you. Whether you are looking for expectant mothers in the United States or cat owners in Canada, uSocial.net will find the people you are looking for.
And voila! That’s all you need to know about how to get more Facebook fans for your business. Waste no more time slogging away looking for the right combination of fans. Let uSocial do it for you!
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Tags: advertising, business, employment, Facebook, finance, Internet marketing, marketing, money, Social Media, technology, usocial, work
