Your Approach
Here are three important questions to ask potential search engine optimization vendors:
* Do you create pages, optimized for my key phrases, that aren't built into my site's navigation?
If the answer is yes, you probably are dealing with a search engine optimization company that creates "doorway" or "bridge" pages (most companies will call them by different names). Such pages may reside on a different server and funnel traffic to your site. This technique violates most major search engines' terms of service.
* Does your technique involve showing a different page to the search engine than to my visitors?
If the answer is yes, you probably are dealing with a search engine optimization company that uses "cloaking." This is when the web site server makes a note of the unique address assigned to each visitor. When it notices that a visitor is using a search engine, it feeds it specialized content designed to rank highly for certain key phrases. Many engines specifically warn against this technique in their terms of service. Google is particularly harsh on sites that use cloaking.
* Will you work with my competitors while you're working with me?
The optimization techniques used for your site probably could be used to help your competitors. You don't want your search engine optimization company taking lessons learned from your site and applying them to competing businesses.
Gauging Results
Almost every search engine optimization company has a "brag book" of rankings they have achieved, but looks can deceive. When evaluating the past results of a search engine optimization company, consider five questions:
* Which engines? Make sure the positions the search engine optimization company has achieved for customers are for the most popular search engines. For a current list of them, visit the Nielsen NetRatings page at Search Engine Watch (www.searchenginewatch.com/reports/article.php/2156451).
* Which key phrases? Wordtracker (www.wordtracker.com) is a valuable tool. It's free for limited use when determining if the rankings your potential search engine optimization company displays have real value. The service shows the popularity of individual search phrases based upon actual search activity on popular engines. When it displays a very low number for a particular term, a phrase including that term most likely isn't competitive (or beneficial). In other words, if the search engine company you're considering boasts of the high rankings it achieved for the phrase "dog silverware," and Wordtracker tells you that nobody searches for that term, don't be impressed.
* What about an entire site? While it's easy to focus on a particularly impressive ranking on one popular engine, it's more important to focus on a broad range of positions achieved for one site. It's possible for a site to have one great ranking for one key phrase and many poor rankings for others. Ask your potential search engine optimization company to show you a report for a client that demonstrates good rankings on many popular engines for many phrases.
* Do rankings remain high? Ask to see a report showing that high rankings of the vendor's clients held up for six months or longer. Because search engine marketing is an ongoing process, your vendor should maintain a high level of exposure for your company.
* Did the vendor really do it? Confirm that your potential search engine optimization vendor is responsible for the positions it claims. Unethical companies take credit for the work of others to increase their sales. In some cases, vendor claims are easy to confirm (such as when a client site includes the vendor's name or logo).
Verifying Support Quality
Search engine optimization is an ongoing process, not a "quick fix." If you intend to use the vendor to improve and maintain your rankings, ask to see a sample monthly report. Reporting quality varies, so consider these three items in your evaluation:
* Reports. They should be based on the most popular engines, not ones the search engine optimization company has had good luck with.
* Overviews. Your reports should include more than raw data that details individual positions. It's impossible to tell how your site is performing on search engines over time by looking at a slew of individual rankings on engines and comparing them with the previous month. The sample report should provide easy-to-understand overviews of ranking performance, such as an ongoing chart that covers a long period of time and shows trend data such as "top 40 positions by month" or "top three page appearances by month."
* Recommendations. You don't want to pay a search engine optimization company merely to report on rankings. You want to ensure the vendor is looking over your ranking performance monthly and making recommendations to improve it. The sample report should include monthly observations and recommendations specific to your site.
Considering Cost
Cost is a major consideration for most companies, but focusing too much on it and not enough on results can hinder your firm's online marketing strategy. One thing to remember: Search engine optimization is not a commodity. Unlike selecting a gas or electric company (where the quality of the product is largely the same regardless of the vendor), your vendor choice has a dramatic effect on your success. If price is your largest consideration and you can't find a vendor within your range, consider waiting until you can afford one that meets your criteria. Vendors' prices are widespread. As with most businesses, firms with the best reputations and proven track records command higher fees.
Checking References
If a prospective search engine optimization company can't provide references, look elsewhere. Some optimization firms may cite "confidentiality," but search engine optimization isn't the black art it once seemed. Every legitimate firm should have at least two clients (past or present) you can call. Here are two important questions to ask when you do:
* How reasonable were the vendor's requests? Some companies will ask you to make changes that compromise the visitor experience on your site. It's important to find a search engine optimization company that can find a balance between the needs of search engines and site visitors, not a company that aims for high rankings at any cost.
* What overall effects has the vendor had on your business? This is the most important question, and the most important overall factor to consider when selecting a search engine optimization company. While high search engine rankings and more site traffic are admirable goals, you want a positive effect on customer acquisition costs and a boost to your bottom line.
Scott Buresh is co-founder and principal of Medium Blue Internet Marketing, a search engine optimization and internet marketing firm in Atlanta that offers internet marketing strategy, search engine optimization and promotion, web site design and development, research and analysis, and email marketing services. Email us your comments at bholt@printsolutionsmag.com.
5 Myths of Search Engines
To further understand search engine optimization and management, Medium Blue Internet Marketing, Atlanta, assembled a list of five myths and facts:
1. The key to optimizing my web site is using meta tags.
Fact: Meta tags have become less important due to overuse by web designers; search engines such as Lycos and Google ignore these tags completely, and directories such as Yahoo (which are edited by humans) don't use them either.
2. Buying a program or paying for a service that submits my site to thousands of search engines will help me to gain exposure.
Fact: More than 97 percent of search engine traffic is generated from the top 20 search engines. Most of these extra "submissions" are to Free For All (FFA) sites, which place your link on their pages temporarily in exchange for email addresses.
3. Once my site is optimized and submitted, I can forget about it.
Fact: It's imperative that your site be monitored and constantly updated to maintain and improve your rankings, for three reasons: One, search engines are placing more emphasis on "link popularity," or the number of related, popular sites that have links pointing to your site. Two, increased competition can move your site down from the top to the middle of the pack, and regaining a high ranking is tough. Three, search engines sometimes drop sites completely off their indexes for no apparent reason, making resubmission a must.
4. "Doorway," "bridge" or "gateway" pages effectively drive traffic to my site.
Fact: Not long ago, search engine experts designed special web pages that were optimized for a particular keyword, sometimes just for one particular engine. They were called "doorway" pages because the sole purpose of the site was to steer searchers to the main site. Unfortunately, this method was abused by many webmasters, who submitted hundreds or thousands of these pages and cluttered search engines. Almost all search engines now consider these pages to be spam, and some ban sites that use them.
5. All search engine optimization companies are the same.
Fact: Many companies that call themselves "experts" use antiquated software. As previously mentioned, some unscrupulous firms cheat or "spam" the engines for short-term gains. In addition, some firms don't offer reasonable performance guarantees.
