Tuesday, July 7, 2009

SEO Companies: Spot the liars

Search Engine Optimization is not only about getting potential customers to your site but also about building a quality website full of great content. It involves using keywords appropriately and getting links "naturally" because people truly appreciate your site content. SEO companies can provide services like keyword analysis, keyword research, technical advice and also management of online business marketing campaigns. They can also help with content development, article writing & marketing and article submission to business directories. Although it's not Rocket Science, the process is laborious and usually requires a lot of thought and real work.

There are SEO firms that promise instant results and naturally when someone claims to do so, your interest is piqued because time is money right? Maybe in the short run you might make something out of it but stand to lose much much more in the near future. They could get your website ranked lower or even banned. When you're looking to hire an SEO firm, here are some things to take into account.

Be wary Of SEO Firms promising to get "Thousands Of Links" To Your Site.

It is not the quantity that makes the difference - it's the quality of the sites. When firms promise huge numbers of links, or say that you will become part of their "network of sites", it usually means a link farm is involved. A link farm is any group of websites that all hyperlink to each other in the group. Search engines detest this and it can lead to your site getting banned. Instead, the
best way to go is with reciprocal linking & one way linking with genuine and related websites.

Be Wary Of SEO Firms That Guarantee A High Ranking On Google.

No one can guarantee a high ranking on Google. Some SEO companies offer a guarantee to improve ranking which is fine. But the moment they promise to do that in an incredibly short period of time, about turn and march away. When these unrealistic results fail to materialize, the company will offer you other services instead or you suddenly see that they have started becoming unresponsive.

Be Cautious Of SEO Firms That reach you through "Spam" Emails.

These emails are unsolicited and usually begin with "We've noticed that you are not listed in some search engines..." You should be searching for a high-ranking SEO company; they will not be searching for you. Spam means scam. You don't buy your medications from spammers (or do you??) so why buy SEO services this way?

Always ensure you get a good outline of the process going to be followed.

Most reputable SEO firms are upfront with their clients and like to share their knowledge. They are confident that even if their clients understand their process, they won't leave them. If the SEO firm claims it's too complicated for you to understand, or if they say they have trade secrets and proprietary technology, it's a sign that they may not be implementing ethical SEO techniques.

Choose Your SEO Company And Services Carefully.

If you were to hire a full time nanny for your kids, you would call and do a reference-check right? Why not do so when hiring an SEO company? Ask them to send you actual references that you can speak with.

Remember that by implementing ethical SEO strategies, you will be moving your site up Step-by-Step. Not in a day, not in a week but actually months. If you are not careful at the initial buying stage, a lot of things can go wrong. So wrong, that you may end up spending big bucks just to do a rollback to the previous ranking status, let alone increase the current status.

Be careful, do a lot of analysis, ask probing and intelligent questions.

Last but not the least, its natural wanting to save money but in the process,
don't be too cheap. After all, quality always comes at a price.